Israel Merkava Mark 4 - Merkava Tank is the Main Battle Tank currently in service with Israel armed forces. Merkava Mark 4 tank is a major development over Merkava Mark 1 which itself came into existence in 1977 as Israel need a homemade option for their country fighting with its neighbors since its existence and been using foreign tanks like British centurion tank which is not suited with the geography of Israel they need something specially designed for their own terrain. That make Merkava Mark 4 the only tank which is built with the consultancy of tank regiments live war feeds and lessons learned from the war.
Armor Protection – The Merkava Mark 4 is considered to be most safe tank for its crew and the whole tank is designed around the crew protection as a main purpose. The armor of the tank is composite homogeneous rolled armor which is made from various sandwiched layer of metal ,Kevlar and other homogeneous products and its armor I sloped in such a way that the projectile have to go through more mass of armor for penetrating it. Merkava Mark 4 is the only tank in world which has placed the engine of the tank in front which provide added protection for the crew survival which are seated behind the armor and the huge engine of the tank moreover it can also use the option of adding Explosive reactive armor tile to further enhance its protection. Merkava Mark 4 is also provided with unique escape hatch at the rear of the tank which saves the crew of the tank in case of tank being on fire and upper hatch are blocked.
Mobility - The Merkava Mark 4 is provided with turbocharged V12 diesel engine generating 1,500 horsepower was designed by MTU a German based design and is manufactured under license. The Merkava Mark 4 is weighted 65 ton which put it in heavy class tanks but the powerful diesel engine provides the world class power to weight ratio of 23 hp per ton and nice top speed of 55 km/hr.With the large fuel tank of 1400 liters The Merkava Mark 4 got the high operational range of 500 km which adds up to its mobility. The Merkava Mark 4 is also been provided with helical spring suspension system which is better than the classic torsion bar suspension and give it go anywhere endurance.
Fire Power - The Merkava Mark 4 is armed with a lethal 120 mm smooth-bore main gun which can punch trough the toughest armor of the other tanks but its main gun can be used not only to fire tank rounds but it can fire Lahat anti-tank missile too which further make it more lethal. The Merkava Mark 4 got the world standard computerized fire-control system coupled with infrared range finder to hit the target accurately several miles away. The Merkava Mark 4 got its main gun electrically stabilized which provides it with the capability of firing its main gun with nice accuracy while the tank is on the move. The Merkava Mark 4 got one 7.62 mm commander Machine Gun and one 7.62 mm coaxial Machine Gun as a secondary weapon. But unlike other MBT’s in the world it also provided with one 60 mm mortar system with optical sights which is operated remotely from inside the tank and this provided the Merkava Mark 4 with added lethality to its firepower. The Merkava Mark 4 is also provided with active protection system in which it can pop smoke and Infra-red decoys to mask it position in a situation of assault or in defense of tank itself.
Limitation's - The Merkava Mark 4 got the world standard Armor protection but this also adds up-to its weight which is 65 ton heavy tanks which is countered with its powerful engine providing near best power to weight ratio of 23 hp ton and this make it good to fight in rough plains and deserts of Israel but this can create a problem if it had to cross non reinforced bridges in urban atmosphere which decreases its mobility. The Merkava Mark 4 is also very complicated and expensive tank to mass produce therefore only 360 were produced so far. Moreover for producing The Merkava Mark 4 several critical parts like main gun, engine and other equipment are imported from other countries which make the logistics of production more complicated.
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