以色列国防部告诉《防务新闻》，巴拉克与前几代梅卡瓦坦克一样，是由国防部装甲战车管理局（当地称为“MANTAK”）开发的。该部没有具体说明订购的单位数量、部署时间表和成本，但表示尽管技术飞跃，但价格与梅卡瓦 4M 类似。以色列国防军的梅卡瓦 4M 价值约 350 万美元。
巴拉克的亮相是在梅卡瓦 4 坦克进入以色列国防军库存约二十年后。巴拉克的开发花了五年时间，并在去年进行了测试。
以色列国防部表示，预计每年向军方提供数十辆坦克，第一个巴拉克旅将在大约两年内建成。在此过程中，老旧的梅卡瓦4坦克将从常规营转为预备营。预计到 2025 年底，巴拉克将取代第 401 旅的所有梅卡瓦 4 坦克。
Barak 配备触摸屏和一个可帮助执行任务的应用程序商店。该坦克的系统能够快速生成和提取信息，然后将该数据传输到作为目标库一部分的打击组件，同时还在军事部门之间实时传输情报。据装甲部队称，两辆巴拉克坦克将能够为联合部队执行以前需要一个排或整个连的梅卡瓦坦克的任务。陆军预备役军官告诉《防务新闻》，一个装甲坦克连通常拥有 10 辆坦克。新坦克的批量生产于上个月开始，装甲兵第52营的一个连最近收到了第一辆巴拉克坦克。
JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday unveiled its new Barak tank for the military’s Armored Corps, a platform equipped with artificial intelligence, sensors, radar and small cameras.
The Defense Ministry said the tank’s systems will provide superiority to Israeli troops by revealing enemy locations and providing targets for combat troops on the battlefield based on 360-degree peripheral observation technology.
“The Barak tank was designed based on a concept of anti-fragility, with the aim of providing the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers a weapon system with built-in flexibility, which will allow them to win in all combat situations,” said Brig. Gen. Oren Giber, who leads the ministry’s Merkava and armored vehicles directorate.
The Barak, like the Merkava tanks of previous generations, was developed by the Defense Ministry’s directorate of armored combat vehicles, locally known as MANTAK, the ministry told Defense News.
The ministry would not specify the number of units on order, their deployment timeline nor their cost, but did say the price is similar to that of the Merkava 4M, despite the technological leap. A Merkava 4M for the Israel Defense Forces is about $3.5 million.
The Barak’s unveiling comes about two decades after Merkava 4 tanks entered the IDF’s inventory. Development for the Barak took five years, and it underwent testing over the last year.
The ministry said it expects to provide the military dozens of tanks each year, with the first Barak brigade standing up in about two years. During this process, the older Merkava 4 tanks will change hands from regular battalions to reserve battalions.
The Barak is expected to replace all Merkava 4 tanks in the 401st Brigade by the end of 2025.
The Barak includes touch screens and an operational application store to help with missions. The tank’s system is able to quickly produce and extract information, then transfer that data to strike assemblies as part of a target bank, while also transferring intelligence in real time between military branches.
According to the Armored Corps, a pair of Barak tanks will be able to carry out tasks for a combined force that previously required a platoon or a whole company worth of Merkava tanks. An armored tank company typically has 10 tanks, reserve officers from the corps told Defense News.
Mass production for the new tank began last month, and a company with Battalion 52 of the Armored Corps recently received its first Barak.
