Merkava Mk.4B
| This page is about the Israeli medium tank Merkava Mk.4B. For other versions, see Merkava (Family). |
Contents
Description
Following the Merkava Mk.3 design and its improvements, the Merkava entered its fourth generation iteration by upgrading most aspect of the tank, particularly in the crew's ability to observe and react to changing scenarios outside the tank. The Merkava Mk.4 began development in the late 1990s and there were component upgrades like a new fire-control system and hunter-killer system for the commander and gunner, the loader has access to a new 10-round revolving magazine for the ready rounds, modular composite armour is added on all sides, and a more powerful engine. However, the biggest change was upgrades to the electronic systems within the tank, with the computerization allowing each crew station to have screens for information management and observation screen. The commander themselves have access to a battle management system that allow communication of information across different units. This new Merkava Mk.4B would come into service in 2004, and slowly became the primary main battle tank of the Israel Defense Force, gradually replacing the older Mark II and Mark III in service.
Introduced in Update "Wind of Change", the Merkava Mk.4B is one of the most recent subvariants of the Merkava main battle tank. With up to 800-1,200 mm of protection on the turret front with its non-explosive reactive armour (NERA), it can effectively resist even hits from anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). Overall, the Merkava Mk.4B is well protected against high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads. However, despite engine improvements, the Merkava Mk.4B becomes progressively heavier, reducing its mobility in comparison to main battle tanks from other nations.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Merkava is not a small tank by any metric, being very wide and tall. This makes you a big target for enemies.
The Merkava is strongly protected against HEAT with up to 800-1,200 mm of protection on the turret front, and the UFP having enough protection with its NERA and engine and transmission blocks to stop a Kornet in its tracks.
However, KE protection may be somewhat lacking with average KE protection on the turret front averaging about 450-550mm of KE protection on the turret front and about 350-450mm of protection on the UFP (engine and transmission protection included) which for top tier is not quite adequate.
The Merkava also features a unique armour layout being the only tank aside from the Strv 122B PLSS to fit NERA not only on front and side of the turret, but also the front and side of the hull too. it is also the only tank to fit NERA on its roof which historically was to defend from roof fired RPGs.
All in all, the Merkava's armour is somewhat lacking in some areas but can more then compensate in others.
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 50 mm (74°) Upper plate 50 mm (39-58°) Lower glacis |
50 mm Top 50 mm Bottom |
30 mm (1-45°) | 30 mm |
| Turret | 40-230 mm (9-62°) Turret front 197 mm (1°) Gun mantlet |
38 mm (17°) | 20 mm (1°) | 25-45 mm |
| Composite armour | Frontal effective protection | Sides |
|---|---|---|
| Hull | Upper glacis: 300-450 mm Kinetic / 1,050-1,300 mm Chemical (engine block included) Lower glacis: 180-330 mm Kinetic / 250-400 mm Chemical (engine block included) |
Side: 50-228 mm Kinetic / 320-475 mm Chemical |
| Turret | Turret cheeks: 380-620 mm Kinetic / 920-1,100 mm Chemical Turret sides 240-410 mm Kinetic / 600-1,120 mm Chemical |
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 | 72 | 72 | 65 | 2,325 | 2,862 | 35.77 | 44.03 |
| Realistic | 65 | 65 | 1,327 | 1,500 | 20.42 | 23.08 | |
The Merkava may feel quite snappy at low speeds due to its high torque and good gear ratios, it also has neutral steering which makes urban combat much easier.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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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 | 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 |
| M338 | APFSDS | 611 | 608 | 597 | 585 | 573 | 560 |
| 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° | |||
| M338 | APFSDS | 1,680 | 5.06 | - | - | - | 78° | 80° | 81° | |||
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 30 (+16) | 13 (+33) | 11 (+35) | 1 (+45) | No |
Machine guns
| 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 | 1,800 (200) | 960 | -5°/+50° | -60°/+120° |
| Coaxial | 6,000 (200) | 960 | - | - |
Usage in battles
The Merkava Merkava performs amazingly at range and can still hold its own in a brawl. It plays somewhat similarly to previous Merkavas requiring a more laid back approach in order to well.
The Merkava can perform somewhat well in urban combat thanks to its great reaction speed and decent mobility forwards and backwards. However, keep in mind other tanks such as the T-72B3 and T-80BVM will easily outclass you in a brawl so pick your targets wisely.
The Merkava has arguably some of the best optics for an MBT in-game due to the commanders sight being very high up and with great zoom at 14x max, and great thermals. this will allow you to play as a sniper on long range maps, being able to acquire and pick off targets with ease as you can play ridges and hills to your advantage.
Also make sure to keep close attention to your Laser Warning System (LWS) and the direction it is alerting you to. As this will alert you of drones, helicopters and tanks, therefore giving you time to throw smoke and take cover from an ATGM or find the direction of a tank lasing you so you can return fire. A good way to tell if its a either a tank or a helicopter/drone locking you is that helicopter and drone locks will always continuously lock you whereas a tank may only give a short 1-2 seconds alert.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Has access to 2nd generation thermals for both the gunner and commander
- Excellent mobility, even in reverse
- Great and competitive ammo selection
- LWS gives great protection against tanks, helicopters, and drones alike
Cons:
- Very vulnerable to most attacks due to a noticeable lack of composite armour or ERA
- Slower reload speed than its NATO counterparts
- Quite big and can be a more appealing target then other tanks
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
- Skins
See also
- Related development
External links
| Israeli Ordnance Corps (חיל החימוש) | |
|---|---|
| Medium Tanks | M-51 · M-51 (W) |
| MBTs | |
| Magach | Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5 |
| Magach 6 · Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6C · Magach 6R · Magach 6M · Gal Batash | |
| Sho't | Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet · ▄Sho't Kal Dalet |
| Tiran | Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S |
| Merkava | ▃Merkava Mk.1 · Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D |
| Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · ▃Merkava Mk.3D · Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M | |
| Tank destroyers | Zachlam Tager |
| See Also | Chrysler Defense · Department of Tank Design · Morozov Design Bureau |
| Israel medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| M-51 | M-51 · M-51 (W) |
| Magach | Magach 1 · Magach 2 · Magach 3 · Magach 3 (ERA) · Magach 5 · Magach 6 |
| Magach 6A · Magach 6B · Magach 6B Gal · Gal Batash · Magach 6C · Magach 6M · Magach 6R · Magach Hydra · Magach 7C | |
| Tiran | Tiran 4 · Tiran 4S · Tiran 6 |
| Sho't | Sho't · Sho't Kal Alef · Sho't Kal Gimel · Sho't Kal Dalet |
| Merkava | Merkava Mk.1B · Merkava Mk.2B · Merkava Mk.2D · Merkava Mk.3B · Merkava Mk.3C · Ra'am Sagol |
| Merkava Mk.4B · Merkava Mk.4M · Merkava Mk.4 LIC | |
- Ground vehicles
- Israel ground vehicles
- Eighth rank ground vehicles
- Medium tanks
- Ground vehicles with composite armour
- Ground vehicles with smoke grenades
- Ground vehicles with engine smoke generating system
- Ground vehicles with night vision device
- Ground vehicles with thermal sight
- Ground vehicles with gun stabilizer
