The ministerial procurement committee has approved the plan of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF to increase substantially the rate of production of Merkava tanks and Namer and Eitan armored personnel carriers (APC), at a cost of over NIS 5 billion.
Minister of Defense Israel Katz and Ministry of Defense director general Amir Baram presented the plan to the committee. It will allow the manufacture of armored fighting vehicles to be accelerated, with dozens more Merkava, Namer, and Eitan vehicles being produced.
The project for accelerating expansion of the IDF’s armored fighting vehicles inventory is being led by the Tank and APC Administration in the Ministry of Defense together with the IDF’s Planning Directorate and Technological and Logistics Directorate.
The plan covers production of the Merkava Barak tank, the Namer tracked APC, which is based on a Merkava chassis, and the Eitan wheeled APC, including a version with a 30 mm gun turret.
The plan involves expansion of the production lines of many companies around Israel, a large number of them in the periphery of the country, part of the Ministry of Defense director general’s strategy of strengthening Israel’s defense production base.
The decision to procure more Israeli developed and produced tanks and APCs stems from the success of the advanced armored fighting vehicles in combat, and is part of a wider effort to strengthen the IDF’s ground forces.
The plan for accelerating production of armored fighting vehicles will now go to the joint Knesset committee on the defense budget. Once it is approved, the Ministry of Defense will be able to proceed to sign contracts.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 20, 2025.
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