Heavy duty: upgraded MBTs take on challenging urban operations

In recent years an increasing number of militaries have found themselves involved in urban operations and, as a result, some countries have upgraded part of their existing main battle tank (MBT) fleets to enhance their capabilities during these operations.

The US Army, for example, has employed General Dynamics Land Systems M1A1/M1A2 Abrams MBTs fitted with the rapidly developed Tank Urban Survival Kit (TUSK), while the British Army upgraded a small batch of its BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Challenger 2 MBTs for urban operations in Basra.

Armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles have also undergone a raft of upgrades to improve their survival capabilities. However, their original designs place limits on what can be achieved and some operators have turned to radically modifying MBTs - designing seating for dismounts into MBT chassis - turning them into Heavy IFVs (HIFVs).

The Israel Defence Force has for many years deployed HIFVs based on surplus MBT chassis that are no longer used for their original mission. More recently the purpose-built Namer (Hebrew for Leopard, but also a contraction of Nagmash for carrier and Merkava, denoting its origins) HIFV has entered production.

All of these HIFVs are provided with a high level of protection in order that they can operate in close proximity to their MBT counterparts during urban operations or conventional high-intensity warfare. The armour is often of modular design to ease upgrading as new technology becomes available or the threat changes.

As there are limits to the amount of armour that can be fitted, defensive aid suites are expected to be deployed in increasing numbers.