Philippines to receive this month 20 Sabrah light tanks from Israel

[Zarvan]

According to information published by the INQUIRER.NET website on December 20, 2021, the Philippine armed forces will receive this month 20 Sabrah light tanks produced by the Israeli company Elbit Systems.
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Artist rendering of Sabrah light tank that will be manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit System. (Picture source Elbit Systems)

In January 2021, the Israeli company Elbit Systems announced that it has been awarded a USD172 million contract to supply an undisclosed number of Sabrah light tanks and Pandur II direct-fire support vehicles to the army of a country in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to information from Col. Anthon Abrina, the Armor Division’s chief of staff of the Philippine Army, the acquisition of Israeli Sabrah light tanks as well as Pandur II 8x8 armored vehicles armed 105mm and 120mm cannons are part of the modernization program of the Philippine armed forces.

According to the military balance 2020, the Philippine army doesn’t have combat vehicles armed with 105 or 120mm. The Philippine army only has 7 FV101 Scorpion armed with a 73mm cannon and also a few M113A1 tracked APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) armed with a 76mm L23A1 gun.

The Sabrah is a light tank based on the ASCOD 2 tracked chassis manufactured by General Dynamics European Land Systems Santa Bárbara. It is fitted with a two-man turret armed with an Elbit Systems Land 105mm gun and one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. Each side of the turret is equipped with a bank of four smoke grenade dischargers. The turret drive is fully electric with elevation and traverse stabilization.

Standard equipment of the Sabrah turret includes a fire control system, laser range finder, and one panoramic sight with advanced Electro-Optic sensors (Day, Night-Vision, and LRF) for effective day, night, and all-weather fighting conditions. The panoramic sight is used for observation and target aiming.

The Sabrah 105 mm gun system is fitted with an automatic loading system with 12 rounds ready to fire. It has an effective firing range of 3,600m with a rate of fire of 6 rounds per minute. The vehicle carries a total of 36 ammunition, with 24 rounds stored in the hull. The gun can fire a wide range of NATO ammunition including HEP-T (High-explosive), HESH (High-explosive squash head), APFSDS (Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot) as well as advanced ammunition, T-MP-HE M110.

Philippines to receive this month 20 Sabrah light tanks from Israel | Defense News December 2021 Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army year 2021 | Archive News year (armyrecognition.com)

 

[Tshering22]

Philippines is arming up pretty well these days: T-129 gunships from Turkey, F-16s from US, BrahMos & Dhruv helicopters from India, now tanks from Israel... Seems like this is going to be a major operation against the Islamist separatist groups in Mindanao.

 

[Battlion25]

Philippines is arming up pretty well these days: T-129 gunships from Turkey, F-16s from US, BrahMos & Dhruv helicopters from India, now tanks from Israel... Seems like this is going to be a major operation against the Islamist separatist groups in Mindanao.

If you mean these Abu Sayaf they have defunct 3-4 years ago and pushed out of Mindanao they had zero support base in that Island or country.. Hence they aren't exactly a cat that can re-rise from the death.. Abu Sayaf didn't number more then 500 men but had occupied quite alot of the media despite being the size of a town gang they were pushed out during the Siege of Marawi..

But the Philippines is arming and I think it is directed at China and to some extent Indonesia but mostly China

 

[Tshering22]

If you mean these Abu Sayaf they have defunct 3-4 years ago and pushed out of Mindanao they had zero support base in that Island or country.. Hence they aren't exactly a cat that can re-rise from the death..

But the Philippines is arming and I think it is directed at China and to some extent Indonesia but mostly China

I was talking about the Moro separatists that they fought against in 2018. I still remember the Philippine Air Force complaining about not having dedicated gunships and was trying to acquire Mi-35 Hinds. But those didn't turn out to be economically feasilble, hence they wanted something more lighter and affordable. T-129 fit the bill perfectly. They even used the A-50 for the first time in ground strike and bomb drop missions then.

But yes, it is possible that they could be using it to shore up their defences against China. Pretty weird why they would go for gunships and light tanks at this point being an island nation facing threats in the sea; should have focused more on anti-ship and ASW capabilities. Ah well, their money.

 

[Battlion25]

I was talking about the Moro separatists that they fought against in 2018. I still remember the Philippine Air Force complaining about not having dedicated gunships and was trying to acquire Mi-35 Hinds. But those didn't turn out to be economically feasilble, hence they wanted something more lighter and affordable. T-129 fit the bill perfectly. They even used the A-50 for the first time in ground strike and bomb drop missions then.

But yes, it is possible that they could be using it to shore up their defences against China. Pretty weird why they would go for gunships and light tanks at this point being an island nation facing threats in the sea; should have focused more on anti-ship and ASW capabilities. Ah well, their money.

It was back in 2017 both Moro and the others I mentioned earlier were one entity more or less and interlinked and fought in that campaign in the siege of Marawi. Both entities have been pushed out of Mindanao..

If the sea gets breached then things will have to continue on land hence they will have to reinforce themselves there as well. This is probably China geared mostly and linked to SCS

 

[Tshering22]

It was back in 2017 both Moro and the others I mentioned earlier were one entity more or less and interlinked and fought in that campaign in the siege of Marawi. Both entities have been pushed out of Mindanao..

If the sea gets breached then things will have to continue on land hence they will have to reinforce themselves there as well. This is probably China geared mostly and linked to SCS

Let's hope it does not come to that. SCS is a bigger powder keg than the Indian Ocean or the Himalayas. One spark and a lot of hell would break loose. For the entire Asian economy.