After a sharp aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, when on October 7 militants of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas penetrated from the Gaza Strip into Israel, images of damaged and burning Merkava tanks of the Israel Defense Forces appeared in the media and social networks. In addition, the destruction of one tank was announced by the fighters of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. About the features of the tank, considered one of the best and most protected in the world, and its combat use — in the material of TASS
A special Middle Eastern Way
According to the website of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the decision on the independent design and production of the tank was made by the country in 1970. The American magazine The National Interest recalled that one of the reasons for the start of work on the national heavy armored vehicle was the consequences of the Six-Day War, launched in 1967 by Israel against its neighbors. Then the UK froze the joint project to create a tank, and France refused to transfer fighter jets and missile boats to the country. Before that, the armored forces of the state consisted of foreign vehicles of various types.
Nine years later, the first version of the main battle tank (MBT) Merkava ("Merkava"; translated from Hebrew — "chariot") appeared in the troops.
OBT turned out to be unlike his foreign classmates. The designers relied on security, so the car had a heavy reservation. In addition, the armor on the hull and turret is installed obliquely at large angles, which means that the enemy projectile will have to penetrate a larger layer of metal. At the same time, the tank received a characteristic futuristic appearance. The location of the engine in the front of the tank also works to protect the crew — the engine and transmission compartment becomes an additional obstacle in the way of ammunition.
"It will not be so easy to hit the engine in the frontal projection either," Sergey Suvorov, an expert in the field of armored vehicles, candidate of military sciences, colonel of the reserve, said in an interview with TASS. — They have an interesting solution there, a frontal armor part — first comes the armor, then the fuel tank, then the armor again. In this case, the fuel tank plays the role of additional protection against cumulative ammunition." The specialist explained that the cumulative jet is dispersed in materials and media of different densities, on which the principle of operation of the spaced reservation is based.
In the rear there is a compartment where paratroopers, the evacuated crew of a damaged tank or additional ammunition can be located. Mobility has become the lowest priority. Sergey Suvorov expressed the opinion that the tank corresponds to the tasks for which it is designed and the terrain in which it is used. "Somewhere in Europe, this car will just get bogged down somewhere," the expert noted.
The above features are characteristic of all Merkava modifications.
The newest "Chariot"
Numerous armed conflicts in which Israel has participated and is taking part have contributed to gaining combat experience to improve armored vehicles. The most modern MBT Merkava Mk4, according to open sources, has a combat mass of at least 65 tons, the crew consists of four people (including the loader). The main armament is a 120 mm smoothbore cannon compatible with Western—made ammunition. The carried ammunition is 48 shells. In addition, the gun can launch LAHAT missiles with laser guidance and a range of over 6 km. The tank is also equipped with 7.62 mm machine guns. In addition, a 60 mm mortar is installed in the tower. The fourth generation of Merkava has advanced electronics, all-day cameras. For the rest of the equipment, the tank does not lag behind the representatives of the leading tank engineering schools: it is equipped with dynamic protection modules that counteract cumulative ammunition; a laser radiation detection system with the firing of smoke grenades, heat traps and radar reflectors; an automatic fire extinguishing system; air filtration in case the enemy uses weapons of mass destruction.
In addition to the armor Merkava Mk4 is protected by the active protection complex (KAZ) Trophy ("Trophy"). It is capable of intercepting anti-tank ammunition when approaching a tank. To do this, the complex has a radar station (radar) with four fixed antennas giving a circular view. The radar scans the space around the protected armored vehicle and, when a threatening high-speed target appears, gives the command to one of two rotary launchers. It fires high-explosive counter-munitions towards the threat, destroying it at a distance of several tens of meters in front of the tank, and then automatically recharges.
Trophy is designed and manufactured by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. According to the information on the manufacturer's website, this KAZ is the only one successfully tested in combat conditions, while it has fired more than 5,300 shots and has accumulated 1 million hours. Trophy is installed on American Abrams MBT, German Leopard 2. In addition, the complex is supposed to equip promising British Challenger 3 tanks. In addition to heavy armored vehicles, KAZ can be installed on infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and other medium-weight platforms.
Baptism of Fire
According to open sources, for the first time Merkava was used during the first Lebanese war of 1982, while several dozen tanks of this type were destroyed.
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| Merkava tank in Beirut, Lebanon, 1982. |
| Source: © AP Photo/ Dear |
Summing up the results of Israel's military actions in southern Lebanon in 2006, the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in its report reported 20 Merkava tanks of various generations destroyed by Hezbollah fighters, while 6 vehicles were blown up by mines and 14 were hit by anti-tank guided missiles.
KAZ Trophy began to be installed on Israeli armored vehicles since 2009, and in March 2011, the complex received a baptism of fire on the border with the Gaza Strip, intercepting a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher fired from a short distance at a Merkava Mk4 tank.
The website of the Israeli Ministry of Defense reports that during the ground operation in the Gaza Strip in July-August 2014, Trophy repeatedly intercepted ammunition flying into tanks and heavy armored personnel carriers of the Namer Israeli armed forces, as a result of which the complex "changed the appearance of the battlefield and saved the lives of countless Israeli soldiers." In November 2016, the military department announced that all Merkava and Namer new batches will be equipped with an active protection complex.
Uncomfortable urban environment
The Israel Defense Forces has already announced an imminent ground operation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants. Its main striking force can be heavy armored vehicles. Experts believe that during the fighting in the Palestinian enclave, which is a dense urban development, Israel will face a lot of problems.
David Petraeus, the former head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, told The Sunday Times that the Israeli command faces an "extremely difficult task" of waging war in the city, given the tunnel system and the fact that "Hamas had months to prepare for this." The former official noted that the Israeli military would have to use weapons "in the most difficult situation imaginable."
Sergey Suvorov spoke about the features of the previous KAZ Trophy samples — the presence of a dead zone near the protected tank. "The system could intercept ammunition flying up to this tank from a distance of at least 200 m. That is, if the grenade launcher fires at 100-150 m, the system will not work," the expert said, suggesting that earlier some of the damaged Israeli tanks were hit from similar distances. "The fact is that, especially in urban conditions, grenade launchers are more than 200 m and will not shoot, there will be no such distances in the city. 50, maximum 100 m," said the colonel of the reserve.
Analyzing the footage spread on social networks, Forbes magazine suggested that one of the tanks of the Israel Defense Forces was hit by the dropping of a grenade from a consumer-class multicopter, after which a fire started in the tank. Sergey Suvorov expressed the opinion that the Trophy active protection complex cannot intercept ammunition attacking the tank from above. This can be confirmed by the pictures of the Turkish Anadolu agency, which show a column of Merkava tanks with visors installed on the towers to protect against kamikaze drones. Similar devices are equipped with Russian MBT in the zone of a special operation — for example, the T-72B3M are supplied to the troops with a standard anti- drone protection .
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| Source: Photo: telegram channel "Tankodrome" |
"Definitely, no one can do without tanks in the city anyway, this is shown by the experience of all wars and recent conflicts. Infantry alone in the city will not go without tanks, and in order for it to go with tanks, it is necessary to carefully organize interaction," said the colonel of the reserve, noting that the task of the infantry is to provide cover for heavy armored vehicles from enemy soldiers with anti—tank grenade launchers.
"As they say, there are no absolutely protected tanks, so all tanks burn the same, there is no escape. It all depends on who is sitting inside and how they use this car," the military expert concluded.
Victor Bodrov