Caterpillar D9R armored bulldozer

The Caterpillar D9 is a bulldozer, customized with armor by the Israeli Defense Forces to demolish houses, clean roads of IEDs, and clear orchards, according to Wikipedia.

1. [Duffong]

   … and the olive green army paint feature makes it invisible! Unsuspecting families won’t know what hit them as the house start crumbling around them.

2. [urshrew]

   ‘eavy metal…

   I don’t know what the future holds, but I know its Dystopian.

3. [Isaac]

   Not Wikipedia, Wikimedia. Here’s the Wikipedia entry. Here’s how Wikipedia describes its applications:

   The Israeli Engineering Corps used armored versions of the D9L, D9N and D9R to clear booby-trapped areas, open routes, rescue stuck armored fighting vehicles and build sand mounds. During the Al Aqsa Intifada D9 bulldozers were used to demolish alleged terrorists’ houses under fire, as the dozers withstood massive IEDs (some of 200 kg and even 500 kg of explosives) and even deflected RPG rounds and were impervious to machinegun fire.

4. [Anonymous]

   I don’t think you fully grasp how massive that thing is. In Iraq, our support platoon got to use one of these. I’m 6’7″, and when I stood next to the thing, I was shorter than the blade on front.

   The cab’s turret for a .50 caliber machine gun is pretty sweet too.

5. [nehpetsE]

   Soylent green is kosher?

6. [zuzu]

   Perfect for Israeli settlers expanding into the wild frontier.

7. [Anonymous]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

8. [Bret]

   …Buuuut, mostly for destroying housing while the occupants fire at you from inside. I don’t see why its so hard for some people to see what’s wrong with the situation in Gaza.

9. [nehpetsE]

   at first i only saw the killdozer, but now i suddenly see the creeping shadows of spectators.

   a press conference?
   an outdoor cafe?

10. [dculberson]

    Bret, there are things wrong on both fronts and any reasonable person sees that..

11. [Stuart Ellis]

    Boy would I love to take on the morning rush hour commute in that sucker.

12. [the_boy]

    best way over to piss off humvee owners. Actually, more than that I want the Top Gear guys to review it. In Ireland.

13. [mrsomuch]

    Gaza aside (eew, how cavalier does that sound)

    that is a bad ass piece of machinery. my inner Tonka driver just did a little wee.

14. [Secret_Life_of_Plants]

    And smaller windows for even better plausible deniability the next time someone from the International Solidarity Movement gets mowed down.

15. [ridl]

    My friend Rachel was murdered by one of these.

16. [Secret_Life_of_Plants]

    Or this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqhAmP-gq4

17. [Marshall]

    These things are awesome. Much more useful, dollar for dollar, than a $50 million fighter jet. Unfortunately they’re a reminder that the battlefield has moved off the field and into the cities.

18. [Downpressor]

    “Soylent green is kosher?”

    Only if prepared under proper rabbinic supervision.

19. [Tony Moore]

    all i see is another KillDozer waiting to happen.
    oh, Daisy Etta, you’ve grown!

    -T

20. [NoamR]

    This thing is massive, but slow as hell – 12 KM/h at best.

21. [bbonyx]

    @ #7 – I came in for that, thanks for fulfilling.

22. [Rodney]

    This is the exact tool used to murder Rachel Corrie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

23. [Downpressor]

    I can haz more liberal whinge?

24. [Andrew W]

    Yeah, you tell ‘em Downpressor! Stupid liberals, always not wanting civilians to get killed. Buncha dicks. Its not like thy’re people WE know. They’re not even from our COUNTRY!

25. [nehpetsE]

    Downpessor has proof that liberal jewish media elite are antisemitic.

26. [Downpressor]

    @25 the proof is under my tin foil kippa

27. [Takuan]

    you knew Rachel Corrie, Ridl?

28. [ridl]

    Yeah, Tak, I knew Rachel. We weren’t close, but we worked on some projects together in Olympia. I actually saw her getting coffee the day she left for Palestine and wished her well. She was a sweet, fun, intelligent, and passionate woman. The entire community came together to mourn her death and stand in vigil both for Palestine and for Iraq, as she was killed the day before Bush began his war.

29. [treetopflyer06]

    well sorry ridl, thats what is called natural selection. these dozers top out at eight miles an hour, and this thing isnt going to pounce out from behind the tree. Everyone forgets that Hamas does not recognize the right of Israel or its citizens to exist. Hamas was VOTED INTO POWER BY A MAJORITY IN A DEMOCRATIC ELECTION! so don’t give me the innocent civilian bullshit. if they were to stop shooting their little katyusha rockets then israel would stop coming back to the gaza strip. SO the next time some upper middle class recent college graduate goes over and intercedes in something that they don’t understand, I don’t want to hear a peep about any innocent civilians.