This article will talk about weapons. We will analyze in detail three models of the most common Israeli tanks, consider their combat characteristics and application.
"Merkava MK.4"
One of the brightest representatives of our list. The project was developed and approved in August 1970. In December 1974, the first two prototypes of the Merkava MK.1 tank were released, and 5 years later this tank was officially adopted by the Israeli army.
After the “MK.1” will participate in the Lebanon war, the Israeli government will decide to modernize this model. In the period from 1982 to 2002, the combat vehicle will be modernized three times, and in 2004 the final version of the Merkava MK.4 tank will appear in service with the Israeli army.
The tank is equipped with a diesel engine from the American manufacturer Generals Dinamics, whose power is 1,500 horsepower. Equipment designed to overcome water obstacles is absent on the combat vehicle, and there are no mechanisms for self-digging either.
An Israeli tank has a mass of 70 tons, but its degree of protection is lower than that of the T-90, which weighs 50 tons. After a series of changes, the new tower received the highest reservation, but the lower armor of the tank has armor of only 100 mm.
On the "Merkava MK.4" mounted gun brand MG 253, which has excellent rate of fire and drum loading mechanism, the number of rounds in the drum is ten. The entire ammunition load is 46 shells (along with the initially loaded drum). Another advantage of this gun is that the crew has the ability to fire LAHAT light anti-tank missiles.
During their entire existence in battle, Israeli Merkava MK.4 tanks were tested twice: the Second Lebanon War (2006), Gaza (2011).
"Magicians 3"
In the period from 1964 to 1966, 150 units of M48A1 tanks and about 100 combat vehicles of the M48A2C brand, which later became known as "Magah," which means "ramming hit," were transferred from Germany and the United States to the Israeli army.
December 15, 1966, work began on the modernization of the models "Mages 1" and "Mages 2". In the end result, after a series of changes, the Israeli Magah 3 tank appeared, which differed from its predecessors by the new English L7 gun of 105 mm caliber, the American M41 gun of 85 mm caliber was previously installed. The tower was completely replaced and had a very low profile, the gasoline engine was replaced with a diesel engine with a horsepower of 750 horsepower, and non-combustible liquid was used to operate the hydraulic system, and Blazer dynamic protection was added to the tank for greater protection of the crew.
Subsequently, the Magakh-3 tank survived about 15 upgrades; at the beginning of the 1990s, the Israeli army was armed with more than 1800 units of tanks of the Magakh family of various modifications.
Israeli tanks of the Magah family performed well in combat and participated in such wars as the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Doomsday War, the Lebanese War. Also, these combat vehicles participated in hostilities in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
In 2006, all obsolete samples of the "Magi" were replaced by Israeli Merkava tanks. After replacing all the old models, it was decided that the tanks of the Magakh model would remain in service with the 460th training brigade, the remaining units were transferred to the army reserve.
A brief history of the tank "Mage 3" in the Russian Tank Museum
During the hostilities in Lebanon, the Syrian forces managed to capture the Magah 3 tank, three members went missing, the Israeli government announced a reward of $ 10 million for information about their whereabouts, currently an Israeli tank in Kubinka. The media previously discussed many different versions about the capture of the combat vehicle by the Syrian troops.
There are no such exhibits in the tank museum located near Moscow on which the Blazer dynamic protection is installed or something like that, “Mage 3” remains the only representative so far, but most likely the tank will be returned to its homeland in the near future.
"Sabra"
Israeli tanks are also represented by a combat vehicle, which was developed by an Israeli company from 2002 to 2005, its name is Sabra.
This model is a deep modernization of the US tank "M60A3". Compared to the American predecessor, the Sabra’s armor and security are significantly higher, and due to the fact that a passive modular armor protection kit is installed on the vehicle, you can change the weight of the combat vehicle depending on the situation on the battlefield, which is a big plus.
The tank is equipped with a gun brand MG 253, the caliber of which is 120 mm. The advantages of this choice are that the gun has a very long range of hitting the target, for its guidance a periscope day vision device with a magnification of X8 and a night vision device with a magnification of X5.3 are used.
There is the possibility of firing using a computer, the development of this function was carried out by Israeli companies Elbit Systems and El-Op. Automatic fire extinguishing system.
In addition to the main gun, the tank is equipped with a 60 mm mortar and two machine guns of 7.62 and 5.56 mm caliber, smoke grenade launchers are also installed on the equipment, which provide the vehicle with camouflage after firing. Ammunition of the main gun includes 42 shells.
Israeli tank forces
Israeli tank forces consist of four tank brigades:
- 7th - tanks of the Merkava 4 brand are in service
- 188th - "Merkava 3".
- 401th - "Merkava 4".
- The 460th Tank Training Brigade is armed with many different types of equipment.
Since July 2016, Maj. Gen. Kobe Barak has led the state command of the Israeli army .
Conclusion
During the existence of the Israeli army, the country participated in many military conflicts, so the development of the military industry in Israel remained one of the main tasks. Today, the Sabra tank is worthy of competing in the world market with its “classmates” from other countries. Although most models of Israeli tanks are based on American military vehicles, the differences are really significant.