Israeli Eitan spotted with active protection system in training

An Eitan wheeled armored personnel carrier fitted with Hetz Dorban, an Israeli-developed hard-kill active protection system, was photographed during a recent training exercise, according to images published on the Israel Defense Forces’ website in August 2026.

The system is marketed internationally under its commercial name, Iron Fist, by Elbit Systems.

Hetz Dorban uses radar and optical sensors to detect incoming anti-tank rounds, then fires a countermeasure munition to destroy or divert the threat before it reaches the vehicle. Elbit says the system is built to defeat rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles, drones and, in some configurations, tank kinetic energy rounds. That range of coverage has become more relevant to Israel’s military planners since the wars in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli forces faced not only the RPGs and guided missiles that have long threatened armored vehicles, but also a growing use of first-person-view and loitering drones by Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Eitan in the photos belongs to the IDF’s 933rd “Nahal” Infantry Brigade, which became the first Israeli unit to receive the eight-wheeled APC in May 2023. The brigade has used the vehicle in training and operations since then as part of a gradual replacement of the aging M113, which Israel has operated since the 1970s.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense selected the Iron Fist Light Decoupled variant for the Eitan in August 2019, following a competitive bid. Rafael’s rival system, Trophy, has separately been upgraded to counter top-down drone attacks, reflecting a broader push by Israeli defense contractors to adapt existing active protection systems, originally designed against missiles and rockets, to the drone threat.

The Eitan weighs less than 35 tons and shares technology with Israel’s Merkava tank and Namer troop carrier, though it is lighter and built for higher road speeds, reaching about 90 kilometers per hour (56 mph). Oshkosh Defense, based in the United States, has produced the vehicle’s hulls since Israel selected the American company for that work in December 2022. A standard Eitan carries a crew of three plus nine soldiers.

The U.S. Army separately oversees production of the Eitan’s engines: it added $39.1 million to a Rolls-Royce Solutions America contract in September, pushing that deal’s total value to roughly $158.9 million.