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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MARKET

This page is about the American medium tank Merkava Mk.3D (USA). For other versions, see Merkava (Family).

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

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (Hull, turret)
• Rolled homogeneous armour (Sides)
• Composite screens* (Turret front, hull front left, sideskirts)
  • with NERA elements**

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	60** mm (78-90°), 60 mm (66-73°) (+ 30* mm (74°) left) Upper glacis 90 mm (36°), 50 mm (59°) + 20 mm (60°) Lower glacis	50 mm (12°) + 15 mm	30 mm (0-39°)	20 mm
Turret	170 mm + 40* mm (0-68°) Turret cheeks 30-400 mm (0-78°) + 100 mm Gun mantlet 40 mm (68-81°) + 50* mm (78°) Upper	60 mm + 5 mm (0-60°)	40 mm	40 mm Front 20 mm Rear
Armour	Roof
Cupola	30 mm
Effective protection	Front
Turret	Turret front: 200 mm Kinetic 1,500 mm Chemical

Notes:

• Tracks are 30 mm thick
• Road wheels are 20 mm thick

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	32.4	44.8	54.4	60.2	64.0	8.71	7.70	7.10	6.70
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	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)

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	-5°/+50°	-60°/+120°
Loader's cupola	1,750 (200)	600	-5°/+50°	±120°

Usage in battles

The Merkava Mk.3D offers an excellent cannon and great manoeuvrability, along with great frontal armour protection. The front of the tank is heavily armoured with angled armour plates, providing protection of over 300 mm. The only main weakness of this legendary tank is it's side and rear armour. On the sides, the NERA armour only covers the top half, above the composite screen plates. The composite screen plates can provide over 500 mm or protection. On the rear, the spaced armour only protects the crew compartments with 900 mm of air protection. Internally, the storage bins are covered in a fireproof container, with no ammunition stored in the turret. This reduces the risks of the ammunition being destroyed by a fire.

How to combat enemy tanks

Using the M325 HEATFS Round: is a High Explosive Anti Tank Fin Stabilised round, with a velocity of 1,078 meters per seconds, with a war head mass of 15.81 Kg. This round provides a maximum penetration of 480 mm at all ranges. To get the best from this round, you must aim for weakly armoured places on the enemy tank, generally the weakest places are the sides and rear of the enemy tank. At rank seven, most MBT's are heavily armoured with ERA plates which can defeat these types of rounds, with ease. However, it does not mean these rounds are usless, in-fact they are very good, instead of being able to single shot an enemy tank, it only requires an additional reload or two. The first shot, will most likely knock off and destroy the ERA plate. The second shot, will penetrate and knock the tank out.

Using the M339: HE-TF Round: is a High Explosive Timed Fused round, with a velocity of 900 meters per seconds, with a war head mass of 17 Kg. The maximum Penetration of the round is 65 mm, which is more than enough to penetrate the roofs of the enemy tanks, at rank seven. This round allows you to knockout targets which are hiding behind rocks, vehicles, houses and other objects. The round works by recording the distance to the target then denoting on them. To get the best out of this round fire above the target, allowing it to explode thus the enemy tank gets knocked out by being penetrated by the roof.

Using the M399: APFSDS Round: is one of the best rounds in the game it provides up to 625 mm of penetration. It is able to virtually penetrate almost any armour in the game at incredible lengths, at close range it is able to make the enemy tanker, go, pop.

How to combat enemy helicopters

The Merkava Mk.3D has four machine guns, one 12.7 mm mounted on the cannon, with an additional 7.62 mm machine gun mounted on each of the Commander's & Loader's cupola's and finally a coaxial 7.62 mm. The Merkava Mk.3D, is able to handle airborne threats extremally well, with it's LWS/LR system it alerts you to when someone is locking on with a laser range finder, which are installed in most if not all high ranking helicopters. When a notification pops up, switch to gunner sight and enable the thermal sight, look around in the sky and you will see brightly lit dot - if it flying away from you ignore it. If it is coming closer, keep an eye on it and wait until it is close enough for you to engage it.

However, if it has fired it's ATGM's pop smoke and retreat behind an object, until it's missile has blown up. Then locate it and fire the four machine guns, it will be able to bring it down. Or a using the M332 or M325 round a single hit in the fuselage will knock it out.

Capitalising on the terrain and environments

Capitalising on urban maps and environments:

When engaged in combat on a map which features an urban close range environment, the Merkava Mk.3D provides great threat to any enemy tanker. The manoeuvrability, is one of the best in the game, it is able to pivot on the spot and change course. If that is due to a sudden appearance of enemy tank which has appeared or if the strategic interest has changed, the MK.3D is able to handle it. To get the best out of the Mk.3D, either flank around the urban parts of the map or stay & utilise the compact urban environment.

To utilise the compact urban environment, stay close to buildings, use the buildings to your advantage. Using the buildings will allow you to dominate the battle zone, it's 120mm cannon is able to destroy enemy tanks with ease, especially at close ranges. It is important not to stay in the middle the roads or open areas which offers no concealment. The Merkava Mk.3D, is a tall tank, it is taller than the M1 Abrams family of tanks This means, you can be seen and shot at by the enemy team, it is not a sleek low profile tank like the HSTV-L.

