During the 1960s and ‘70s, Israel purchased a number of M48 and M60 tanks from West Germany and later the USA. These tanks and their subsequent upgraded versions were named Magach. The first two Magach tanks were for the most part “stock” versions Israel initially received, without any significant retrofits. However, the first wave of major upgrades became visible with the Magach 3. This version intended to upgrade the Israeli M48s to the A4 standard, following the Six-Day-War of 1967. The Magach 3 introduced several major improvements over the previous versions, including the replacement of the 90mm with the L7 105mm cannon, an improved diesel engine and transmission as well as a low-profile commanders cupola, just to name a few.

During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Israel suffered heavy tank losses at the hands of entrenched Egyptian infantry on the Sinai peninsula. After the war, the Israeli tank force was more than halved. Once a critical vulnerability was discovered with the location of the highly flammable hydraulic fluid of the Magach tanks, the decision was made to replace the losses sustained in the previous war with newer Magach 5 and 6 tanks during the 1970s. The newer Magach tanks would introduce more improvements over time that further tailored their performance to the IDF’s needs, but that’s a story for another day. The Magachs remained the frontline MBT of the IDF until the ‘80s and ‘90s until they were gradually being replaced by Israel’s new domestically designed Merkava tank. By 2006, all Megachs were decommissioned from active service.