Busting Tank Myths: Merkava

I've made videos talking about and busting tank myths in the past, but there wasn't an overall theme. I've recently decided to do more topical myth videos. For this one, we're going to be focusing on the Israel Defense Force's Merkava main battle tank. The Merkava is a pretty interesting and unconventional design, which has led to a number of myths and misconceptions forming around it. We're going to be taking a look at a few of them today.
Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.
Sources:
Various crew testimonies (all wished to remain anonymous)
Military Review - The Professional Journal of the US Army (January 1985)
The Uncertain Role of the Tank in Modern War: Lessons from the Israeli Experience in Hybrid Warfare by Michael B. Kim
Merkava Main Battle Tank - Samuel Katz
Jane's Armour and Artillery 1983-84
The Atlantic, Volume 255
Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)
Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)
Gunner HEAT PC Crew Voices Mod (Personal, go play the game: gunnerheatpc.com/ )
Sponsor: apexgamingpcs.com/pages/spook...
Second channel: / @spookstoon
Patreon: / spookston
Twitter: / spookston
Reddit: /u/spookston
Discord: See my Patreon page.
Twitch: / spookstonwt
Steam: goo.gl/BYQjC9
#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[@thepoglin8479]

Tank furry blesses us with more of his knowledge once more

[@Tr4wnet]

OwO

[@cosmicdistortion4350]

his voice in this video sounds completely different, or is that just me?

[@misterputin8898]

*Spookston saying "Awooo" 10 hours extended version*

[@hansloyalitat9774]

he doesnt know crap

[@attafathur]

@@hansloyalitat9774 you seem desperate for attention

[@nothingnewunderthesun1689]

I served on a Stryker ICV as a driver, gunner, and dismount. I can only think of once or twice when the exhaust blacked out the TIM and it was just momentarily. Honestly I remember heat distortion off the desert being a bigger issue.

[@fiery_pit7279]

Nice story

[@fiery_pit7279]

I love stories from experience’s in armored vehicles

[@Lumadous]

If the exhaust cover is removed it is more of an issue, but in the presence of any sort of wind it becomes a none issue

[@cheesecakedoublepeanutbutt6511]

War Thunder designers: Im gonna pretend I did not see that

[@jimbothegymbro7086]

Was it like a white flash? (when white hot) or more of a fog only in your thermals?

[@VladiSSius]

Engineer : "How many antennas do you need?" Tank Designer : "Yes."

[@Callsign_Merkava]

More antennas = better tonk

[@sheeesssh646]

Cos they know the real issue is ping and packet loss

[@averagegameplay619]

@@sheeesssh646 Sir, 6 of our tanks are rubberbanding on the battlefield

[@MoRaXSCV]

Most advanced tank in the world lol. The new merkava (tank habarak) equipes the driver with a helmet which can show him 360 digrees around the tank lol give me 1 tank that have that option

[@bushboi]

You should seriously consider covering the Ratel chassis because I'm certain that its made a lot worse in WT (most notably its mobility that's been made bad because its wheeled)

[@blumpfreyfranks8863]

Thats just WT’s garbage logic. The Ratel in irl has perfectly good off-road speed, its just in WT wheeled + off-road = bad

[@bickboose9364]

I honestly think the people at Gaijin are the only Russians on the planet who haven't driven a wheeled off-road vehicle.

[@arcturus960]

Hahaha, yes wheeled vehicles goes 15 off-road and then still has bad acceleration even on a road

[@nightshade4873]

@@blumpfreyfranks8863 Bad emulation of drive trains and torque things?

[@ravenouself4181]

At least wheeled vehicles can climb a small hill

[@dogebot4619]

Although the Merkava is rarely used as a troop transport, one tank in a tank company (most of the time it's the company's commander tank) will have a medic sitting in the rear corridor in case someone needs treatment. And although the Merkava was not designed specifically for cqc, future versions should include the iron vision helmet that will increase it's performance in urban environments. Cheers from the 188 brigade, love your content spookston

[@CATASTEROID934]

IIRC the Namer is the dedicated heavy APC using the same chassis/hull as the Merkava

[@tinycockjock1967]

אח יקררר

[@cristiancervantescardenas4759]

Also, some crews carry 2 soldiers in with the back door open to provide additional protection in urban environments

[@Sercer25]

I like how close your name is to 'ZOGbot'

[@Shmuzznik]

בוא נשמור על ביטחון שדה ולא נספר לכולם מי עושה מה אוקי? (;

[@PrometheanGOld4]

This just might be my morning grogginess, but why does the Merkava turret look like a doorstop? Regardless, very good information Spookston!