Capitalising on rural maps and rural terrain:

To capitalise on rural maps head into the forest, and stay in the forest it's important not to leave the forest or rural terrain like this. This type of terrain offers great protection and makes the Merkava Mk.3D almost invisible to the enemy. The thermal profile is reduced by the vegetation, which blocks the heat signature. It's very important to use the correct camouflage, which helps to make you harder to detect.

The Merkava Mk.3D 120 mm gun is able to snipe the enemy tanks from far and wide. to win do not keep firing from one spot, after every shot move to another location using the rural vegetation to make you stealthy and remain unseen. The MK.3D has a thermal sight, that allows you to find the enemy tanks in situations like this. The gunner sight also provides a zoom of 6 to 12x allowing for pin-point shots combined with the M322 round - makes for one of the most lethal tanks in the game.

Night Battles:

Do not expose the right hand side of the tank, due to the exhaust gas which will make it impossible for you to locate and knockout enemy tankers with the thermal sight. Instead, keep the left hand side of the tank exposed towards the enemy frontline. It's also as important keep an eye out for air threats such as Ka-52, Mi-28N, EC-665 Tiger UHT, AH-64D and other helicopters.

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

A tip for grinding it:

Unlock parts first, horizontal drive, FPE, Adjustment of fire then M322. Everything after these can be unlocked after.

The M322 round offers up to 625 mm of penetration, it is able to penetrate most tanks at distance with ease allowing for other parts to be unlocked faster.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Has access to one of the best penetrating APFSDS round in the game.
• Has access to timed HE, which can be set to detonate at a very specific distance, for example just behind enemy ammunition panel or above a light tank completely hidden behind cover
• Timed HE round has a less sensitive detonator than normal HE-type shells, so it can overcome common obstacles such as bushes and fences.
• Great survivability, thanks to its internal layout.
• Ammo storage is wrapped in a fire proof container, preventing it from denotating in-case of a fire, inside of the tank.
• Great manoeuvrability, able to pivot and turn on a dime.
• Certain redundant parts of the turret can be used as extra protection against chemical ammunition, or to bait shots from impatient opponents.
• Turret armour can withstand direct hits from enemy tanks.
• Engine & external fuel tank is able to prevent APFSDS from penetrating and knocking the tank out if shot at the front, head on.

Cons:

• Only has first generation gunner & thermals optics.
• Hits to the upper half of the hull can bypass all the screens and modules and go straight for the ammo or crew as the engine is not tall enough to absorb the shot - attacks from high ground are particularly dangerous.
• Due to the placement of the external fuel tank, which is placed in front of the engine. It absorbs the kinetic force of the round - Thus gets set on fire and blocks gunner view from the front with thick smoke.
• Engine exhaust is placed on the right hand side of the tank, the exhaust gas limits the gunner view, since the gunner can only see exhaust gas when traveling.
• In night battles, exhaust gas blocks out the right hand side of the vehicle from the gunner view.
• Weak side and rear amour, well placed shot here can knock the tank out.
• Tall profile compared to other tanks in this tier.

History

The Merkava Mk.3 was an improved model of the Merkava Mk.2 that was introduced in 1989 for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). It featured improvements in firepower, mobility, and electronics. It was in production from 1989 to 2003 and remains the most numerous tank in service with the IDF.

One of the most major changes was the change to the main armament. The 105 mm gun of the Mk.2 was replaced by a 120 mm gun produced by Israeli Military Industries (IMI) in Israel. The engine was also replaced by a more powerful 1,200 hp diesel engine. The turret was also heavily modified to allow target tracking independent of the hull's movements. Additionally, a two-way phone was added for communication between the tank crew and friendly infantry, the ammunition stowage was redesigned for more safety, and laser designators were added. The weight was increased to 65 tons, but the more powerful engine increased the maximum speed to 60 kph.

The Merkava Mk.3 Baz was an improved model that was introduced in 1995. It featured a nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) protection system, an air-conditioning unit, and an upgraded fire control system (FCS).

The Merkava Mk.3D was a further improvement that added modular composite armor on both the chassis and turret, visually most notable on the turret.

Devblog

Immediately after production of the Merkava Mk.2 began in 1983, Israeli engineers began working on the new Mk.3 version of the MBT. The Merkava Mk.3 introduced significant improvements over preceding variants in almost all aspects. Primarily however, the focus of the upgrades was centered around improving protection - by adding additional armor to the hull - as well as mounting the newly developed IMI MG251 120 mm smoothbore cannon, purpose-built for the new modification of the Merkava, in order to increase firepower.

Production of the Merkava Mk.3 began in the late 1980s, with the first vehicles reaching troops in December 1989. The Merkava Mk.3 remained in production until 2003 by which time around 650 vehicles were built. Thus, the Merkava Mk.3 belongs to the spearhead of Israel's armored units in the present day.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Merkava Mk.3D (USA) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Holding The Line - Merkava Mk.3D (USA) - DEFYN

Merkava Mk.3D (USA) Tank Review - Napalmratte

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

Should You Grind The Merkava Mk.3D (USA)? - Sako Sniper

Merkava Mk.3D (USA) - The Iron Chariot Ft. M322 - JustinPlaysYT

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• ▃Merkava Mk.1
• ▃Merkava Mk.2B

External links

• [Wikipedia] Merkava Mark III
• [Devblog] Crafting event "Strategist": Merkava Mk.3D