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- Provenance/Great Power Records
- Author/Great Power Records
In the arena of modern warfare, armored combat vehicles have always been regarded as one of the key factors determining victory or defeat. And the Israeli Merkava tank, with its excellent performance on the battlefield, is known as the safest tank in the world. So, what is so strong about it? Is it really as reliable as it says?
The history of the development of the Merkava tank
Israel's idea of developing its own tank with a high safety factor dates back to the Middle East war. Prior to this, Israel's tanks were bought from Britain, France and the United States, and the purchase of tanks not only required a huge amount of money, but also faced the dilemma of not being able to buy them, or the tanks they could buy were relatively backward.
Before the war in the Middle East, Israel had planned to buy tanks from Germany, but it had to terminate the purchase plan due to opposition from Arab countries. At that time, the United States was the only country that supplied tanks to Israel. After that, Israel decided to develop a tank on its own.
And the experience of actual combat also tells Israel that the role of mobility on the battlefield is not as great as imagined. In modern warfare, there are many means of attacking tanks, and it is difficult to survive even if they are not fast without adequate protection and firepower.
And in terms of protection and firepower, Israel has chosen to put its protection capability first. As a result, the early design idea of the Merkava tank was finalized. With $100 million in US assistance, the development of a new Israeli tank has officially begun.
Previously, tanks were mostly based on maneuverability. In order to further validate and improve the design idea, Israel began to build test vehicles using the M48 and Sunchulen main battle tank chassis. After much trial and error, the first prototype of the Merkava main battle tank was finally built in 1974. In October 1978, the first Merkava Mk1 main battle tank was officially delivered to Israeli troops.
Over time, the Merkava tank was constantly upgraded and improved. In December 1983, the Mk2 main battle tank was officially delivered. While retaining the sandwich gap armor and fuel storage protection, every detail of the MK2 has been fully optimized, from the hull to the turret.
The MK2 adds a layer of special armor partitions up to 50 mm thick behind the engine, further increasing the protection of the front of the tank's hull. And the rectangular cast steel cover above the tank engine was not only part of the upper armor of the front hull, but also served as a crane bracket for lifting the engine and transmission.
In response to the problem of turret protection, the MK2 main battle tank uses composite armor technology, and also uses a shield for armor-piercing shells by hanging iron chains under the aft compartment of the turret. A strong protective barrier was built not only on the front, but also on the sides, which greatly improved the protection of the turret.
The MK2 MBT also innovatively mounts a 60mm mortar on the left side of the turret, which makes it more flexible and lethal on the battlefield. With a range of up to 5,000 meters, the mortar can fire not only grenades against soft targets, but also smoke and flares.
The Mk3 was put into production in 1987. Compared to its predecessors, the Mk1 and Mk2 models, the Mk3 main battle tank uses more advanced composite materials, especially in the turret design, which introduces replaceable modular composite armor. This groundbreaking technology means that the armor module can be upgraded and replaced, allowing the tank's protection to evolve as technology advances.
The traditional double-gap steel plate armor was also changed to a single-layer shell structure, which served both as a base steel armor and as a base for composite armor modules in front of and on both sides of the turret. The composite armor module adopts a series of steel armor boxes, which are installed with composite armor plate assemblies inside, and are connected to the turret base by bolts, which effectively improves the protection performance of the whole vehicle.
The Merkava Mk3 main battle tank has also received an upgrade in armament, with the original 105mm rifled gun replaced by a 120mm smoothbore gun developed by the German company Rheinmetall, which is capable of firing shells used in the American M1A1 tank and the German Leopard 2 tank.
In order to further improve the performance of the tank, the design of the recoil was also improved, with a concentric structure and nitrogen as an elastic medium. This innovation directly reduces the diameter of the recoil device and mitigates the effects of recoil.
The addition of the Matador Mk3 fire control system allowed the Merkava Mk3 main battle tank to reach new heights in target capture and firing accuracy. Among them, the most central improvement is the new gun commander sight.
The new scope has a 12x magnification and is stable in both directions. The scope is perfectly integrated with a ballistic computer and a set of sensors to form an efficient fire control system, which greatly simplifies the target locking process and improves the accuracy of marching strikes.
Upgrades to the latest model, the MK4
In June 2002, the Merkava Mk4 tank was officially unveiled. With the accumulation of real combat experience, it has undergone significant improvements and adjustments on the basis of the Mk3, realizing the digitization of the modern battlefield.
In order to meet the challenges of the third and fourth generation of anti-tank missiles, the Mk4 tank design team completely turned conventional thinking and focused its protection capabilities on the top.
In order to cope with the overhead attack of terminal-guided missiles, the Mk4 abandons the hatch cover design of the traditional loader. This allows the entire turret roof to be used for component armor protection, giving the tank greater self-protection in the event of an attack.
The upgrade of the MK4 is also reflected in the newly equipped second-generation target automation system. The system is based on television cameras and thermal cameras, which effectively solves the problems of the previous automatic target system operating during the day and night, and gives the Merkava Mk4 main battle tank the ability to fight around the clock.
The automated system can lock on and track multiple enemy targets, greatly improving combat efficiency compared to previous versions. Even in a complex and volatile battlefield environment, it can calmly cope with various challenges. Neither enemy ground moving targets nor low-flying helicopters can escape its detection.
Although the Merkava has always prioritized protection, this does not mean that they have sacrificed mobility. On the contrary, the Merkava MK4 model is also quite good in terms of maneuverability.
MK4 adopts a 1500 horsepower engine newly developed by Germany, compared with the previous generation of Mk3 type, it achieves 5 gears of fully automatic transmission through the RK325 automatic new transmission device newly developed by Lenk company. This not only provides a higher speed of maneuvering, but also enhances the tank's ability to cope with various complex terrain.
In total, about 1,600 Merkava tanks have entered service until now. The Israeli army's continuous improvement and upgrading of Merkava has made it a powerful weapon on the modern battlefield.
Merkava tanks use an advanced casting process
As an outstanding military scientific and technological achievement on the modern battlefield, the Merkava tank shows its excellent performance, not only with the development of science and technology to upgrade the updated equipment, but also with excellent technical characteristics.
The hull of the Merkava tank was manufactured using an advanced casting process. This process makes it extremely highly protected, whether it is from enemy shells or other means of attack, the Merkava's hull is able to withstand the pressure and absorb the threat from the armor.
The Merkava's front upper armor plate was welded to create a good bulletproof shape. This design not only increases the difficulty of external attacks, but also improves the durability of the whole vehicle.
When designing the tank, the Merkava's fighting compartment was located in the middle and rear of the hull, and such a design provided a better combat view and space for action compared to conventional tanks, allowing the crew to operate more freely.
The cockpit, on the left side of the front of the car, is symmetrical to the power compartment. The driver's seat is equipped with a single-leaf hatch that opens to the left and three periscope sight glasses, one of which can also be replaced with passive night vision goggles. The purpose of this design is to provide better driving visibility and allow the driver to grasp the battlefield dynamics more accurately.
Not only that, but there is a passage between the cockpit and the fighting compartment, which allows the driver to quickly move to the fighting compartment if needed. The helm seat can be folded forward, providing the crew with easy access to the fighting compartment. Such a design not only optimizes the layout of the tank, but also improves the efficiency of combat and the safety of the crew.
In terms of protection that Merkava is most proud of, in order to counter the threat of enemy shelling and explosions, the Merkava main battle tank is equipped with specialized armor at the front of the most vulnerable hull. This armor has been carefully calculated and rigorously tested, and is able to effectively absorb and disperse the impact force from the outside.
The Merkava main battle tank has also put a lot of effort into the design of the mezzanine space. These compartments are intelligently arranged, some of which store non-flammable diesel fuel, while others are used to store machine gun ammunition. Through the function of reasonable arrangement of the sandwich space, it not only enhances the overall protection ability of the tank, but also effectively reduces the possibility of secondary explosion and reduces the damage to the crew.
