Turkish tank saved by Israeli tech
Turkish tank crew saved by Israeli upgrades
A Turkish tank occupying a position outside of Mosul, Iraq was hit by an ISIS anti-tank missile, but sustained minimal damages thanks to Israeli upgrades on the tank.
A Turkish M60T tank with Israeli upgrades survived an attack by an advanced anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) shot by ISIS, defense magazine Jane's reported Thursday.
While the tank itself is US made, the upgrades were made by Israel and sold to Turkey 10 years ago. The attack happened near the town of Ba'ashiqa, which is 30 kilometers northeast of Mosul in Iraq.
The ATGM was a Russian made 129K9 and was shot at the Turkish tank on Tuesday last week from a hill close to where the tank was stationed. The tank was hit by the missile, but neither blew up nor suffered significant damage thanks to the Israeli defense system that it was outfitted with. Jane's tweeted a picture of ISIS shooting the ATGM at the tank and also had pictures of the aftermath of the event.
Turkish Tank which was hit by ISIS anti-tank missile. The tank and crew survived thanks to Israeli upgrades
A Turkish military official quoted by the Andalou news agency said that the tank that was hit sustained minimal damage and that none of the crew were injured. He also said that Turkish forces immediately returned fire and killed 32 ISIS fighters.
In the picture of the tank, which was circulated by the Turkish military, it seems that although there was some damage to the front of the tank, it is nothing significant.
The tank received an Israeli upgrade of advanced hi-tech 120mm armor plating alongside an advanced fire control system and a more powerful engine and transmission system, amongst other upgrades.
ISIS firing the ATGM at the Turkish tank
These upgrades were done within the framework of a 2002 deal between Israel and Turkey amounting to $687.5 million, through which 170 tanks were upgraded, and Israel also provided the Turkish military industry with information regarding the production of tank systems.
According to the Israel Military Industries (IMI), the creator of the systems, the project to upgrade the Turkish tanks ended successfully in 2010, right before the Mavi Marmara incident that strained Israel-Turkey relations occurred.
The presence of Turkish forces in Ba'ashiqa and in other locations in Iraq was revealed five months ago, and Baghdad has called on the Turks to withdraw all of their forces from Iraqi territory. The Turks ignored the demand, and announced that the base in Ba'ashiqa was established to train militias to drive out ISIS from Mosul.
