According to an April 2025 DSCA press release, an FMS (Foreign Military Sale) item has been approved:
- Unspecified Num of 8V199TE21-D engines.
- Estimated cost up to $180 million.
- This supplements existing $85 million contract.
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| MTU 8V199 TE23 800kW / 1,100hp engine, a higher power version of the TE21 variant used on Eitan and Boxer |
A PowerPack, generally speaking, is the combination of an engine, transmission, and cooling system along with other peripherals, designed for optimized fitting in a package that supports minimal volume demands and easy maintainability and replaceability.
You can read more about that in this incredible piece by Jon Hawkes:
The Eitan saw its first operational use in October 7th 2023 where it was used to quickly reinforce the IDF Gaza Division and its AOR (Area of Responsibility).
On that day, Tanks, APCs and other AFVs drove on asphalt roads as it was a time-critical situation.
As the sole medium to high weight wheeled AFV in IDF service, it was exceptionally quick to arrive at the scene.
Its combination of high mobility and protection allowed the Eitan to star in multiple hostage rescue operations in Gaza.
There is no publicly available information on damage done to Eitans. There is also no evidence of Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon successfully engaging Eitan APCs through their own propaganda videos. This is likely due to the supposed scarcity of these vehicles still.
This in turn means the expanded contract is likely to indicate accelerated production.
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| Eitan in Gaza |
The 8V199 series is in particularly wide employment and the IDF is likely to benefit from the higher scale of logistics involved, and R&D roadmap for the series, as it is also being expanded for higher outputs.
As of April 2025, the Eitan is still not equipped with a 30mm turret. Although it has been recently announced the IDF has issued a tender for 30mm cannons likely for the Eitan.
The envisioned turret will store 350 30mm munitions and either Matador or Spike missiles.
Sources:
https://www.dsca.mil/Congressional-Notification-Archive/Article/4154118/israel-eitan-powerpack-engines
https://jonhawkes.wixsite.com/tanknologyinstitute/post/primer-powerpacks
https://www.israeldefense.co.il/node/64921
https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/64929
https://www.mtu-solutions.com/eu/en/pressreleases/2023/Rolls-Royce-introduces-first-UK-assembled-mtu-8V-199-engine.html
https://news.walla.co.il/item/3582022
