[citation needed] The infantry fighting vehicle concept was first conceived of in the 1960s during the Cold War, where a confrontation between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries was expected to be dominated by tanks, so infantry required transport to sustain the pace of advance while having armament to fight tanks, and armor to withstand machine gun and artillery fire; the Soviet Union created the BMP-1/BMP-2 and the United States the M2 Bradley.

While IFVs provided troops with heavier mounted firepower, the prevalence of anti-tank rockets and guided missiles made it uneconomical to protect them from such weapons.

In an effort to field better protected troop carriers, some countries have experimented with converting tank hulls to carry dismounted infantry, such as Israel with the Namer.

[5] It is powered by the new generation 1,500 hp multifuel diesel engine 12N360 coupled with a hydro-mechanical automatic transmission, has a combat weight of about 48 tons, a maximum road speed of 65–70 km/h (40–43 mph), an operational range of 550 km (340 mi), and a power-to-weight ratio of over 30 h.p./t.

Its new Malakhit (Malachite) explosive reactive armour (ERA) is claimed to protect against ATGMs like the FGM-148 Javelin, Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP), 120 mm tank rounds like the German DM53/DM63, and American M829A3 armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS).