Marsh

Some interesting tactical markings. The domino ones...

Merkava 2s to Greece to replace Leopard 1s. A smaller number of Merk 3s to Cyprus in exchange for their  T-80s. A wild guess, some Merks perhaps to Morocco to replace some of their T-72s? The Leopard 1s,  T-80s or T-72s eventually to Ukraine.

Heaven help whoever gets the Merk 2s, with the possible exception of the Merk 2Ds, they are junk by now. Even in the case of the Merk2 Ds, the powerpack can barely cope with the increased weight of the armour.

Hi,

The Merkava 2D was introduced to address specific, known weaknesses in the Merkava 2's armour. In September 1997 and October 1997, Merkava 2Bs were hit by 9K111 Fagot missiles fired by Hezbollah. Two Merkavas were penetrated and in each case a crewman was killed. It was clear that Hezbollah were aware of a weakness in armour near the drivers hatch and were targeting that area. Hence the introduction of the Merkava 2 Batash also known as the Merkava 2D.

8 hours ago, watch_your_fire said:

Actually, giving it a closer look, I noticed the steel plate behind the gun shield is very thick so it shouldn't matter much that the shield itself and mantlet(?) is thin.

If anyone knows anything about the Merk 4's SLERA composite I'd love to learn more.

There is this on the web. https://www.lens.org/lens/patent/021-657-922-024-681/fulltext

The next link incorporates diagrams https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/94/0e/31/2c7f37e053a211/US7360479.pdf

Apologies if you already have these.

Marsh

34 minutes ago, Wiedzmin said:

Hi, i think this was about addon armor pack mainly ? 

Hi, yes, but remember part of the design philosophy of the Merkava, (at least post mark 2),was to have a relatively thin steel frame with the real armour being add on modules. (I am not disagreeing with you, I suspect we are saying the same thing, but looking at it from different angles). 

3 minutes ago, Wiedzmin said:

 

also interesting bit, at some point the reinforced driver "doghouse" 

Hi, there have been successive measures to improve overhead protection for the driver, an acknowledged weak point. These measures really took off after the Merkava 2 Batash introduced decent advanced armour. 

31 minutes ago, TokyoMorose said:

 

Yeah, I went into it thinking it would just be a demo rig on a truck or something but they could have hauled the full tank out to demo the system. Which would make the old crazy rumors of Merkava IVs in singapore not entirely false, one was there to show off.

You could well be correct. However, to me, the still of the Merkava 4 appears not to be part of the clip of tests in Singapore. The terrain and vegetation seems more akin to that of Israel. 

1 hour ago, TokyoMorose said:

So Rafael put out this video to celebrate 10 years of Trophy covering the past of the system.

 

  Hide contents

 

 

It's pretty standard fare, but at roughly 4:15 through 4:30 - you get what appears to be the first proof of the long-mythical Merkava work with the Singaporean armed forces. That is clearly blurred SAF personnel, and the jungles that the demonstration shot was done there are exactly the flora you see in Singapore. I cannot understand Hebrew, but they flash up an image of a Merkava during that sequence, so it wasn't *just* dev work for Trophy.

Perhaps. It could also be part of a sales pitch and demonstration in Singapore of Trophy, as part of a potential sale of the system for integration on their Leopards.

Apologies if this has already been posted on site.

IAV 2021: Rafael offers new Armor Shield KE reactive armor tailored to APFSDS threat

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/iav-2021-rafael-offers-new-armour-shield-ke-reactive-armour-tailored-to-apfsds-threat

The book is now available on the Tank Museum web site

Hi,

Just a head's up of a new book just published by the Tank Museum at Bovington. It is Richard Ogorkiewicz's autobiography which he had just completed before his death and which was brought to publication thorough the determination of David Willey, Curator of the museum. I received the book out of the blue  as a gift, through I think, the good offices of 
Richard's wife. The book is entitled "Observer of Cold War tank development", it is 78 pages long and richly illustrated and is full of interesting facts and personal anecdotes. 

Once available for general sale, it looks likes it will be a purchase well made.

Cheers

Marsh

I have seen with my own eyes where some of the plate has come from. It surprised me. That is all I can, or will, say. 

All Merkava models are made of rolled armor plates produced by Creusot-Loire Industrie (now Industeel).

One thing I know, with absolute certainty, is that this is not correct. 

About 20 years ago I was sent photos, out of the blue, of Merkavas with the experimental Purple Thunder  active defence system and an older, bulkier set up which I have never found out the name. I tore the photos into very small pieces and never mentioned them in any of my articles. Now, it seems, Purple Thunder has been declassified 

Hezbollah initially claimed they had fired a missile but then denied it. One of their squads, which had crossed the border near Har Dov, was intercepted and retreated back over the line. It seems that the intention was to launch an attack, but it was preempted. They seem to have put out their initial press release a little too early. 

I suspect electro optical sensors 

Hi Wiedzmin,

Both the Merk 3 and Merk 4 have rolling programmes to upgrade armour packages. A process assisted by the modular nature of the armour. The Israelis have the technical and scientific capability  to frequently improve and match the armour to current threats. However, their financial and industrial capacity to introduce upgrades, on a large scale, is relatively limited.  In the case of the Merkava improvements are introduced regularly, but on small batches at a time. Thus even in a battalion of Merkavas, there can be tanks with upgraded modular armour of different generations.

Cheers

Marsh

As far as I know, no. I seem to remember this was used as part of the marketing campaign for Blazer ERA, relativity primitive as it was.

On You Tube there is a lengthy series of clips of Turkish airstrikes on Syrian AFVs, transporters the odd bridge etc. Mainly tanks being taken out. The video is of an exceptionally high standard high. I don't recollect anything as clear as this being released by other air forces.

See -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3f0N-mJsbI&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1bwjJLqL9AJOpo9dGiVbZDXK5iXeUXMSZZqoWbSKArDc8ROQzKzL7dNqQ

Cheers

Marsh

Oh lord. The toad like,  Magach heavy APC. The AFV with the worst aesthetic values ever. Relieved it never went into service

I have just heard from Richard Ogorkiewicz's wife that he died suddenly on Sunday. As all will know, he was a brilliant writer and analyst in the field of AFVs. He was still active physically and mentally, just completing his memoirs. 

I remember all his many kindnesses, keen intelligence and his wry sense of humour. I wil miss him.

Marsh

That has been around for a while. I think it is still classified though

On 7/24/2019 at 2:34 PM, skylancer-3441 said:

Article from International Defense Review 1981-12 "T-34 to T-80 "The Evolution of Soviet Battle Tanks PLUS the IDR's T-62 test report"

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 

OCR text w/ larger pics (and same pics of better quality from other sources) moved next to their captions:

 

Thank you for posting this article. I remember reading it when it first came out. At the time, for those of us in the West without access to classified information, it was a seminal article. Looking at the date of publication, it is also a reminder that I am now an old git! 

Looks good! Pre-ordered

Hi,

Early Pumas had the Horstman type suspension but upgrades introduced  to the vehicle, included the helical spring style suspension of the Merkava type.

cheers

Marsh