I am very interested in learning about the Merkava and it looks like a solid tank to me.

But I'm going to ask again, where is the information about its armor and what it can withstand?

But I'm going to ask again, where is the information about its armor and what it can withstand?

Its hard to find anything exact on Israeli hardware...But I believe that the Merkava Mk 3 is armoured about the same as the M1A1. Merkava Mk 4 should be much better. Israel did some other stuff, Like put the engine upfront, so the crew has a lot more protection. No onereally knows the noumbers aside from the IDF, but it is believed by many that the Merkava is the best at crew survivebilety.

Originally Posted by Whispering Death

I am very interested in learning about the Merkava and it looks like a solid tank to me.

But I'm going to ask again, where is the information about its armor and what it can withstand?

That's pretty classified. Israel doesn't want the world knowing what can blow up it's tanks.

Anyone notice that a lot of modern tanks have the abrams base

an interesting tank it is, the main battle tank is the standard of the world, and the main point of the main battle tank is the capability to destory other tanks and pentrate enemy defensive networks as well as devensive tactics.

the tank should be designed around the three factors: speed, armor and weapon.

out of all these i think the leopard 2 wins, it is pretty advanced and hulk

? This topic is not about which is the best tank, its about the merkava...

Indeed.

I just love the the design of the merkava, its just butifull. Majestic like a desert animale (scorpion comes to mind) with an extencive armor just like the scorpion. Only the underbelly is where it can be hurt (well I'm trying to compare it to a scorpion :P) and with deadly weapons

I guess you will have to compare a stone to the ATGM hehe as some animales use a stone to crush the ontop armor of a scorpion with a stone. Just like a ATGM attacks the top of the tank

Originally Posted by rOk

My personal opinion is that between the top 5 tanks there's little to differentiate...it all comes down to politics, price, and other terms of the deal (home production, etc...)

you forgot crews and lower officers, 2 important things that have been essential in IDF victories in the past .

alex, im guessing the underbelly is VERY well armored, IDF has learnt from experince of MANY road bombs and mines to armor its tank, and up armor its existing m113's etc with steel plates for the floors... even the unarmored cards have steel plates for mines atleast up to say, 10kg.

i would also like to state, that the merkava 4 is very new, alot of the other top tanks are a few years old already...

another point is that the morter is used to conserve vital ammo from the main gun (only carries 50), this is handy for use against bunkers etc...

Originally Posted by rocco

alex, im guessing the underbelly is VERY well armored, IDF has learnt from experince of MANY road bombs and mines to armor its tank, and up armor its existing m113's etc with steel plates for the floors... even the unarmored cards have steel plates for mines atleast up to say, 10kg.

i would also like to state, that the merkava 4 is very new, alot of the other top tanks are a few years old already...

another point is that the morter is used to conserve vital ammo from the main gun (only carries 50), this is handy for use against bunkers etc...

The mortar isn't used for that, 50 rounds of 120mm is the highest magazine count in the world for any tank. The mortar is used for firing illumination rounds and HE at infantry. I think it can also be dismounted so the crew can keep fighting after the tank dies.