Israeli Defense Force: Fight for Independence is a Total Conversion modification for the PC game Battlefield 2 (A.K.A. BF2). What we aim to achieve with this mod is to immerse the player into the historic wars involving Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, which are the 6-Day War, the War of Attrition, and the Yom Kippur War. The player will be able to play as a common soldier, crewmember, or pilot in these wars. The mod will feature historically accurate equipment such as the famous Russian AK-47, the fearsome SO-4050 bomber, the menacing IS3 and M48 tanks, and much, much more. Also, the maps will recreate actual battles that happened in these wars, to complete a historically-accurate and immersive modification. IDF:FFI is also a member of the acclaimed cooperative gaming studio Black Sand Studios.
The US M3 halftrack was the fore-runner of the modern infantry fighting vehicle. In 1940 the T14 prototype was standardized and accepted for production; it became the M2 and the M3 Armored Personnel Carriers. During World War II, the M3 proved to be a versatile workhorse, and eventually over more than 41,000 vehicles in no less than 70 versions were produced. Later, improved models of the M2 and M3 were designated M9 and M5. Production stopped in 1944, but the Half-Track remained in US service until the early 1950s.
Some of the earliest armored vehicles operated by the Israeli army in 1948 were WWII surplus US half-tracks, some being imported into Palestine painted red and labeled agricultural machinery. In this early period they were predominantly M5/M9 half tracks. Later, some M2 and M3 half tracks were acquired from a variety of sources, but predominantly France and war surplus dumps. The earliest IDF half tracks were armed with light machine guns that were later supplemented by 50 caliber heavy machine guns and even 20mm cannons, mortars & missiles.
It served with Israel (IDF) in multiple different wars until being replaced by the M-113 APC. During the Yom Kippur War the M3 fought along side the M-113 and serving well after the war also. It was developed into many different variants,included standard APC, command carrier, mortar carrier, missile carrier, recovery vehicle, anti-tank gun carrier and anti-aircraft gun carrier just to name a few. Our old M3 halftrack model and texture have been completely updated by Spyker. He did an amazing job in adding more detail to the model and texture, including the gunner postion next to the driver. This is the standard APC version but we will also have several more variants with different weapon configurations.