Israeli Sherman SPG identification guide

Note this article also includes rocket launching Shermans, however, the 160mm mortar Sherman (MAKMAT 160) and the Shrike AGM 45 launching kilshon Sherman will not be here.

There were three main Sherman-based SPGs and two types of rocket-launching Shermans, from world war two surplus to domestic modifications and weaponry mounted on Sherman tanks.

M7 Priest

On the 29th of May 1961, they were referred to as “priest”.

They were not modified and were the same as they were in World War Two, not much to say as they are recognizable with their short cannon and cannon shape.

M50 TOMAT

TOMAT (תומ”ת) in Hebrew is an abbreviation for Totach Mitnaye’a and is the equivalent of SPG. They were Sherman-based SPGs mounting the french made 155mm M50 howitzer (the model 50), just like the M50 and M51 Shermans, there were degem alef and bets, in this regard, it’s identical to normal Shermans, with the degem alef having the older R975 Radial engine and VVSS while the degem bet had HVSS and the new 460 horsepower Cummins engine, additionally, the degem bet has a radiator for the new Cummins engine at the front which covers the MG port. It is recognizable by the muzzle brake, being round and full of slits on either side.
The top is a degem alef (1964-1968) the bottom is a degem bet (1968 onward, 1968 all TOMATs were converted to the degem bet standard)

Ro’em

The Ro’em (meaning thunderer) also sometimes referred to as the L/33

is a heavily modified Sherman equipped with the domestic M68 cannon produced by Soltam, it uses an L/33 version of the cannon due to the old Sherman chasey not being able to hold the recoil of anything longer, it is extremely recognizable by the addon box like armour enclosure and the muzzle brake which looks completely different from any other Sherman.

Recently I bought 400 IDF pictures (some have been scanned and can be viewed here) from the collection of tat aluf toovia margalit RIP, and out of them all one stood out, a Ro’em with a different cannon, the ML 20 cannon! only one picture is known to exist and it is from my collection, if you find any others contact me immediately at shiryonarchive@gmail.com.

MAR 240 Sherman

The MAR 240 is a 240mm rocket launcher system based on the launcher of the BM24 katyusha captured by Israel in 1967, it has 36 launch tubes, and the launcher is mounted sideways, and cannot traverse side to side, only up and down. it is very recognizable due to the launcher’s construction and launch tubes on the side.

MAR 290 Episkopi Sherman

A further improvement over the MAR 240 the MAR 290 Episkopi launcher is fully domestic with 290mm rockets, it can launch either a HE rocket (named Eivri) or a cluster HE rocket (named Chaviv), and it is recognizable by its 4 launch tubes mounted backwards.