[@ZETH_27]

Arrowhead-style turrets go for extreme angeling meaning that you can make the turret taller (have more room) without creating a substantial weak spot, this however does have the side-effect of making the turret very long and wide as opposed to an ordinary turret with flat walls.

[@guywhodoesstuff3314]

@@ZETH_27 also helps up-armor the vehicle without using thicker material, can help with weight reduction though that's not always the case.

[@japotei5988]

If it can stop a door it can stop a bullet

[@Gegengrupenfuhrur]

It goes by many nicknames. The dangerous doorstop, the carnivorous provolone, the fiesty cheese wedge, and the roof ramp of doom.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

Better armor when facing the enemy at the expense of being relatively worse when attacked from multiple directions, plus anything else the comments came up with before me.

[@meatball.9710]

the exhaust blocking the thermal sight would be the biggest oversight ever if it were true.

[@BenyKarachun]

Its not true at all lol. Exhausts are on the side.

[@nahuelleandroarroyo]

Even on the Stryker they seem to not be an issue, Gaijin seems to make exhausts specially intrusive

[@TheDgamesD]

I do love playing the Merkava 4M in Armored warfare. She gets the gimmick of the only MBT that can deploy a Mortar crew. its a nice bonus.

[@BenyKarachun]

In reality the Merkava has an internal 60mm mortar

[@PoisoningShadow671]

Shame AW isnt that popular anymore, I ended up dropping it because it had server inputs, not client, and being an Australian, it would literally take up to a second before the vehicle registered I was trying to steer. (not as bad on tracked vehicles but a nightmare on wheeled vehicles.)

[@TheDgamesD]

@@PoisoningShadow671 Yeah the server connections to AUS and CIS aren't great sadly, though it's been getting better i hear. If you're ever interested into getting back into the game i can drag you in to my buddies group ACL who still play it. I mean hey new story stuff is dropping next month

[@laszlomiskei9138]

My favorite t5 of the game

[@jerrycan1756]

You ought to see it in Wargame They didn't properly consider unit sizes when they determined which vehicles could carry what, so a 12-man squad can use one Merkava as a transport

[@CrniWuk]

The part with the back door and ammunition was actually a pretty important design feature based on previous experience Israelian tankers had in conflicts with the Centurion where the tanks would often run out of ammunition. The loading process though took quite some time because the ammunition had to be loaded by the crew trough the turret. Obviously not something that's easily or quickly done during combat operations and which has proven to be quite an issue for the Israelis. So with the engine in the front they had an opportunity to make this process much faster and less tiring for the crews so the vehicles could be easier kept fully operational if needed.

[@MrJoe99998]

If you want to look at a tank with a lot of myths, you could look at the tank which designers help design the merkava: the Strv-103. There a lot of myths about people saying it's a tank destroyer instead of a tank or that it was a defensive tank (even though the doctrine for the S-tanks was the same as for the centurions it was in service with) and some other myths surrounding the vehicle. I think there will be more than enough about it for a video.

[@JWQweqOPDH]

To be fair, the Swedish doctrine with Centurion tanks would likely be described as defensive by many. We all know the often repeated, over simplified fact that only Soviet tanks were designed for offense.

[@captiannemo1587]

The closest any documentation I have seen in the US on the Strv-103 is one from 1966 saying it has "tank destroyer like features" everything else otherwise calls it a MBT or Tank.

[@MrJoe99998]

@@anonymous-ml8sl well it's nice you would personally think of it as a defensive tank, but the Swedish did not. They did not think the inability to fire on the move was a downside as their doctrine had tanks taking turns either driving or covering the tanks driven (this was also the case voor the Centurions in their service). Thus as it could not be used in most modern doctrine, it was not a problem for the Swedes. Also I don't blame people for thinking it is a tank destroyer, but it does annoy me that some people will even go against evidence to the contrary while trying to defend it as a tank destroyer just because it shares some features with them (even though the entire concept of a tank destroyer is just doctrinal and not about looks, just think about the American TD's of WWII or the modern day Italian Centauro.)

[@AdrianOkay]

Eventho the strv 103 can fill the doctrine of their nation just fine, one has to say the fixed gun, the really specific ambush positioning of the tank on hills and the ridiculously small profile it really screams tank destroyer, and one also has to say they have stopped producing it for a more conservative design also gives away that it was really specialized on disabling enemy armor instead of being an all rounder mbt

[@MrJoe99998]

@@AdrianOkay not really, they picked the Leopard because 1). The Strv-103 was outdated and creating a new tank themselves was not deemed worth it due to the fall of the Soviet Union, so the picked designs already available on the market meaning you automatically can only choose turreted designs. 2) fire on the move and stabilisation has improved dramatically since the introduction of the S tank. so whereas the design was able to do everything required from a tank when it was introduced, a similar design would no longer be a good trade off with modern technology, especially with the massive improvements in fire control systems making a smaller profile less beneficial due to being to hit them at great distances anyway. And, of course, that it looks like a tank destroyer will never make it a tank destroyer. Just like the M18 Hellcat and M10 Wolverine look like tanks but are tank destroyers. It's all in the doctrinal use.

