Ra'am Sagol
Contents
Description
In the 1990s, during the war in Southern Lebanon, Merkava Mk.3 tanks of the armoured reconnaissance squadron "Nakhshol" of the 71st battalion of the 188th Armoured Brigade of the Israel Defence Forces, were tested with an experimental electro-optical active protection system codenamed "Ra'am Segol" ("Purple Thunder") in combat conditions. The system detected the launch of an ATGM, alerted the crew, turned the gun towards the threat and deployed an aerosol screen using standard and additional smoke grenade launchers. The Ra'am Segol APS did not go into serial production, giving way to the more advanced "Trophy" APS.
The Ra'am Segol was introduced in Update "Alpha Strike". In the game, its APS informs the commander of the direction from which the tank is being illuminated by an ATGM launch system, and the player can then make their own decision about manoeuvring and firing smoke. In all other respects, the tank is identical to its other counterparts, possessing the familiar 120 mm gun capable of penetrating most tanks, and decent turret protection. It is not the best in mobility compared to other tanks, and the front-mounted engine, while allowing it to withstand hits to the frontal part of the hull, increases the risk of engine failure and fire.
General info
Survivability and armour
Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | ___ mm | ___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom |
___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Turret | ___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | AoA | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | |
| Arcade | 67 | 29 | 62 | 3 | 1,860 | 2,290 | 30 | 35.23 |
| Realistic | 60 | 26 | 1,061 | 1,200 | 17.11 | 18.46 | ||
Modifications and economy
2 × 150 / 190 / 220 % 2 × 244 / 244 / 244 % | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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Armaments
Main armament
Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.
| 120 mm IMI MG251 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 46 | -7°/+20° | ±180° | Two-plane | 32.4 | 44.8 | 54.4 | 60.2 | 64.0 | 7.80 | 6.90 | 6.36 | 6.00 |
| Realistic | 20.2 | 23.8 | 28.9 | 32.0 | 34.0 | ||||||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M325 | HEATFS | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
| M339 | HE-TF | 65 | 65 | 60 | 58 | 53 | 50 |
| M322 | APFSDS | 589 | 586 | 577 | 565 | 553 | 541 |
| Shell details | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | |||||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
| M325 | HEATFS | 1,078 | 15.81 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 2.36 | 65° | 72° | 77° | |||
| M339 | HE-TF | 900 | 17 | 1.5 | 3 | 3.66 | 79° | 80° | 81° | |||
| M322 | APFSDS | 1,705 | 5.6 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ |
Machine guns
Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.
| 12.7 mm M2HB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 1,000 (200) | 575 | - | - |
| 7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle (loader) | 1,800 (200) | 1,001 | -10°/+50° | ±120° |
| Pintle (commander) | 1,800 (200) | 1,001 | -10°/+50° | ±120° |
| Coaxial | 6,000 (200) | 1,001 | - | - |
Usage in battles
The Raam Segol is a Merkava Mk.3, and plays similarly to them.
The very powerful M322 APFSDS round will give you great advantages at long ranges, capable of penetrating any tank in the game, though in up-tiers you will have to aim for weak-spots on tanks such as the T-80BVM. The round can consistently one shot enemy tanks even with poor placement due to good spalling and penetration.
The M339 HE-TF round is great against hovering helicopters due to the time fuse and can also be used to overpressure tanks provided that you aim in the correct spots. Aiming at an enemy's wheels will cause the M339 to detonate directly under the enemy tank and knock out their entire crew. Bring 3-5 of these HE-TF shells for light tanks or hovering helicopters.
The very distinctive turret on the Merkava's allows the enemy to instantly know where to aim for your weak-spots. This can be mitigated by placing some bushes to conceal the look of your turret. If properly done it greatly increases the survivability as the enemies first shots will be against the weak spots of the more popular Abrams, Leopard, or Chieftain which tend to be your strong spots. Allowing you to punish anyone who mistakes you for another tank. Combine this with the low position of the crew inside the hull, and it makes positions where only your turret is visible very rewarding.
