The Philippine Army (PA) has finally acquired its first unit of Sabrah light tank, a wheeled and tracked variant of armored vehicles that is designed for rapid movements during combat operations to outmaneuver heavier tanks.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Thursday, Dec. 22, that the Sabrah light tank is another “game-changing” asset in the current fleet of the Army.
The Sabrah light tank was spotted last Monday during a parade witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City for the 87th founding anniversary of the AFP.
The Sabrah light tank is operated by the Army Armor “Pambato” Division’s 1st Tank Battalion, a unit that was reactivated only last April 21 but has since played a key role in the defense of the country’s land domain.
“The new armor asset further improved the Armor Division’s capabilities in providing lethal firepower for both internal and external security operations,” the AFP said.
“It has a highly sophisticated modular armor and ballistic protection of up to NATO STANAG 4569 Level 4. It also comes with 105mm main armament cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun and fully-electric turret drive,” it added, describing the lethal firepower of the armored vehicle.
The new armored vehicle was the first of 20 units of Sabrah light tank delivered to PA by Israeli defense manufacturer, Elbit Systems Ltd.
The PA purchased the light tanks for P9.4 billion through its Light Tank Aquisition Project under the second horizon of the revised AFP modernization program.
The rest of the units are expected to be delivered in “early 2023,” according to the Army Armor Division.