Israeli Army Prepares Bulldozer D9R 'Obviously' Invasion Of Gaza

JAKARTA - The Israeli army is expected to be gathering troops in preparation for a full-scale invasion of Gaza. There its soldiers prepare for narrow roadlattices, a wide network of tunnels, traps, and hiding snipers.

In this urban environment, the D9R armored bulldozer, called Doobi or 'Teddy Bear', will be an important element for the success of the attack.

Land operations in dense residential districts in the Palestinian enclave will require special equipment to clear roads for 300 tanks and 173,000 soldiers gathered at the border. D9R was nicknamed 'Teddy Bear' of military language for any bulldozer.

The D9R is capable of harboring two soldiers in a armored cockpit, namely a driver and a commander, where bullet-proof glass provides protection against sniper shots and machine guns.

In 2015, D9R was upgraded by'slat armour' to provide more protection vehicles against anti-tank grenades widely used by Hamas in previous conflicts.

Slat Armor, also known as Cage or bar Armor, works by allowing sensitive detonator tips from the rocket to pass before damaging the explosive body so that the rocket does not explode or becomes less effective.

With a length of 8 meters x 4 meters x 4 meters wide 4.5 meters and a weight of 62 tons, D9R is a very large military equipment capable of crossing all obstacles ahead of it.

The D9R Bulldozer is powered by a 3408C Cat engine capable of generating 405 stances and attracting more than 70 tons.

This not only helps the bulldozer overcome obstacles, but also allows various roles of infrastructure support such as digging ditches and building bridges or defense structures.

Teddy Bear can also be equipped with installation of machine guns, grenade launchers, or smoke projectors for additional combat capabilities.

In 2018, Israeli soldiers also began deploying and operating the D9R Panda, a remotely operated bulldozer version for a more dangerous environment.

The cost of D9R is unclear because the vehicle was purchased directly from Caterpillar by the Israeli military and then equipped with a special protective layer.

However, the cost of a new bulldozer Cat D9 is at least US$900,000 (Rp14.1 billion) before an additional increase is made.

As part of Operation Cast Lead in 2008, a large-scale invasion of Gaza, the Israeli army used 109 D9 D9R which played a key role in destroying buildings such as bunkers and tunnels.