Merkava Mk IV........"the chariot"

So with all the talk about isreal and the Arab countries hooking up again. I got to looking at the IDF and particularily the Merkava tank. The had over 50 damaged or destroyed in 2006 and people have been mentioning that fact. Hezbollah had some of the newer Russian "dual warhead" ATGMs, and caused quite a ruckus with the Israeli tankers and armored forces, Many cite this as evidence that the IDF won't fair well if they go at it again.

HOWEVER; most of those tanks were Merkava IIIs, not IVs. Furthermore the IV has been equiped with newer anti tank missile defense and has equipped many more units. Only a few IVs were available in 06.

Some interesting info.

defense-update.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by SrWingCommander


How do they do vs IED's?
We'll probably see, well if the terrorists decide to push a point anyway.

For every new tank that is brought out, some one brings out a weapon capable of destroying it. Do you think the Iranian army

A) Has access to better military hardware than Hezbollah?

or

B) Does not have better access to military hardware than Hezbollah?

Although as far as im aware Iranian tanks are fairly outdated, relying on mostly older U.S and Russian technology. To what extent they have been updated I have no idea.

reply to post by Murad


Most Iranian tanks are US M-60s and M-48s. A Merkava would wipe the floor with them. But I don't see Iran and the IDF fighting tank v tank. Maybe a few Iranian tanks have moved to Syria, but I doubt it, they don't have the kind of airlift to do that in mass.

Many of Israel's casualties in the 2006 Lebanon War were Merkava tank crews.[19] Only the minority of the tanks used during the war were Merkava Mark IVs, as by 2006 they had still only entered service in limited numbers. Hezbollah antitank missiles penetrated the armor in five Merkava Mark IV tanks killing 10. The penetrations were caused by tandem warhead missiles. Hezbollah weaponry was believed to include advanced Russian RPG-29 'Vampir', AT-5 'Konkurs', AT-13 'Metis-M', and laser-guided AT-14 'Kornet' HEAT missiles. The IDF reported finding the state-of-the-art Kornet ATGMs on Hezbollah positions in the village of Ghandouriyeh.[20] Several months after the cease-fire, reports have provided detailed photographic evidence that Kornet ATGMs were indeed both in possession of, and used by, Hezbollah in this area.[21][22] Another Merkava IV tank crewman was killed when a tank ran over an improvised explosive device (IED). This tank had additional V-shaped underside armor, limiting casualties to just one of the seven personnel (four crewmen and three infantrymen) onboard. In total, 50 Merkava tanks (predominantly Merkava IIs and IIIs) were damaged, eight of which remained serviceable on the battlefield. Two Merkava Mark IVs were damaged beyond repair, one by powerful IEDs, and another, it is believed, by Russian AT-14 'Kornet' missiles. All but two Merkava Mark IV tanks damaged during the war were repaired and returned to the IDF. The Israeli military said that it was satisfied with the Merkava Mark IV's performance, and attributed problems to insufficient training before the war.[23][24]

en.wikipedia.org...

So only one damaged beyond repair by an IED, looks like the "V" shaped hull had alot to do with it.

It's hard to knock out an MBT with an IED. It has to be a very large IED and would have to have the tank drive almost directly over it, which means a road deployment. I would imagine the IDF will keep it's tanks off the roads and in cross country like they should.

Originally posted by g146541
reply to post by SrWingCommander

 

How do they do vs IED's?
We'll probably see, well if the terrorists decide to push a point anyway.

Whatever.... Any tank's chief weakness is in the fact that they need treads, and treads cannot be protected to any extent. Use a catapult to lob a two-foot piece of railroad track into one of a tank's treads and the battle is over except for machine gunning the tankers as they flee the crippled unit. Over simplificatiion? Yes, but you get the idea.

reply to post by Aliensun


If it's so easy why didn't every tank meet that fate in 06?

Because while everyone lauds on how the IDF was "utterly defeated" it just isn't true. They met the vast majority of their limited objectives at the time. Destroying Hezbollah weapons and rocket cache's and launchers, reducing troop numbers, destroy infrastucture used primarily to support hezbollah. Their casulaties were heavier then expected and Hezbollah guerilla infantry performed much better then expected. However; they delivered many times the casualties than recieved. Ask Hezbollah how it went for them.

Israeli tanks and Iranian tanks can't meet in battle. There are two states between both, so gladly we will not see how it developes .