Israel's old m113s were repurposed as explosive traps in Lebanon
Israel is renowned for its intriguing tactics, and one such example is leaving old, abandoned M113 Zelda armored personnel carriers in Lebanon as Trojan horses. Here's why the IDF employs this strategy.
In Lebanon, following the IDF's entry, abandoned M113 Zelda armoured personnel carriers were discovered, intended to act as traps for Hezbollah fighters. These Israeli relics are reportedly filled with explosives and left as bait.
The intention is likely to detonate them when Hezbollah fighters attempt to seize them or, for example, in their hideout. This is not the first time the IDF has used such traps, having previously employed them during confrontations with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
M113 Zelda — a relic serving as a Trojan horse for Israel
The IDF no longer employs M113 carriers, except in specialised variants like anti-aircraft Machbets. For this reason, around 5,000 vehicles were stored away, and someone conceived an unusual way to utilise them.
It is possible that Israel converted some M113s into remotely controlled moving bombs (resistant to gunfire, for instance, from AK rifles) or used them as traps for fighters looking to capture a trophy.
M113 transporters are an old design from the Vietnam War era, adapted to carry 11 soldiers in addition to the commander, who also serves as the gunner and the driver. Due to flotation requirements, the armour of the M113 is made of aluminium alloys and provides protection only against artillery shrapnel and fire from 7.62 mm calibre rifles.
It is worth noting that this refers only to bullets with a lead core, and an FN FAL rifle loaded with armour-piercing ammunition would penetrate it without issue. It was the most common armoured personnel carrier within NATO during the Cold War for decades, but today it is an outdated design. Nevertheless, it is still preferable to a hastily reinforced pickup truck.