You have more smokes than you ever need, while the smokes on the side of the turret can be fired as quickly as you want, the mortar smoke that launches directly forward takes a few seconds to reload. This is not an issue unless you have expended over 30 of your smokes and the ones from the turret now shoot to your sides, which will leave your front vulnerable if the launcher is reloading.
Gen 1 thermals have massive disadvantages due to the fuzzy-ness of the optics compared to similar tanks at your BR. But the APFSDS round more than makes up for the poor aim you will have in long range thermals.
The commander sight does not get thermals and only gets night vision. In up-tiers this can be a drawback.
You will be the last to get into position majority of the time, this requires you to be a little more cautious but the good gun depression and very strong cannon allow you punish from range.
Engine smoke is very useful in down-tiers where most tanks do not have thermals to look though it.
The Raam Segol is not a brawler, and will lose most fights that require quick reloads or fast speed for positioning. This tank excels at long ranges where it can use its M322 round to its advantage. The uniqueness and rarity of the tank can be advantageous as some players will not know where to aim. But veteran players will tend to always 1 shot you. Avoid exposing your hull as that is your weak-spot to APFSDS.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Extremely large amount of smoke grenades, practically infinite for most battles
- Strong APFSDS shells, with great velocity and penetration
- Unique HE-TF that can be used as a pseudo-SAP round
- Good crew survivability
- Well-protected against IFV autocannons and HEAT rounds
Cons:
- Poor KE protection overall, weak turret cheeks and little meaningful hull armor
- Vulnerable engine and transmission due to frontal placement
- Rear-mounted turret can make it hard to fight around corners
- No thermals for the commander sight
History
In 2020, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) authorized the declassification of a unique tank unit -- long-since disbanded -- which had been used to test Israel's first Active Protection System.
The declassified tank unit operated in Israel's "Security Zone" in southern Lebanon, between around 1998 and Israel's eventual withdrawal in 2000. It was a company of Merkava Mk.3 tanks belonging to the IDF's 188th Armored Regiment -- at the time some of the most advanced Merkava tanks in service -- and mostly carried out patrols and ambushes against Hezbollah guerillas. Unlike other Israeli tanks at the time, however, the unit's tanks carried a unique new system known only by the code-name Ra'am Segol ("Purple Thunder"). The few existing photographs of the company's tanks from that period show the system as a pair of opaque boxes on the turret's forward cheeks, and an additional box at the rear of the turret. The system has never been showcased publicly, nor have any of its specifications been made clear; though the declassification of the armored company that utilized it has led to a somewhat solid conclusion about its intended function.
Ra'am Segol is speculated to be a "soft-kill" APS: a radar/laser warning system that could detect incoming missiles, then perform some sort of reaction to neutralize them and/or reduce threat to the tank. Ra'am Segol could not intercept the incoming missile directly, instead performing electro-optical jamming (similar to the Russian Shtora-1, found on the T-90A) against SACLOS-guided missiles such as the TOW and MILAN, deflecting the missile's trajectory away from the tank. Additionally, it seems likely that the system would automatically deploy the Merkava's smoke grenades, and may have also automatically rotated the turret to face the incoming projectile and allow quick return-fire against the launcher.
In newspaper interviews following the declassification, crews from the Ra'am Segol unit reported exposing their tanks deliberately to potential threats in order to test the system directly, sometimes going out on patrols without any infantry support (very unusual for armored units during that particular conflict) or even stopping the tank at exposed positions in order to draw missile fire. Official IDF Armored Corps sources, however, have so far denied that the tanks had been utilized any differently from any other unit. There have been no reports of the system ever triggering in action, though the crews have reported never coming under any missile attacks, despite their deliberate efforts.
The Ra'am Segol unit was disbanded once the IDF withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, and the APS itself was dismantled from all of the tanks, never to be seen again. It is unknown whether the system had failed in some way, or was simply deemed unsuitable for the IDF's purposes. Nevertheless, just over a decade later, another Active Protection System was revealed in active service with the IDF, this time being the world's first "hard-kill" APS: the "Trophy".
Media
- Videos
See also
- Related development
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
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