The Merkava battle tanks are the spearhead of the Israeli armored forces and are expected to play an important role in the conflict against Hamas and other actors like Hezbollah.

However, should the IDF eventually enter the Gaza Strip for clearance operations, they should take into account that Hamas has a large stockpile of loitering munitions and kamikaze drones, which can effectively hit Israeli battle tanks.

Πέραν των 1000 οι νεκροί στη σύγκρουση Ισραήλ και Χαμάς – Απώλειες στρατιωτικού υλικού #TrophyAPS #Merkava #Ισραήλ #Χαμάςhttps://t.co/E2PWtEKCyv

— DEFENCE ReDEFiNED (@Def_Redefined) October 8, 2023

Of course, the Israelis have already taken protective measures and, having learned from the lessons of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they have begun to install the well-known anti-drone slat armor on the upper part of the battle tanks, so that they have another level of protection from the unmanned systems of Hamas and the munitions they can carry.

Isolated appearance but we have our first Israeli Merkava Mk.4 equipped with a cope cage (left). pic.twitter.com/1860QRi4LK

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 16, 2023

This is an innovative solution that emerged in the war in Ukraine, when the Russians wanted to find a way to protect themselves first from the hundreds of top attack anti-tank missiles such as the Javelin and NLAW (but without success), and later from the Ukrainian multi-copter drones which either operated as “kamikaze” or bombarded the Russian battle tanks at an unsuspecting time (a certain degree of success for small-caliber ammunition).

Furthermore, in various combat positions both Russians and Ukrainians are adopting new methods to protect against small-sized loitering munitions such as placing metal mesh (wire) over combat vehicles, howitzers, and battle tanks.

Well, it really works. pic.twitter.com/ELdCAa9hZi

— Kriegsforscher (@OSINTua) January 22, 2023

Now, it appears that Israel decided in turn to adopt this particular tactic, installing protective cages over the Merkava for protection mainly from the munitions that the multicopter drones can carry.

Also read: Hamas | Use of paragliders to breach Israeli borders