Merkava Mk.3D (USA)

▃Merkava Mk.3D

▃Merkava Mk.3D

USA

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
11.3	11.3	11.3

Class:

Medium tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The ▃Merkava Siman 3 Dor Dalet is a gift rank VII American medium tank with a battle rating of 11.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Raining Fire" as a reward for the 2020 Wargame "Strategist" event.

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	50 mm	50 mm Top ___ mm Bottom	30 mm	___ - ___ mm
Turret	65 - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet	65 - ___ mm	65 - ___ mm	___ - ___ mm
Cupola	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm	___ mm

Notes:

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	67	29	65	1,860	2,290	28.62	35.23
Realistic	60	26		1,061	1,200	16.32	18.46

Armaments

Main armament

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	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic					__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

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	625	622	613	601	588	575

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M325	HEATFS	1,078	15.81	0.05	1	2,360	65°	72°	77°
M339	HE-TF	900	17	1.5	3	3,660	79°	80°	81°
M322	APFSDS	1,705	4.3	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Merkava Mk.3D (USA)

Last updated: 1.101.0.109

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
46	45 (+1)	43 (+3)	42 (+4)	6 (+40)	1 (+45)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack n°5 is a ready rack containing 5 shells.
• This rack gets filled first when loading up the tank and is also emptied first.
• The depletion order at full capacity is: 5 - 1 - 2 up to 4.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 4 into rack 5. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.
• The double rack n°4 depletes row by row from top to bottom (starting with the right rack).

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	900 (200)	577	N/A	N/A

7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	5,950 (200)	600	N/A	N/A
Commander's cupola	1,750 (200)	600	__°	__°
Loader's cupola	1,750 (200)	600	__°	__°

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection		Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts		Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE		Adjustment of Fire	LWS/LR
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment		Elevation Mechanism	M322
IV	Transmission	Engine	ESS	Smoke grenade	Artillery Support	NVD

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has access to the currently best penetrating APFSDS round in the game
• Also has access to timed HE, which can be intentionally set to detonate at a very specific distance, for example, just behind enemy ammunition panel, or above light tank completely hidden behind cover, basically bypassing any shielding. It also has slightly less sensitive detonator than normal explosives, so it might manage to fly through forest without exploding as well
• Quite survivable, thanks to its internal layout
• While turret looks huge, some parts of it are irrelevant and work as external shield against chemical ammunition or baiting shots from impatient opponents
• Engine system might be able to prevent weaker forms of APFSDS from penetrating this model of Merkava

Cons:

• Quite poor manoeuvrability, though it is upgraded compared to earlier Merkavas
• Sub-par optics, with only Generation 1 gunner thermals
• Hits to the upper half of hull can bypass all the screens and modules and go straight for the ammo or crew, since engine is not tall enough, attacks from high ground are particularly dangerous

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Videos

The Shooting Range #219 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the Merkava Mk.3D (USA).

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.