More NAMER APC and IFV armoured for the Israeli Army.

The Israeli Army continues to strenghten fire power of these infantry units by the use of armoured vehicle personnel carrier (APC) called Namer. According to the Israeli Newspaper website, the Givati Infantry Brigade will receive the Namer APC combat vehicles as the Golani units that already uses this type of vehicle.

Namer APC (armoured Personnel Carrier of the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade during a drill held in the Golan Heights, northern Israel (Picture source FlickR IDF official account)

"The use of the Namer tracked armoured vehicle is a significant step for the Givati Brigade as a leading brigade,” said Givati commander Colonel Dado Bar-Khalifa. With the Namer the Givati Brigade will have more fire power and mobility.

The Namer is an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) tracked vehicle that entered in serice with the Israeli Army in 2008. This APC was developed by the by Israeli Ordnance Corps responsible for the development and maintenance of war materiel, combat-support materials, and other systems.

The vehicle is based on the chassis of the Merkava Mk IV main battle tank offering an high level of protection againts ballistic and mine threats. The layout of the vehicle is similar to the Merkava MBT but without the turret. The vehicle has a crew of three including driver, commander and gunner and 9 infantrymen can be carried at the rear of the hull.

The NAMER APC provides protection gainst firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters, it also has a V shaped hull to offer more protection against blast of landmine and IED (Improvised Explosive Device). The vehicle is armed with a Samson remotely operated weapon station armed with one 12.7mm heavy machine gun, a second machine gun 7.62mm caliber can be fitted on the hatch commander.

In August 2017, the Israeli Ministry of Defense has unveiled a new IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) version of the Israeli-made NAMER tracked APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier). July 31, 2017, A video was released on the official Youtube account of the Israeli Ministry of Defense showing the new NAMER IFV in live demonstration.

The new Namer IFV is fitted with an unmanned turret armed with one 30mm automatic cannon. As the standard Namer APC, the IFV version is fitted with the TROPHY which is a military active protection system (APS) for combat vehicles. The Trophy is already installed to the latest version of the Merkava IV MBT.

Infantry Fighting Vehicle version of the Namer tracked armoured vehicle based on Merkava IV main battle tank chassis. (Picture source Wikipedia)