Merkava Mk.2B (USA)

From War Thunder Wiki
Revision as of 15:02, 21 January 2020 by Agent_Knockout (talk | contribs) (Survivability and armour)

Jump to: navigation, search
▃Merkava Mk.2B
us_merkava_mk_2b_late.png
▃Merkava Mk.2B
AB RB SB
9.3 9.3 9.3
Class:
Show in game
MARKET
This page is about the American medium tank Merkava Mk.2B (USA). For other version, see Merkava Mk.1 (USA).

Description

GarageImage Merkava Mk.2B (USA).jpg


The ▃Merkava Siman 2 Bet is a gift rank VI American medium tank with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.95 "Northern Wind" as a reward for Operation F.R.O.S.T.

General info

Survivability and armour

To start off, the frontal armor on the Merkava 2B is great, and is comparable or better than tanks of similar BR, and the frontal turret especially. If somebody is hoping to have a shot penetrate through the turret when they are facing a Merkava frontally, there is a very good chance they are out of luck and it will not go through. This does not mean that the Merkava is frontally invincible, however. The lower front plates are weak, even if they are stronger than the upper ones in pure armor thickness, the effective one is way lower. However, the lower front plate is the weakness of most tanks anyways. Also, there are some parts of the front armor that are weak, such as a small part of the turret and the uppermost part of the frontal upper late, but being hit there, especially from long distance, is going to be luck for the enemy, so worrying about those spots is not necessary all the time. Where this tank shines though is how it fixes the lower frontal plate issue. This vehicle's secret ace is it's position of the engine. It is in front of the tank, covering most of the frontal lower plate and a decent part of the upper one as well. Thus, any hit there will certainly stop the shell coming at it, especially against HESH, HEAT, and sometimes HEAT-FS shells as well. It will also stop most of the shrapnel, protecting the crew even further. However, this also means increased risk of fires and being immobilized, so having the ability to repair your tank and put fires out is important and so is being able to do that as fast as possible. Oh, and stick to facing your enemies with the front. The side and rear armor are a joke, and in the rear of the tank, your ammunition is stored, so anyone able to aim there will get a clean way of a one-shot. That, or they will kill off most, if not all, of your crew, which is still a one-shot.

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 Mobility characteristics Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Max Speed Weight AoA Weight Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade ___ 63.0 N/A ___ ___ __.__ __.__
Realistic ___ ___ 963 __.__ 15.29

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Sharir (105 mm)
105 mm Sharir Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 62 -8°/+20° ±180° Two-plane __._ __._ __._ __._ __._ 8.1 __.__ __.__ 6.7
Realistic __._ __._ __._ __._ 40.0

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
M111 APFSDS 337 335 330 322 314 306
M152 HEATFS 400 400 400 400 400 400
M156 HESH 127 127 127 127 127 127
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Normalisation at 30°
from horizontal
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
M111 APFSDS 1,455 3.79 N/A N/A N/A _._° 78° 80° 81°
M152 HEATFS 1,173 10.5 N/A 0.1 1,271 +0.0° 65° 72° 77°
M156 HESH 732 14.85 0.4 0.1 4,306 +0.0° 73° 77° 80°
Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Screen radius
(m)
Screen deploy time
(s)
Screen hold time
(s)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
M416 730 11.4 20 5 25 50

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
62 __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __ (+__) __

Optics

Merkava Mk.2B (USA) Optics
Default magnification Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics X7.2 X8.0
Comparable optics ___

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Rate of fire
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Coaxial 900 (200) 576 N/A N/A
7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40
Mount Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Rate of fire
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Coaxial 5,950 (200) 600 N/A N/A
Commander's cupola 1,750 (200) 600 -10°/+50° ±120°
Loader's cupola 1,750 (200) 600 -10°/+50° ±120°

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).

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Armour is composed of multiple layers, giving it a good protection against HESH, HEAT and some ATGMs.
  • Stock HEATFS round works well overall
  • Has access to a thermal sight
  • Good mobility once spaded. Can take the capture zones with lighter vehicles.
  • Good gun with effective choices of ammo.
  • Engine in the front gives some extra protection to the crew.
  • Low silhouette.
  • Can't be hull broken.
  • Very good gun stabilization
  • Three extra machine guns on the roof to deal with lightly armoured vehicles, helicopters and planes. (2 x 7.62 mm + 1 x 12.7 mm)

Cons:

  • Not premium (modules must be researched)
  • Almost no protection against APFSDS which is quite common at the battle rating
  • Engine and a fuel tank in the front mean that fires are common
  • Driver has less protection than other crew members
  • All the modules being at the front means that there is no crew protection for flankers from the rear

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

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.


USA medium tanks
M2  M2
M3  M3 Lee · ▃Grant I
M4  M4 · Calliope · M4A1 · M4A1 (76) W · M4A2 · M4A2 (76) W · M4A3 (105) · M4A3 (76) W · M4/T26
M26 Pershing  T20 · T25 · M26 · M26 T99 · M26E1
M46/47/48 Patton  M46 · M46 "Tiger" · M47 · M48A1 · T54E1 · T54E2
M60  M60 · M60A1 (AOS) · M60A1 RISE (P) · M60A2 · M60A3 TTS · M728 CEV · 120S
MBT-70  MBT-70 · XM803
M1 Abrams  XM1 (Chrysler) · XM1 (GM)
  M1 Abrams · M1 KVT · IPM1
  M1A1 · M1A1 HC · M1A1 Click-Bait
  M1A2 Abrams · M1A2 SEP · M1A2 SEP V2
Other  T95E1
Australia  M1A1 AIM
Canada  M4A5
Israel  ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · ▃Merkava Mk.1 · ▃Merkava Mk.2B · ▃Merkava Mk.3D
Turkey  M60 AMBT

Winter events
2022  Winter Quest
Pilot stars  Late 298D · ◄Tornado IDS MFG
Tanker stars  T-80UM2
Sailor stars  USS Newport News
2021  Operation W.I.N.T.E.R.
Pilot stars  C. 202D · ◊MiG-23MF
Tanker stars  A.C.I · AGS
Sailor stars  IJN Hayanami · MPK Pr.201K
2020  Operation W.I.N.T.E.R.
Pilot stars  Ro.57 Quadriarma · MiG-21PFM
Tanker stars  E.B.R. (1954) · Class 3 (P)
Sailor stars  Type K-8 No.13 · USS Baltimore
2019  Operation F.R.O.S.T.
Pilot stars  TIS MA · J6K1
Tanker stars  QF 3.7 Ram · ▃Merkava Mk.2B
Sailor stars  PT-811 · Jaguar
2018  Festive Quest
Pilot stars  M.B.152C1 · Fw 190 C
Tanker stars  SU-85A · T30
Christmas Lights  P-43A-1 · Comet I "Iron Duke IV"
2017  Festive Quest
Pilot christmas toys  P-40C · NC.900
Tanker christmas toys  AEC Mk II · Ersatz M10
Christmas Lights  Fw 189 A-1 · KV-2 (1940)
2016  Winter Holiday
Pilot stages  Ki-21-I hei · Me 262 A-2a
Tanker stages  ▃LVT(A)(4) (ZIS-2) · ▂Type 62
2015  War Thunder Fulfills Your Wishes!
Pilot reward  ▂P-63C-5
Tanker reward  VK 45.01 (P)
2014  Holiday War Thunder Marathon!
Pilot reward  I-301
Tanker reward  M8A1 GMC