IDF to replace Israeli-made Tavor rifles with American M4s

The IDF is making some changes to its armory, including M4 rifles and new vehicles. 

By Donna Rachel Edmunds, World Israel News

The IDF will phase out use of its Tavor and micro-Tavor rifles just ten years after they were first introduced to some units the IDF have said, according to Israel Hayom.

The Tavor will be replaced in those units with American M4 rifles. “Quite a few armies in the world use this rifle, and for good reason – it’s an excellent weapon,” Col. (Res.) Arik Avivi, the outgoing head of the land arm weapons department, said of the M4.

The Israeli rifles will not be decommissioned entirely, but instead will be transferred to use by reserves units.

The M4 has been in use in the IDF since 2001 and is the weapon used by special units, the commando brigade and the Tzanchanim (Paratrooper) and Kfir infantry brigades. For the first decade of its use in the IDF it was the mostly widely used rifle, used also in some infantry units, but in 2011 it was replaced by the Israeli-produced Tavor and micro-Tavor.

One infantry brigade will transfer to the M4 in the near future, with other units to follow in due course.

Meanwhile, the IDF is also phasing out its Hummer trucks. Made by AM General and first marketed in 1992, the Hummer went out of production in 2010, which means that the youngest vehicles are now in their second decade.

They may be replaced by Israel vehicles, which Avivi pointed out are much cheaper than the American alternatives, although a final decision has not yet been made.

“In the world of vehicular maneuvering we have old platforms, therefore we’re starting now to consider the alternatives,” he said.

“We have a wide range of options – both American and Israeli. We have not yet summarized the list, but we are ripe for the decision. The vehicle will be seen for a long time to come, as the development time of combat tools takes an average of five years, and often longer.”