fire trucks and fire fighters into the heart of the fire. They also created buffer zones by clearing shrubbery and mounting soil barriers in order to prevent the fire from spreading. They also helped extinguish fires by burying them in dirt and soil. In 2014 the IDF Caterpillar D9 was recorded in Guinness World Records as the most armored bulldozer in the world. In 2019, Elbit Systems won an IMOD contract to install the Iron Fist active protection system on the IDF's armored D9 bulldozers, to give them extra protection from anti-tank missiles. Operation Protective Edge IDF D9 armored bulldozers took major role in Operation Protective Edge (2014), both in defensive missions and offensive maneuvers. The D9s assisted other heavy equipment such as excavators and drillers in exposing and destroying cross-border underground tunnels penetrating into Israel, more than 30 of these tunnels were destroyed during the operation. The reserve mechanical engineering equipment (צמ"ה) and bulldozers battalion of the Central Command received a citation of recommendation (צל"ש, tzalash) from the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. In the first day of the operation, an IDF D9 bulldozer foiled a penetration terror attack in the beach of Zikim, killing two terrorists. Two others were killed by IDF patrol boat. The D9s also participated in the ground offensive, opening routes to tanks and infantry forces, and demolishing structures that were used by Palestinian militants. On July 27, one D9 was hit by an anti-tank missile, killing its operator and wounding its commander. Another D9 demolished the building from which the missile was launched, killing 8 militants and capturing two more. The crew received a citation of recommendation (צל"ש, tzalash) for their action. D9T Panda In 2018 the Israel Defense Forces Combat Engineering Corps started to deploy and operate the "Panda" – a remote-controlled version of an armored Caterpillar D9T bulldozer. In 2018, Israel Aerospace Industries announced that it had signed a contract to equip the IDF with more D9T Panda dozers. Models in IDF service See also House demolition in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Armored bulldozer Mahmoud Tawalbe, head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, killed in the Battle of Jenin (2002) by an IDF D9 Rachel Corrie, an ISM activist killed by an IDF D9 while acting as a human shield References Citations External links Caterpillar D-Series Track-Type Tractors – Official Caterpillar website Armoured D9R Dozer (of the IDF) – review im