The Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD) unveiled on 4 August a new armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) concept, dubbed Carmel, that uses artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous capabilities, and enhanced situational awareness to achieve new levels of battlefield effectiveness.
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IAI’s prototype for the Carmel programme was unveiled alongside ones from Rafael and Elbit on 4 August.
The goal of the programme is to reduce the number of onboard personnel in AFVs like the Merkava tank from four to two and enable them to operate under closed hatches, with the vehicle driving itself, detecting threats in real time, and providing recommendations to the crew on critical decisions.
The vehicles will also be able to control unmanned air and ground vehicles, as well as operate as part of a network that builds a shared picture of the battlefield and co-operate to efficiently engage targets.