Israeli tanks: "Merkava MK.4", "Mages 3", "Sabra"

In this article we will talk about armament. We will analyze in detail three models of the most widespread Israeli tanks, we will consider their fighting 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 launched, and five years later this tank was officially adopted by the Israeli army.

After the "MK.1" takes part 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 upgraded three times, and in 2004, the final version of the Merkava MK.4 tank will be in service with the Israeli army.

The tank has a diesel engine from the American manufacturer Generals Dinamics, whose capacity is 1500 horsepower. Equipment designed to overcome water obstacles on the combat vehicle is absent, there are no mechanisms for self-exclusion either.

The Israeli tank has a mass of 70 tons, but the degree of its protection is lower than that of the "T-90", whose mass is 50 tons. The new tower after the series of changes received the highest booking, but the lower armor of the tank has an armor of only 100 mm.

On the "Merkava MK.4" gun set MG 253, which has an excellent rate of fire and a drum loading mechanism, the number of cartridges in the drum is equal to ten. The entire ammunition is 46 shells (along with the initially charged drum). Another advantage of this weapon is that the crew has the ability to fire light anti-tank missiles LAHAT.

For all of their time in the battle, the Israeli tanks Merkava MK.4 were tested twice: the Second Lebanon War (2006), Gaza Strip (2011).

"Mages 3"

Between 1964 and 1966, from Germany and the United States, 150 units of M48A1 tanks and about 100 M48A2C combat vehicles were received by the Israeli army, which later became known as "Mages", which means "battering a ram."

December 15, 1966, work began on upgrading the models of "Magi 1" and "Magicians 2". In the final result, after a number of changes, the Israeli tank Magah 3 appeared, Which differed from its predecessors by a new English gun of the L7 brand in a caliber of 105 mm, an American gun of the M41 brand with a caliber of 85 mm was previously installed. The tower was completely replaced and had a very low profile, the gasoline engine was replaced by a diesel engine, the power of which was 750 horsepower, and for the operation of the hydraulic system, non-flammable liquid was used, for greater protection of the crew, a dynamic Blazer protection was added to the tank.

In the future, the Magah-3 tank survived about 15 upgrades, at the beginning of the 1990s, more than 1,800 units of the Magah tanks of various modifications were in service with the Israeli army.

The Israeli tanks of the Magah family showed themselves well in combat and participated in wars such as the Six Day War, the War of Wasting, the War of the Doomsday, the Lebanon War. These combat vehicles also participated in military operations in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

In 2006, all obsolete "Magah" samples were replaced by Israeli tanks "Merkava". After replacing all the old samples, it was decided that the tanks of the Magah model would remain in service with the 460th training brigade, the remaining combat units were transferred to the army reserve.

A Brief History of the Mage 3 Tank in the Russian Tank Museum

During the fighting in Lebanon, the Syrian troops managed to capture the Mage 3 tank, three members were missing, for information about their whereabouts, the Israeli government announced a $ 10 million reward, at the moment the Israeli tank in Kubinka. The media had previously discussed many different versions of the seizure of a combat vehicle by Syrian troops.

In the Moscow tank museum near Moscow there are no such exhibits on which the dynamic defense of Blazer is installed or something like that, "Mages 3" remains the only representative yet, but most likely the tank will soon be returned to the homeland.

"Sabra"

Israeli tanks also represent a combat vehicle that was developed by an Israeli company between 2002 and 2005, its name is "Sabra".

This model is a deep modernization of the US tank "M60A3". In comparison with the American predecessor, the reservation and security of the "Sabra" is much higher, and due to the fact that the machine is equipped with a passive modular armored protection kit, it is possible to change the mass 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 target range, a periscope day vision device with a multiplicity of X8 and a night vision device with a multiplicity of X5.3 is used to guide it.

There is a possibility of conducting fire 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 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm caliber machine guns, and smoke grenade launchers are also installed on the technology, which provide the machine with a disguise after the shot. Ammunition of the main weapon includes 42 rounds.

Tank troops of Israel

The tank troops of Israel consist of four tank brigades:

• The 7th - in service with the tanks of the brand "Merkava 4"
• 188th - Merkava 3.
• 401-I - "Merkava 4".
• The 460th training tank brigade is armed with many different types of equipment.

Since July 2016, the Army Command of the Israeli Army was led by Major-General Kobi Barak.

Conclusion

During the existence of the Israeli army, the country participated in a variety of military conflicts, so the development of the military industry in Israel remained one of the main tasks. To date, the "Sabra" tank is adequately able to compete in the world market with its "classmates" from other countries. Let most of the models of Israeli tanks are released on the basis of American combat vehicles, but the differences in them are really significant.