page_title: Caterpillar D9
section_title: Military applications
hierarchical_section_title: Caterpillar D9 / Military applications
caption_attribution_description: Español: Caterpillar D9H cerca de El Rebollar (Requena)
context_page_description: The Caterpillar D9 is a large track-type tractor designed and manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. It is usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment.
  The D9, with 354 kW of gross power and an operating weight of 49 tons, is in the upper end of Caterpillar's track-type tractors, which range in size from the D3 57 kW, 8 tons, to the D11 698 kW, 104 tons.
  The size, durability, reliability, and low operating costs have made the D9 one of the most popular large track-type tractors in the world.
context_section_description: Caterpillar Inc. does not manufacture a military version of the D9 per se, but the attributes that make the D9 popular for major construction projects make it desirable for military applications, as well, and with Israeli modifications and armor, it has been particularly effective for the Israel Defense Forces and also used by KBR in Iraq.
  The US Army used D9 bulldozers to clear forest in the Vietnam War, but after the war, they were replaced with smaller and cheaper Caterpillar D7G bulldozers. D7G bulldozers are still very common in US combat engineering battalions, but a series of oft-recurrent suggestions have been made to replace the lighter D7Gs with the newer and more heavily armored D9s.
  The Caterpillar D9 have been used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since it was introduced, but an armored model, with Israeli-developed vehicle armor kit, was introduced only in 1986, on the D9L. The IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer is operated by combat soldiers from the Combat Engineering Corps (Hebrew: חיל ההנדסה הקרבית) after going through a 2-month course. Many of the D9 operators are reservists and veterans, who operated heavy equipment also as civilians. The current models of the D9 employed by the IDF are the D9L, D9N, D9R, and D9T. Most of the IDF's D9 fleet today are composed of the D9R with slat armor. 
  The IDF  D9 gained notoriety during the Second Intifada (2000–2005) when it was used to clear improvised explosive devices and booby traps, and also to demolish Palestinian structures. The Israeli armor makes the D9 impervious to machine gun and sniper fire and to explosive charges and heavy roadside bombs. These attributes made it ideal to win the Battle of Jenin 2002 during Operation Defensive Shield. A 2003 incident involving an IDF D9, in which a 23-year-old American activist was killed, resulted in a federal lawsuit against Catepillar, Inc. ("Corrie et al. v. Caterpillar".) being filed in 2005. The case was eventually closed with the Caterpillar Company not being found responsible for the death of a woman in the Palestinian protests; she stood in front of a tractor, and death was brought about by her own actions. Today, the D9 is one of the main combat engineering tools of the IDF and is considered a valuable asset.
caption: Caterpillar D9H in Requena (Spain)
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