[@bigman-adv]

I was a Merkava Mk2B commander. The exhaust myth is non sense. The hot gasses exit from the right side and have no affect on the optics which are way back and higher. As for the rear door, we also used it as a sleeping bunk. Merkavas have a line phone in the back next to the door, for infantry, medics and mechanics. They can enter safely from back if needed, take out wounded. Infantry could also use it to get ammo, water, food etc. during battle.

[@hhale]

We used the rear hatch of the M-113 in which the same way. Not a terrible place to catch some sleep when you can actually.

[@patronemir]

The real question is how many civilians did you kill?

[@israel_lover]

@@patronemir israel goes out of there way to NOT kill civilians, stop repeating lies, the only time israel unintentionally kills civilians is when the enemy hides behind them

[@zgoodt]

@@patronemir They will never answer you.

[@daniladanila3230]

Pro nazistinians putting politics everywhere these days​@@patronemir

[@guss77]

Former Merkava gunner here, I worked on 2Bs (2Cs, 2Es, etc - the mk2 naming deserves its own article) and 4Bs. some notes: - IFV: I did combined arms training with both full infantry load (6-8 people) and half load (you get to keep half of you hull ammo, but can cram only 4 guys), so it is definitely practiced and executed in RL. there are fittings for stretchers that we had to maintain, but I've never seen these used, not even in training. - Engine thermals: because the engine deck plate is so thick, you can't actually see the engine heat in thermals, so there's no issue looking forward. when you point at ~1 o'clock, there's a slight shimmer from the exhaust, but it is barely noticeable. the main feature of the Merkava exhaust in thermals is for IFF 😅. - Urban warfare - while the Merkava was not originally designed for LI and urban, one of the main takeaways of the Lebanon wars is that tanks need urban capabilities - the loader MG was added as a hack during the first Lebanese war and was later integrated in mk2 (though it was removed in mk4) and the shorter barrel on the 120mm is definitely related to LI requirements. it also helps that the new DS ammo is so much more accurate that you don't need such a long barrel, but that is besides the point 😊. - I also forgot to mention that one of the interesting features of the side exhaust is the engine smoke feature: AFAIK this used to be a feature deployed on post WW2 tanks but is considered of limited use because when dispersing the smoke from the rear, it does not hide the tank very well and is mainly used while retreating. with the Merkava exhaust being almost on front, venting smoke from the exhaust (by spraying unburnt fuel just inside the engine exhaust port) is very effective and practiced by the IDF. I once got to see a full tank platoon in firing positions do synchronized smoke dispersion and it is super effective.

[@OzBenaim]

אח יקר. ללא חחייבים ללספר ככל דדבר. בבטחון ששדה ממינימלי

[@guss77]

@@OzBenaim nothing I mentioned is a secret and Janes covered all that decades ago.

[@marlisonbreno8955]

Hey you talk a little of merkava hull armor ? Its true the merkava only armor in the hull is the engine ? Or the merkava have a heavy armor in the front of hull and the engine are a second armor ?

[@guss77]

@@marlisonbreno8955 Merkava hull is a lot of RHS with additional protection created by differential densities of components (engine, fuel tanks, batteries, ammo cartridges, etc), but it's not true that it is otherwise unarmoured: there are the side plates that are super modern advanced armor, there are bolted on advanced armor modules in the back and front and an under-hull spaced RHS plate to defeat IEDs and non-pressure triggered mines.

[@Idontknowlol595]

@@guss77 in war thunder merkava smoke grenades if hit deal no damage to the tank

[@codmw31010]

I don't know if its a myth or not but there is a funny story about the british refusal to give Israel the chieftain. The IDF actually was given a few for testing and they were tested somewhere next to the border. Then in 1967, the six day war has begun and the british told the IDF to move the chieftains away from the border, the Israelis replayed with: "its ok, we moved the border". pro move right there.

[@foxyboiiyt3332]

Yes invade your neighbours and take their land. Pro move. Like Putin.... But it's OK if Israel does it apparently

[@Callsign_Merkava]

Big brain move

[@058yair]

לא אמיתי הטנקים האלה היו בששת הימים בתל אביב אבל אחלה בדיחה

[@itzikashemtov6045]

"Where the tank treads stop, The Borders shall be set", I think I heard this motto in one of the Israeli tank battalions.

