Israel may soon begin deliveries of its Merkava tanks to Europe for the first time, negotiations are underway with one of the European countries, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reports.
According to her, we are talking about vehicles of the second and third generations removed from combat duty, produced in Israel in 1980 and 1990. A few years ago they were decommissioned. The Merkava main battle tank (Hebrew for "chariot") has been produced in Israel since 1979. At the moment, the fourth generation of these machines is in service with the Israel Defense Forces.
As Yedioth Ahronoth writes, while we are talking about the sale of more than 200 obsolete Israeli tanks. Their sale, according to preliminary estimates, could bring Israel several tens of millions of dollars, the newspaper points out.
Negotiations with potential buyers are already nearing completion, they are being conducted with two countries, one of which is in Europe. Contracts can be signed in three months, informs the newspaper. According to her, the deals still have to be approved by the US Department of Defense, since the design of these tanks uses American-made parts.
Information about the ongoing negotiations was confirmed to the Calcalist newspaper by the head of the defense export department of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General of the Reserve Yair Kulas. He answered in the affirmative to the publication's question about the possibility of export deliveries of Merkava tanks. "Yes, there are two potential countries with which we are negotiating that are at an advanced stage. I am forbidden to disclose information about this, but one of them is in continental Europe," he said.
According to her, we are talking about vehicles of the second and third generations removed from combat duty, produced in Israel in 1980 and 1990. A few years ago they were decommissioned. The Merkava main battle tank (Hebrew for "chariot") has been produced in Israel since 1979. At the moment, the fourth generation of these machines is in service with the Israel Defense Forces.
As Yedioth Ahronoth writes, while we are talking about the sale of more than 200 obsolete Israeli tanks. Their sale, according to preliminary estimates, could bring Israel several tens of millions of dollars, the newspaper points out.
Negotiations with potential buyers are already nearing completion, they are being conducted with two countries, one of which is in Europe. Contracts can be signed in three months, informs the newspaper. According to her, the deals still have to be approved by the US Department of Defense, since the design of these tanks uses American-made parts.
Information about the ongoing negotiations was confirmed to the Calcalist newspaper by the head of the defense export department of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General of the Reserve Yair Kulas. He answered in the affirmative to the publication's question about the possibility of export deliveries of Merkava tanks. "Yes, there are two potential countries with which we are negotiating that are at an advanced stage. I am forbidden to disclose information about this, but one of them is in continental Europe," he said.