Difference between revisions of "Merkava Mk.3D (USA)"

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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 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.     
 
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.     
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===How to combat enemy tanks===
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Using the '''M325 HEATFS''' Round:
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Using the '''M339: HE-TF''' Round:
 +
Using the '''M399: APFSDS''' Round: 
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 +
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===How to combat enemy helicopters===
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=====Capitalising on urban maps and environments:=====
 
=====Capitalising on urban maps and environments:=====

Revision as of 14:08, 10 October 2020

▃Merkava Mk.3D
us_merkava_mk_3d.png
▃Merkava Mk.3D
AB RB SB
11.0 11.0 11.0
Class:
Show in game
MARKET

Description

GarageImage Merkava Mk.3D (USA).jpg


The ▃Merkava Siman 3 Dor Dalet is a gift rank VII American medium tank with a battle rating of 11.0 (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 30 mm ___ mm ___ mm 30 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

Main article: IMI MG251 (120 mm)
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 __.__ 54.4 __.__ __.__ _.__ 7.70 _.__ _.__
Realistic __.__ __.__ 28.9 __.__ __.__

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) (+40) (+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

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: Using the M339: HE-TF Round: Using the M399: APFSDS Round:


How to combat enemy helicopters

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 generation one gunner & thermals optics.
  • Hits to the upper half of 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.
  • 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

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
Videos

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

External links


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