[@NimDod]

It's a cute story, but not true. the chieftains were developed and tested in Israel after the 1967 war, and the British pulled out from the project, due to Arab countries pressure in 1969

[@TheQueer23]

another reason for the centurion chassis myth is that the original merkavas used the centurions tracks and wheels, so it kinda looks like one.

[@yaboyed5779]

What an odd time to be recommended this.

[@tomg1216]

Former IDF infantry guy here, i'm not gonna pretend i know a whole much about this tank, but in the 16 days i've been in Gaza back in 2014, i've seen this machine at work, and let me tell you it is a force to be reckoned with. just the presence of this thing was far more then enough to do the job. to know that there is a Merkava in your area gave us this warm comforting feeling that you're protected and you've got backup if you need it. absolute beauty of engineering.

[@CraigTheBrute-yf7no]

Did the warm comforting sensation begin after you were hit by a Yassin-105 tandem rocket? Aka catching fire?

[@any_one_else]

​​@@CraigTheBrute-yf7no xd i watched a video of two idf saying they will kill any palastinian they see as they are dogs than they entred gaza in their mirkava teams and boom yassin rockets blew all of them their pictures were released by sionist media one week after gaza invasion

[@guntherschultz912]

Yeah it gave you warmth once it is on fire

[@agravemisunderstanding9668]

Yea the merkava is definitely a force to be reckoned with, no Palestinian child or their throwing stones stand a chance against Israeli tanks

[@SaperPl1]

You forgot about the fact that Merkava in the game is catching fire like hell with the fuel tank in front of the engine while according to statistics, there's like a 5% of chance for the fuel to catch fire when tanks get perforated. Also the front plate over this fuel tank is modelled as a shaped stamped sheet of uniform thickness armour plate while it's really weird to make a weak spot like this by changing the angle, right in front of the vehicle, without increasing the armour thickness there, and I think this front portion may be actually a mold/cast that is thicker in this area. It seems as gaijin just didn't want the Merkava to be virtually unbeatable from the front so they faked how easy it is to set the front fuel tank on fire, because you need to push it out first, and that blind spot with exhaust, otherwise it might not scale well as they would need to push it very high up without those faked nerfs.

[@sys3248]

Well a penetrating shot to the engine deck would mess the engines or it's subsystem anyways. If it didn't combust immediately from impacts it still possible it can catch fire from something else once they're damaged.

[@blackwoodsecurity531]

@@sys3248 were talking about the difference between a puff of smoke coming from the hole bored in the engine to a sudden fuel fire that's actively killing the crew. It's a huge problem that vehicles in WT can be knocked out by a light fuel fire (especially when there have been multiple fail-safes installed into tanks to prevent fires, or stop fires in progress) Speaking of fail-safes, every modern MBT kills fires. It's a whole doubled up system that floods the affected and potentially affected compartments with gas to starve the fire.

[@borismissiuna6422]

According to Gen Tal the creator of the Merkava. 3 inches of Diesel fuel is equivalent to one inch of steel plate armour. They incorporated this into the design deliberately for safety of the crew and survivability. Getting information from a computer game will not help you.

[@sys3248]

@@borismissiuna6422 they never tests that theory either. They never published tests results of experiments confirming front engine deck added significant protections against modern armor piercing and heat projectiles.

[@borismissiuna6422]

@@sys3248 Would you make this public if you were Israel?? This would not be a peer reviewed piece of information. How could it possibly help them to release this information like that. Gen Tal did say it and perhaps he should have kept mum but he said this and there is no reason for him to lie about it. They somehow figured this out.

[@kfeltenberger]

The main gun on the Merkava IV is beefed up to handle much higher pressures than normal due to some of the rounds that are used.

[@CyberneticArgumentCreator]

Same treatment the later US 120mm cannons got for the more modern rounds. They designated "for use in XXXX or later barrels" to make sure they weren't fired from the lower-strength earlier models.

[@e.h8686]

el-yassine hold my thermal beer

[@AbderrahmanFodili]

Let's go hallal bro. Hold my coffee 😂

[@omarosama155]

@@AbderrahmanFodililmao

[@jrmx31]

wow videos of rpgs hitting tanks and always cutting out before the aftermath because they barely scratch it, so insane bro

[@jameswilliam7992]

@@jrmx31 OMIGOD wow. A quick KZbin search will humble you 😏Many of those Merkavas have became BBQ grills by Hamas 😂

[@jrmx31]

They only show the explosion not what came after, the explosion could be from the trophy system. And even if it hits, the chances are low that it will destroy the tank, at most it will harm it, but the crew will remain alive.@@jameswilliam7992

[@SayakMajumder]

In 2014, Israel reported that exports of the Mk. 4 had started; the purchasing country's name was not disclosed for security reasons. There's been long discussion as to which country that may be. Can't be Colombia, coz the Merkava deal fell through in 2012. Most rumors points to Singapore. But if that was indeed real, it would've been known by now, given Singapore's size.

