The Philippines Now Has a State-of-the-Art Light Tank
The Sabrah Light Tank is one of Israel's most advanced pieces of military equipment. It is developed by Elbit Systems, an international defense electronics company based in Haifa, Israel.
The Philippines is one of the first countries in the world to acquire this military hardware from Israel. The tank was displayed during the 87th anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on December 19.
"One Sabrah light tank based on the ASCOD platform mounted with 105mm cannon as the main armament and coaxial 7.62 machine gun was one of the Armor 'Pambato' Division's newest assets that paraded over the 87th founding anniversary of the AFP on December 19, 2022, at the General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City," the Philippine Army's Armor Division wrote in a Facebook post.
According to Israel Defense, Elbit will provide the Philippines 18 tracked light tanks based on the ASCOD 2 platform, 10 wheeled light tanks based on the Pandur II platform as well as an additional 1 command vehicle and 1 recovery vehicle based on the ASCOD 2 platform. Initially, the Philippine Army considered acquiring 144 light tanks and tank destroyers.
"The Armor Division is expected to receive 20 new Sabrah light tanks from Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems Land and 10 Pandur II wheeled armored vehicles from Steyr-Daimler-Puch between 2023 to 2024," the Philippine News Agency reported.
