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The Puma (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: פומ"ה פורץ מכשולים הנדסי) is a heavily armored
Combat engineering vehicle A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment (such as the armoured bulldozers that many nations field) ...
and
armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...
that the Engineering Corps of the
Israeli Defence Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
has used since the early 1990s. The vehicle can carry a crew of up to eight. The 50-ton vehicle's speed is 45 kilometers an hour. The Puma uses the hull of the
Sho't Sho't () is the Israeli designation of the 105 mm L7 armed Centurion tank, which entered Israeli service in the late 1960s. Versions Sho't Meteor The Sho't Meteor is a Centurion tank with the original Rolls-Royce Meteor petrol engine. Sho't ...
, which is itself a modified British
Centurion tank The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post- World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seei ...
. Some Pumas are equipped with the Carpet mine-clearing system. This consists of 20 rockets that the crew can fire singly or all together. The rockets contain a
fuel-air explosive A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...
warhead which spreads a cloud of fuel fumes that are then detonated. The overpressure from the explosion destroys most mines. The Puma then advances behind a set of rollers that trigger any mines the fuel-air explosion did not destroy. There is also electronic equipment for detonating roadside bombs or jamming detonation signals. The Puma is capable of towing a mobile bridge for deploying over trenches and enemy land obstacles during battle. Unlike the
M60 AVLB The M60 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) is an armored vehicle based on the M60 Patton main battle tank's hull and used for the launching and retrieval of a scissors-type bridge. The AVLB consists of three major sections: the launcher, the v ...
launching the bridge, the Puma pulls the bridge during combat and pushes the bridge over the obstacle, allowing tanks and infantry personnel carriers to maneuver quickly in the battlefield. Armament consists of three 7.62 mm
FN MAG The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, in ...
machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ...
, including one in a remote turret that the crew can control from within the cabin by a
Rafael Overhead Weapon Station The Rafael Overhead Weapon Station is a remote weapon station developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces. It has been superseded by the Rafael Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS). However, ...
(OWS). The vehicle also has a 60 mm mortar and two launchers for smoke grenades.


Current developments

Israel is forming a fourth Combat Engineer Battalion that will specialize in dealing with roadside bombs, mines and booby traps. As part of this effort, Israel will also upgrade its Pumas. The army is adding new equipment for dealing with roadside bombs and is training the crews to cope with the growing numbers of explosive devices encountered in regions such as Gaza.


Controversial use

The Puma was highlighted by the British government as a breach of agreement when they were used in the
Israeli-occupied territories Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to ...
, having components based from the
Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
.


References


External links


Puma + Sho't Family


(Israeli-Weapons) Armoured personnel carriers of Israel Military engineering vehicles Tracked armoured personnel carriers Israeli Combat Engineering Corps Military vehicles introduced in the 1990s {{mil-vehicle-stub