The Merkava tank made the world remember the name Merkava with a beautiful victory
To evaluate the performance of a tank, it is certainly not enough to look at the strength on paper, but the performance in actual combat is the most critical. And the debut of the Merkava MK1 in the Middle East made the world remember the name of Merkava with a beautiful victory.
On 8 June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. During a night battle, the Syrian T72 tank battalion had an unexpected encounter with the Israeli Merkava tank detachment, and the Syrian tank quickly fired at the Merkava tank by virtue of its geographical advantage. However, they did not see the explosion or burning fire of Merkava that night.
The next day, Syria discovered that the Merkava tank used an efficient automatic fire extinguishing system and a reliable layer of protection meant that not a single tank burned or blew up because it was hit. Although nine tank crew members died, none of the rest were burned. This battle undoubtedly verified the protective performance of the Merkava main battle tank.
And in the 2006 war in Lebanon, one of the biggest challenges facing the IDF was how to respond to hundreds of anti-tank missile attacks. However, the four models of Merkava main battle tanks used by Israel have once again demonstrated their impressive protection against harsh conditions and heavy weaponry attacks.
According to an Israeli post-war assessment, Merkava main battle tanks were hit by hundreds of anti-tank missiles during the war, but only 18 tanks were badly damaged, and even only 5 to 6 tanks were penetrated by missiles, and only two were completely destroyed. Even if the tank is attacked, the crew inside the tank will remain unharmed.
Is the Merkava really the safest tank?
Outstanding performances in actual combat have given the Merkava tank the label of "the safest tank in the world". So, is the Merkava really that powerful? Not necessarily.
Although Merkava did an excellent job of protection, its mobility and firepower were still a little worse. Even if the MK4 intends to make efforts to improve its firepower and maneuverability, it will only barely meet its needs in the Middle East. Comparing it to the world, it is somewhat dwarfed.
After all, while the powertrain front-end solution brings many advantages, it also brings some unavoidable problems for the design team, such as the height of the fire line.
Due to the limitations of the power front layout, the Merkava main battle tank could only reach -9 degrees, and could not reach the conventional depression angle -10 degrees. Although it seems that there is only a difference of degrees, the reduction of this degree has brought a lot of inconvenience to the operation.
On the one hand, the increase in the height of the line of fire makes the tank target larger, and loses the possibility of using terrain and features for concealment. On the other hand, it also led to a further increase in the weight of the tank. The weight of a tank has a significant impact on mobility and handling, and an overweight tank can be limited in difficult terrain and combat environments, reducing combat flexibility.
And to judge the safety of a tank, it is obvious that you can't just look at the protection ability. No matter how strong the protection capability is, if the firepower strike capability is not enough, or if there is a problem with mobility, it will still be hit in actual combat. Merkava's undefeated myth was also shattered when Israel attacked Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas announced the launch of the "Al-Aqsa flood" operation against Israel. Hamas commandos penetrated Israeli defenses, inflicting heavy casualties on Israeli forces. Among them, Hamas used a civilian drone to mount an RPG tandem warhead and destroyed a Merkava main battle tank.
On November 4, in street battles in which tanks were at their weakest, Hamas used high-rise buildings, ruins and other shelters to ambush Israeli forces and deal a fatal blow to Israeli forces, and Merkava was again destroyed by an old RPG. In just two days, Hamas destroyed 24 armored vehicles, including several Merkava MK4 tanks.
It can be seen that although the protection performance of the Merkava tank is very good, the battlefield is complex, and Israel cannot rely on a single tank to establish its own victory.
What's more, with the continuous development of modern science and technology, the future war situation will be more complicated, and the continuous emergence of new weapons will only have a greater and greater impact on tanks. It remains to be seen whether Israel will be able to continue to improve its Merkava tanks as outside weapons are upgraded.
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