[@kulkidz33]

Singaporean here If israel did export merkavas to singapore, it would be plausible considering we helped develop their iron dome defense. Plus they know how to keep it very lowkey, we have some very good internal security so they definitely put extra work into making sure no one finds out about the merkavas (if we have them) Its not the first time singapore hid tanks from everyone Singapore had aquired israeli and indian centurions but information about it is extremely scarce and the trail ends in thailand. In 2018 they found out singapore bought the newer leopard 2a7 from germany, when asked about it the goverment just denied they did such a thing

[@kousand9917]

Could be Singapore but I also suspect the US army may have picked up a few to study

[@quentintin1]

@@kousand9917 allies will usually lend each other samples of their tanks for comparison if the us needed to learn shit about the merks, they'd just have to phone Jerusalem, ask to borrow one tank and take it for a ride at Aberdeen i wouldn't be even surprised if the army collection does have at least one Merkava somewhere

[@circleofsorrow4583]

@@quentintin1 yeah, because information flows both ways with Israel, right? US troops helped defend Israel when all the Arabs surrounding them decided to push them into the sea. The US stations troops at a military base in Israel permanently in case of future threats. The nuclear capability of Israel is maintained in part by the US and forms part of the combined nuclear deterrence. Israel is a member of NATO. I might of gotten some of those statements wrong 🤔 but Israel is definitely an 'ally' of the US and would breach security protocols to give them a tank their enemies know little about.

[@definitelyharvarduniversit6575]

@@kulkidz33 Singapore uses Leopard 2A4

[@swisstraeng]

If not covered already, the M4 sherman and it's "bad armor that can get destroyed by anything" and "death trap" and "4 shermans to kill a tiger"

[@JNF590]

I Still see those people around KZbin And it pains me alot that they don't Listen and Look at the sources I pasted or recommend, so I stopped.

[@evanboyd1541]

Doesn’t help that Fury popularized it even more. But later on one Sherman with a mobility kill can foul up an entire SS Battalion. Hollywood does love its fiction.

[@geroni211]

He did a "How bad was the M4" or however that series of videos is called

[@blackwoodsecurity531]

@@JNF590 I saw one guy on Quora deliberately spreading misinformation on the Sherman in order to spread a conspiracy about the military industrial complex, while touting the t-34-1940 (yes, the awful one) as an amazing do-it-all AFV. One of his points was that they purposefully made the Sherman bad so they didn't have to buy better tanks... After a lengthy argument, he said he knew it wasn't that bad, he was just used it to spread his Q-anon BS. His account has since been deleted, probably from mass reports on his various ramblings, but it's outright asinine.

[@sys3248]

Well it's true Sherman is a death trap.

[@hedgeearthridge6807]

Definitely one of the coolest looking tanks imo. That gigantic turret. It looks like some kind of sci-fi space tank, but the kind the villians in the story would use, since the bad guys always have the meanest and coolest looking things. LOL

[@mypasswordisn6581]

The villains ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

[@agravemisunderstanding9668]

I mean they kinda are the villains aren't they?

[@exo068]

Please do the same thing with the Leopard and the T80/T90 tanks. It’s a very entertaining video format.

[@davidegazzaniga7558]

I've just finished a 1/72 scale replica of the Merkava IV, impressive machine for sure!

[@jacobdouglas2812]

Nice, I finished a 1/35 Merkava MK.3 a day ago.

[@AbdullahKhan-pv1qz]

Some desert dude with an IED and an RPG, hold my prayer rug

[@fahoodie1852]

Israeli tank operators when they see an inverted red triangle above their vehicle

[@barackdcs]

same desert terrorist hasnt destroyed a single merkava in gaza, truely insane

[@AbdullahKhan-pv1qz]

@@barackdcs k bro

[@barackdcs]

@@AbdullahKhan-pv1qz i mean you can try and find me a destroyed markava from gaza

[@Sagii154]

Not a single Merkava 4 tank has been destroyed or taken out of commission in this war. That is a fact. The videos you've been seeing are actually the Merkava defence systems in action (blowing up the rocket in the air and not on the tank)

[@zainbush9276]

Hamas furiously taking notes rn

[@egyptcountryball2288]

they already destroyed a ton, it's a trash tank.

