Hello and welcome to Military TV. In this episode, we are going to talk
about The Merkava Tank made by Israel. One of the deadliest tanks in the world.
In the past forty years, just a handful of countries have proved themselves capable
of building their own main battle tanks. One of these tank powers is actually one
of the smallest countries in the world: Israel. Israel’s main battle tank, the Merkava series,
is one of the best-designed tanks ever produced. So, the Merkava is a main battle tank used by
the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). The tank began development in 1970, and entered official service
in 1979. It was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War. And the name "Merkava" was derived
from the IDF's initial development program name. Based on the history, we try to give a
brief reason why the tank is built. So sit back, relax and enjoy this video!
Israel’s independence in 1948 saw the formation of the Israeli Defense Forces, and the IDF cobbled
together a modest, ramshackle tank force to repel attacks from neighboring Arab countries. By the
1956 war the situation had improved considerably, and by 1967 Israel’s Armored Corps basically won
the Six-Day War with a blitz across the Sinai Peninsula and into the Golan Heights. The tanks,
American M48 and British Centurion tanks, crushed the opposition and brought a quick end to the war.
Israel’s pre-emptive attack on its neighbors was not popular with some of its European allies.
The United Kingdom canceled a joint tank-development project with Israel.
France embargoed further deliveries of Mirage fighter jets and missile boats.
The lesson for Israel was to decrease its reliance on foreign powers for its armaments,
and in 1970 the IDF began to develop a tank of its own.
The job of making an Israeli tank a reality fell to Maj. Gen. Israel Tal, former commander of the
IDF Armored Corps and who led the Eighty-Fourth Armored Division to victory in the Sinai.
Tal’s project was a major challenge, as Israel’s military-industrial complex was in its infancy
and the country had never built a large armored vehicle before. Working from a clean sheet,
Tal could build a tank from the ground up with Israel’s tank-warfare experiences baked in.
Now, we will show you the tank specifications into three attributes:
firepower, mobility, and protection.
Firepower The tank’s main
gun was the 105-millimeter M68 main gun, the same gun that appeared on the IDF’s Centurion,
Patton and M60 tanks. The tank carried sixty-two rounds for the main gun,
slightly above average. The tank had three machine guns, including one coaxial
7.62-millimeter machine gun paired with the main gun and additional 12.7 and 7.62-millimeter
machine guns up top for the commander and loader. These were useful for engaging enemy infantry,
soft-skinned vehicles and antitank-missile teams, such as the AT-3 Sagger crews that took a heavy
toll in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. A burst of machine-gun fire over the heads of a missile
operator could throw a command-operated antitank missile off course, saving a tank and its crew.
Mobility
Mobility was the lowest of the three priorities for the Israeli tank,
and the tank used just a nine-hundred-horsepower diesel engine to power a sixty-three-ton hull,
for a horsepower-to-weight ratio of 14.5 to one. As a result, the Merkava had a relatively
sluggish top speed of just twenty-eight miles an hour. Given that Israel is just 263 miles across
at its widest point, it’s hard to argue with making mobility the lowest priority.
The last one is protection The Merkava is protected by the Trophy
active-protection system, which uses a combination of turret-mounted sensors and explosively formed
projectiles to shoot down enemy tank gun rounds, rockets and antitank-guided missiles.
Trophy is combat proven, having saved several Merkava IV tanks (and their crews) from
antitank weapons fielded by Hamas in 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli development team led by General Israel Tal, integrated state-of-the-art technology with
lessons of war in the concept and the design of the Merkava and all its future generations.
Here are the four main variants of the tank that have been deployed.
 The first Merkava tanks, Merkava Mark 1, were fielded in April 1979. Those tanks took part in
actual operations during the Peace for Galilee War and proved themselves to be more effective
than all other tanks in the theatre.  The second generation, Merkava Mark 2,
was first delivered in 1984. Production of this version began shortly after the adoption of the
Merkava in 1983, and continued until 1989. It is basically the Merkava Mark 1 with extra
armor and an improved fire control system.  The Third generation, Merkava Mark 3,
was introduced in 1990 and became the backbone of the Israeli Armor Corp. It features a larger gun,
a threat warning system, and more advanced modular armor that can be changed in the field.
 The last one is Merkava Mark 4 which entered production in 2001.
It is the fourth production model of the Israeli Merkava Main Battle Tank series.
The Mark 4 offered improvements in Firepower, Protection and Mobility over the Merkava Mark 3,
but retaining the same unique troop section in the hull rear and the engine compartment in the front.
In short, Merkava is a proven combat winner. While not the tank for every army, it is the perfect
main battle tank for the Israeli Defense Forces. As important as tanks are to Israel’s security,
the country has already started development of a successor to the Merkava IV well before it
reaches obsolescence. As Israel’s enemies already know, the Merkava will be a tough tank to beat.
Thank for watching and don’t forget to click other awesome videos.