Oshkosh Defense from US to produce hulls of new Israeli Eitan 8x8 APCs.

The Israeli Minister of Defense (MoD) announced via its Twitter account on December 28, 2022, that the American company Oshkosh Defense has been selected by the Israeli MoD to produce hundred of hulls for the new Israeli-made Eitan 8x8 wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).
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Israeli-mad Eitan 8x8 wheeled APC Armored Personnel Carrier vehicle. (Picture source Israeli MoD)

The deal signed between the American Company Oshkosh Defense and the Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD) will reach an amount of around $100 million financed by American aid funds.

The hulls of the Eitan armored vehicle will be manufactured in the United States and sent to Israel to be assembled on a production line in Israel and transferred to the Israeli army in the final stage.

On December 12, 2022, the Israeli MoD announced a successful test of the Israeli Iron Fist APS (Active Protection System) mounted on the Eitan APC.

The Eitan is the latest generation of a wheeled armored vehicle fully designed and developed in Israel to meet the new requirements of the Israeli Defense Forces. In summer of 2022, the Israeli Defense Ministry delivered the first Eitan to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).

According to the Israeli manufacturer of the Eitan, the vehicle is considered as the most protected wheeled armored vehicle in its category, in fact, it combines armor technologies fitted on the Merkava Main Battle Tank (MBT) and the Namer tracked APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) vehicle.

The Eitan can be fitted with different types of weapon stations armed with 30 or 40mm automatic cannons as well as a remotely operated weapon station armed with a machine gun of up to 12.7mm caliber.

The Eitan is motorized with a German MTU turbocharged diesel engine developing 750 hp coupled to an Allison automatic transmission. It can run at a maximum road speed of 90 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 1,000 km.