[@stepbruv8780]

@@egyptcountryball2288 A ton? you mean only 1 tank LOL

[@fishmas]

@@stepbruv878015 tanks destroyed so far, 4 captured and rest severely damaged/destroyed

[@ahmadalmhadeen3526]

​@@stepbruv8780There is photo 3 days ago published for a graveyard of 8 armored vehicle disabled on ambush road including 3 merkave one of the is without a turrent... maybe they don't show you these type of photos in your chanels for your feelings but don't worry at all ...gaza kids will have a great kids park on those tanks

[@egyptcountryball2288]

@@stepbruv8780 1? more like 100

[@diabeticalien3584]

I just discovered your channel and I wanna say I really like your videos :)

[@scottbaykian3032]

Nice! I always thought the myths behind the merkava were always the most interesting/kinda dumb ones lol. Perhaps the text tank you could do could be the T-54/55 or T-72

[@theKangFang]

I do think it is also important to note that the merkeva was designed with crew safety as the most important factor

[@someonenamedilay7347]

Yes, Israel's manpower is limited even tho the 187,000 soldiers are strong enough

[@Tank50us]

@@someonenamedilay7347 Even if that wasn't a factor, it's always much easier to replace a tank, then to replace a trained and experienced crew. The Sherman is a perfect example of this. Sure, the US had hundreds of thousands of people they could cram into the M4, but still opted for them to be ergonomically designed so that operation was easy, and evacuation was also easy. Result? A highly reliable tank that could go anywhere, damn near do anything, and contrary to popular belief, wasn't a death trap.

[@MrRugbylane]

Without a doubt, the most remarkable thing about the Merkva came in ahead of time and under budget.

[@Tank50us]

When your motivation is "We build this right, or we could be completely wiped out from all sides", you don't screw around. The same thing applied to the Viggin in Swedish service, and the Tornado in UK/Ger/It service. It also kinda applies to the F-15. Basically, many NATO and NATO allied nations, when they actually set out to design a potential war winner, they didn't screw around. It either wins, or they all lose.

[@DEADDEVILCAT]

I'd like to hear you talk about the jack-in-the-box effect at some point. What causes it in tanks, what tanks are susceptible, how its been mitigated via technology and innovation, etc.

[@LDSJ005]

buying the premium Merkava next week. i’m hyped. these things seem like a lot of fun

[@oseansoldier]

Would love to see you cover the K1 and K2 from South Korea

[@kerryzhuo5693]

I am suddenly very grateful for this video. Yeah.

[@n4chos161]

Congrats on the 169k subs

[@aloneman8]

Merkava 4M Gunner here, while it Isn't an issue the exhaust does distort the thermal imaging especially in hot summer days, though its more of an inconvenience, I personally would just tell my commander to pivot the tank a little to get a clearer picture. As for the rest of the video, pretty much nailed it, the "back entrance" can also be used to carry a wounded soldier back to safety, I've never heard of or practiced removing all the ammo for more space to carry the wounded, the standard procedure is to carry a single wounded soldier in the corridor. The mortar is both used for Smoke/Flare, as well as HE, all depending on the situation.

[@alexanderbillick5203]

The juniors at my school went to Israel and there they talked with IDF soldiers and Merkava crews. Needless to say I was green with envy.

[@user-gf7kj5vj3p]

Why are you jealous of terrorists that kill children

[@seasdiamond1926]

I think the argument about Merkava being designed for city fighting is more due to its armor arrangement than the fact that it has shorter cannons…

[@L4ri11]

Never played warthunder but watch ur vids every time I see a notif. V nice

[@user-kt4vn8le5p]

I was one of the people who was told the Merkava is better in urban warfare. Thanks for clearing that up!

[@rustyshaklford9557]

🔻

[@etaiavni4270]

wow videos of rpgs hitting tanks and always cutting out before the aftermath because they barely scratch it, so insane bro

[@rustyshaklford9557]

You seem mad.

[@Anas-cv3ks]

@@rustyshaklford9557 dude trying so hard to spread IDF PROPAGANDA

[@oussemachrif7572]

😂😂😂 ye​@@Anas-cv3ks

[@restro3058]

I always seem to forget just how incredibly tall and large tanks are.

[@specialingu]

russian ones are much smaller

[@058yair]

הייתי במזאון של מרכבות וזה פשוט מפחיד איך הם גדולים

[@vadimf8301]

One of the most cool looking tanks, very beautiful and very futuristic. I LOVE the looks of this tank.

