"Sherman Tanks of the Israeli Army" Topic

"From its inception, Zahal, the Israeli Army, has been forced to use ingenuity and improvisation to arm itself against its Arab enemies. In the first years of its life, the tiny nation of Israel, surrounded by enemies pledged to its destruction, found modern weapons few and hard to come by. Such armaments were desperately needed, and the Israelis became adept at filling the gaps in their inventory by acquiring whatever weapons they could from a variety of unusual sources. Once in hand, these weapons often had to be rebuilt or modified to remain effective. Many of them would have been considered obsolete on a European battlefield, but the Israelis made them work. They had no choice—defeat meant the annihilation of their state.

One of the best examples of Israeli ingenuity is their long use of the American-built M4 Sherman tank, that ubiquitous Allied workhorse of World War II. Often decried as inferior to its German opposites because of its relatively thin armor and less effective armament, the Sherman was nonetheless rugged, reliable, and capable of being modified and improved. It was this last quality that enabled the Israelis to use it so effectively…"
Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

You got to love the IDF's reuse and upgrading equipment. The M4s are among the most.

(smile)

Do you know that the Paraguayan Army still have Shermans?… I saw them…

Amicalement
Armand

I had heard that Tango !

Gotta love the M51. Bought some in 1/56 from Company B, and have one in World of Tanks computer game.

Paraguay still uses M3 Stuarts & M3 half-tracks, for that matter!

Damon.

Wow didn't know that either !

Chile used Super Shermans until 1999 (about 100 of them). They were the last ones, switching to Leopard Is in the early 2000s.