Abteilung 502 ABT607 T-54/5 TO IDF TIRAN 4/5 THE BIRTH OF A BASTARD TANK

In the Six Day War, some 860 enemy tanks were captured by the IDF, including some 280 T-54/5 tanks. Within a few years, 146 of them were introduced into service as Tiran 4/5. This book tells their story, a story of the only army that introduced a great number of enemy tanks into prolonged service. The Tiran tank did not really suit the IDF’s needs. It was in many ways a bastard tank. However, the IDF creatively tried to take advantage of all that it had to offer. It was used like no other tank—as a low-grade “bonus” reserve tank unit for wartime, as a mine-clearing tank, as a unique tool for special operations, and as an artillery cannon designated for destroying SA-3 anti-air missile batteries. After many alterations, the tanks were eventually incorporated in a Tiran 4/5 brigade, as part of a special tactical task force designed to conduct an armored maneuver in the Egyptian flank.