Split from German Tanks: Merkava

Sexybeast said:
100 ton has less ground pressure than 60 tons?

is that right?

Read what I wrote a couple posts up.

Ground pressure is weight divided by area. You can have a 100 ton tank with a lower ground pressure if you have a greater area to distribute the weight.
 
Kozzy Mozzy said:
Sexybeast said:
Kozzy Mozzy said:
Not to mention weight doesn't have much to do with mobility, ground pressure does. During the Gulf war Saudi Arabia had one of it's wettest winters ever, with tons of rainful. M1A1s and Bradleys were able to maneauver over the massive amount of mud while Humvees were not.

if godofthunder's source is true, Merkava's max speed is about 55-60km/h, this is not very fast compared to other modern tanks (usually over 70km/h)

it is also a huge tank (can put 10 ppl or a motor in it right?)

and i have to say weight does have much to do with mobility...that is basic physics...ur point is irrelevent


sigh....i have a kind of feeling that we need to find a physics master here to solve the problem for us...

although i got 96% in physic 11 right now...i have to admit that i boost the mark up by doing a splendid trebuchet in a project...and physics 11 is very basic


so who can help me and kozzy mozzy

No my point is not irrelevant, because it is basic physics. Ground pressure has far more to do with mobility then weight. A tank can weigh 100 tons but have a ground pressure lower then a 60 ton tank and it will be able to negotiate terrain just as well.
 
Sexybeast, I posted the facts right here in this topic. If you rwfuse to read them and use them instead of noumbers you make up, than don't post...

And yes, the Merkava is made for Israeli needs. But lets see what those needs are: A tank that can fight massive armored battles in open plains and deserts, and also fight in urban warfare. Seems to me like most amries tofday need exactly that.
 
SHERMAN said:
Sexybeast, I posted the facts right here in this topic. If you rwfuse to read them and use them instead of noumbers you make up, than don't post...

sorry, i missed on the M1A2 parts
 
SHERMAN said:
Sexybeast, I posted the facts right here in this topic. If you rwfuse to read them and use them instead of noumbers you make up, than don't post...

And yes, the Merkava is made for Israeli needs. But lets see what those needs are: A tank that can fight massive armored battles in open plains and deserts, and also fight in urban warfare. Seems to me like most amries tofday need exactly that.
The fact that Israel factored urban combat into the design is huge. MBT's are not very effective in cities. Additionally, everything you would need to factor in for Urban comes out being awfully useful in forests and rough terrain. Low profile and the ability to smash through obstacles if need be ... etc. The low profile also means the Merkava has a low center of gravity which makes it harder to flip over.

Can anyone think of a terrain type that the Merkava would perform poorly on? You might have to redesign things slightly for cold weather and wet terrain, but I don't see a problem that would limit the Merkava once those concerns are accounted for. Anyone think of a situation where some other MBT is vastly superior to the Merkava??
 
It rains and snows in Israel too. The thing seems to handle the rough Golan heights well, I don't think adding snow would screw with it much.

No, there is NO main battle tank "vastly" superior to the Merkava in almost situation I can think off, which the exception of another tank having clear flank shots on the Merkava.
 
The fact that Israel factored urban combat into the design is huge. MBT's are not very effective in cities. Additionally, everything you would need to factor in for Urban comes out being awfully useful in forests and rough terrain. Low profile and the ability to smash through obstacles if need be ... etc. The low profile also means the Merkava has a low center of gravity which makes it harder to flip over.

Can anyone think of a terrain type that the Merkava would perform poorly on? You might have to redesign things slightly for cold weather and wet terrain, but I don't see a problem that would limit the Merkava once those concerns are accounted for. Anyone think of a situation where some other MBT is vastly superior to the Merkava??

i would assume operating in an active lava flow, deep water, or a swamp would present some difficulty,;)

compared to the merkava mk-4, i think the Abrams is vastly superior in age, and ir signature, the K-2 black panther is vastly superior in price, the chieftain is superior in weight. (but the closest thing to supernaturally invulnerable of any tank i mention). the leopard is superior in speed, and in overseas sales contracts.

other than that. i think most of the tanks are fairly close matches, and the advantage in any conflict would come down to the excellence of the tanks crew, and the military organization that supports them.

as far as the t-72 to 90 tanks and there variants, decidedly inferior in protection. seems the designers made a big mistake when a series of wars pointed out how nicely they blow up' they merely started hanging things on the outside of the tank, rather than securing the main gun ammo inside the tank from catastrophe, then hanging stuff on the outside of the tank.

PS. there is one afv that will do 60mph on a road 35-45 mph cross country, that would be the M-18 hellcat of wwii, although it is a streatch to call the hellcat an armored vehicle
 
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