[@robiagacitei5487]

Can you maybe talk about what nation you think should be added next? And why that nation, and possibly some vehicles, ships and planes? I'd love it

[@NafeeDoesStuff]

Gets taken out by a 100$ Yassin 105

[@Kahanist.mp4]

it can survive like 15 shots from one of those

[@NafeeDoesStuff]

@@Kahanist.mp4 videos prove otherwise

[@ahmadalmhadeen3526]

​​@@Kahanist.mp4I guess you indian ? Or maybe indian bot working for israel ? Anyway tanks does not have health bar for taking specific amount of rockets... it is about the armor thickness across every surface of the tank, and all or some of the tank crew could be knocked out without the explosion of the tank. the explosion mean the ammo rack or the fuel has been hit so the videos showing yasin hitting those tank on the back or rear side are probably deadly for one or more of the crew

[@yaersacks5277]

​@@ahmadalmhadeen3526those explosions ate more likely the trophy system activating

[@ahmadalmhadeen3526]

@@yaersacks5277 Trophy system work only if the anti tank weapon lunched far than 30 meters and yes the trophy worked very good in many videos but in some videos it shows less than 30 and 20 meters of tbg 105 lunched on the back and rear lateral sides of the tank which shows a direct imapct on less than 80mm to 50 mm of armor surfaces which mean 100% deadly shot and there is a photo published 3 days ago of a graveyard of about 8 armored vehichles burned and disabled on a road including 3 merkavas one of them without a turrent... this is reasonable cause no tank in the world has been build to do this and go in that type of battles of tunnels and condense urban battlefields.

[@user-om8pb8ob9i]

Al-Yassin 105 has entered the chat

[@jrmx31]

wow videos of rpgs hitting tanks and always cutting out before the aftermath because they barely scratch it, so insane bro

[@georgenutsubidze9329]

Merkavas can stand more than 15 hits until they need to repair yes it doesn't destroy the tank it only damages it and the tank will be repaired in weeks ready for battle

[@myYt0198]

​@@jrmx31let them have their fun they're losing pretty badly so they take any win including if a rpg just hits a tank 🗿

[@MrMaximkozin]

Interesting stuff, never heard those myths, beside the Centurion chassis

[@socialus5689]

Great video! I think you can look at how the Yom Kippur war played out, and the design philosophy based on that experience.

[@historybuilds]

the strv 103 is an MBT and it has the engine in the front!

[@TheDude50447]

I had to look that up and even though the M256 is a modified L44 the US builds under liscence itself they can still liscence it out themselves and apparently have already done so in the case of South Korea.

[@AvnerSenderowicz]

Excellent video, very informative and level headed. The key design principle of the Merkava is crew survivability. In 1973 during the Yom Kippur war the causality rate of tank crews was such that it became evident the primary problem isn't having enough tanks but rather having enough trained tankers. Some reports from Ukraine suggest Russian army is discovering the same thing, they may have thousands of tanks but they don't have enough crewmen to operate even half of them. That's why the engine of the Merkava is in front and also why IDF trains a lot of tankers relative to the number of operational vehicles, the thinking is, during large scale conflict, lots of tanks can be repaired and put back into service and new stocks might be coming in from the US, but if you don't have trained crews to operate them they are just 60 ton paperweights.

[@yuvalgabay1023]

The sad reality that being a tanker in the idf is kinda looks bad apon..like its known that there training base is one pf the worst bases in the idf and their general quilty of life is like super low. + The fact that they see berly any action cause soliders to get the f out of there.

[@gefiltafish2187]

First accurate merkava review I’ve seen so far . Kudos. Mk iv was made in urban scenarios in mind btw. But honestly. It was not fully compatible to that until trophy system was integrated with it. Even the beefed up mkiv could not take a gen2 kornette from sides or rear after all. The current merkavas also act as a forward battle command unit, that coordinates with the ground soldiers around and in front of it. Providing much need fire support with the main cannon or mortar system. And also. The mk price per unit is very low in comparison. Less than 5 million per unit including trophy .

[@maverickjhett]

if we are talking about myths, the Type 10 sure has a lot floating around although they are probably harder to prove/disprove. some people think that it has worse armor than the Type 90, some people think it has 800mm KE protection. There are a lot of misconceptions about its gun with people assuming it’s a licensed product. however the worst article i ever saw stated the Type 10 wasn’t designed to fight other armored vehicles because of its weak armor and instead was suppose to support infantry…

[@endlesswaffles6504]

I heard a while ago that the transport capacity in the back was to pick up crew members from other disabled tanks, but I'm not sure if it's true or not.

[@adamadler5411]

Definitely not.... From personal experience 2 small sized infantrymen with no packs can get in and out but not quickly . The only way to put multiple men into the tank is inside the tank itself which greatly reduces its ability to fight and greatly increases risk of injury to all the added men. They have nowhere to sit or stand and the turret swings around and can easily mame or kill anyone not paying attention. If there is crew inside the tank they lock the gun so it cant move. And sitting in that back part you have this flimsy ass metal gate thats supposed to protect you from becoming lubricant for the turret. No thanks id rather walk.

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

Thank for this, very informative and dissolve my belief in the APC capability.

