This is the Achzarit... has rear exit door.
The lesson the Israeli learnt from combat - especially the Yom
Kippur War - was that EVERY tank was hit at least once during the
war by tank shells, RPG or Sagger ATGM.
The Egyptian had boatloads of RPGs and Sagger and for once, Arab
infantry didn't run at the sight of IDF tanks. In fact, IDF tanks
feared the Egyptian infantry more than the Egyptian tanks - which
they continued to destroy with ease.
After a battle, the battlefield would be crissed-crossed by many
KILOMETERS of wires expended by the firing of wire-guided Sagger
ATGMs.
The lightly armoured vehicles simply didn't survive getting hit.
One soldier with one RPG round can kill 10 Israelis riding in a
M113. The numbers just weren't right. Something had to be done
about APCs to make sure they do the job they were supposed to do in
the first place - protecting infantry.
On the reverse, most of the MBTs could survive a hit. More than 60%
of MBT's hit were able to be repaired and brought back into
service. In total more than half the tanks crews survived in MBT's
that were hit.
All these theory about being small, light and fast to avoid being
hit is just...theory.
A tank can only be so small, and a tank can never outrun a RPG
round especially in a tight urabn area.
That is why today, the IDF armour is unique in that they have no
light tanks in their inventory. The lightest tank they have is the
M113 and they are trying all kinds of innovative ways to uparmour
it.
