Ground Operations with Less Risk to Human Lives – IAI to Continue Developing ‘Carmel’ 

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been selected by Israel’s Ministry of Defense (IMoD) as the prime contractor and integrator for developing the concept and technologies for the future armored fighting vehicle for the IDF – the Carmel. 

At the conclusion of a successful live demonstration of a two-man, closed hatches armored fighting vehicle (AFV), IAI was selected by the IMoD to develop the next phase of the Carmel: development and demonstration of technologies for a multidimensional combat team, based on an AFV containing two crew members operating a range of systems alongside integrated autonomous, air, and land platforms, enabling significant improvement in the system maneuverability.

The Carmel demonstration has proven a combat concept in which an AFV, with closed hatches, is operated by a two-man man crew and can successfully cope with existing and future challenges on the battlefield. This solution is based on automatic and autonomous systems that complement the two-man team, and operate the central subsystems – the vehicles’ mission planning and management, situational awareness, driving and lethality. These capabilities allow the team to define, supervise and interfere only when there is a necessity or need, and enable to cover a wider area of concern while effectively meeting the challenges faced by the maneuvering forces. The system has the ability to locate and destroy time-sensitive targets with small footprints, through quick acquisition and effective engagement of targets.

According to the company’s announcement, the Carmel concept is groundbreaking on a global scale, and has grabbed the attention of many industries and militaries around the world. The program combines an innovative operational concept with the latest and most advanced state-of-the-art technologies, which provide solutions in the future battlefield based on a small team, and extensive reliance on autonomous capabilities based on artificial intelligence (AI), all while minimizing the risk to human lives in a ground campaign, minimizing collateral damage, and streamlining battle management.