[@excell211]

Well, since you asked what other tanks your viewers want to see, then I would enjoy your analysis on fictional tanks from games/movies/series. I'm kinda interested to see what you would say about the Nova Tank from Star Citizen.

[@cookiecraze1310]

No matter how weirdly designed this tank is, we all have to agree it looks sexy as hell.

[@homiespaghetti1522]

merkava is one of the best looking MBT's in my opinion

[@Keckegenkai]

@@homiespaghetti1522 the sexiest imo is the Leo 2. I just love the arrowhead turret.

[@oldbestiarist5348]

Mr Spookston, you should publish an e-book about tanks their history, their pros and cons, maybe some ideas concerning the future of tanks!

[@CyberneticArgumentCreator]

You have to have sources for books, usually

[@jmt5626]

Great vids just subscribed recently,but I wish to inform you that a believe that a railgun have little to no recoil. I apologize if this comes across as “Well Actually” .Have a great day and thanks for the content.

[@OoGnAhS]

Love this kind of vid

[@pancytryna9378]

I can't believe they made M2A1 Slammer into a real tank

[@fenser]

LOL

[@stalker5299]

ikr what next, the Hunter? Strider? Rhino?

[@pancytryna9378]

@@stalker5299 Imagine if they made the Angara into a real tank that would be kinda crazy 😳

[@unclesam5733]

There are only 3 Merkavas in the whole of Europe. Lucky enough I've seen one. Beautiful and large tank, it was the MK1. I would to see MK4 tho.

[@philippeszwarcbart6507]

If you ever visit Israel, go to the tank museum in Latrun. They have tanks from all of Israel’s wars, including the mk4 as well as a bunch of foreign tanks from around the world.

[@unclesam5733]

@@philippeszwarcbart6507 Izrael is a bit too far from me. But if I ever do ill definitely visit it. If you ever happen to be near Czech Republic visit air park Zruč u Plzně, they have tons of jets and some tanks and helicopters. And you can sit inside, I can also recommend Tank muzeum Lešany, its completely free and there are tons of tanks even one of the Merkavas.

[@MisterCaprisun]

Hey spookston, I know you don't usually do vids like this, but could you take a peek into m60-2000's history, or lack thereof? it's an interesting design.

[@cloaker2829]

It that the m60 with Abrams turret

[@Fantic156]

Very interesting, thanks. ;)

[@grandmoffrex]

Oh boy the comments are gonna be fun

[@BenyKarachun]

The exhaust doesnt block the thermal sights at all, I promise you that

[@HawkFire74]

Just jumped on WT after watching this video and got a pop-up about the Merkava, a new decal for purchacing the 2D. The video embed? "Merkava MK2D, IFV or MBT?" Looks like that parade wasn't the only one making it out as a troop carrier haha

[@AhmedAdel-hf3qm]

This aged very well 😂

[@rustyshaklford9557]

🔻

[@DanDan10101]

What aged? Merkava flattand half of gaza 😂 what is the name of the tank your 3 world country is producing? 😂

[@etaiavni4270]

wow videos of rpgs hitting tanks and always cutting out before the aftermath because they barely scratch it, so insane bro

[@rustyshaklford9557]

@@DanDan10101 My 3rd world country produces the Abrams.

[@DanDan10101]

@rustyshaklford9557 yeah the same way India is producing Suzuki.. you think Abraham's can withstand Kornet attack?

[@MPdude237]

4:00 I think an L/55 may be needed in the future, however, the L/44 cannon is more than capable of penetrating most of the tanks it is likely to face. The most powerful tank that Isreal is likely to face is going to be T-72S or A variants and even if T-72B was more widespread, I dont think I have seen a tank with Kontakt-5 or Relikt, or any ERA intended to defeat or degrade APFSDS. Not that it would matter, the Merkava with the 120mm gun would likely still be able to penetrate a T-72B3 without much problem. The only potential problem tanks would be M1A2(sold to only Saudia Arabia in the region so far), T-90MS, or Leopard 2(the cannon can be deadly to Merkava if given good ammo, but the 2A4 variant would not stand up to hits from good ammo), all of Isreal's potential land adversaries lack the funds to buy these tanks and are stuck primarily with Cold War Vintage, which has no chance against the Merkava.

[@bickboose9364]

I think the no.1 priority for a long while will be to outfit as many of them with Trophy APS. As you've said the L/44 is more than sufficient in the foreseeable future.

[@EasoLV]

Technically Egypt has 1.3k M1A1. Then again, given political realities it does not matter.

[@MPdude237]

@@EasoLV Yep, I didn't mention Egypt since these days, Israel and Egypt are on good terms and hostilities are unlikely, or atleast far less likely than Israel's other neighbors.

[@Deathbomb9]

T-90 was maxed on rod length when it was put into service and has never changed that. It's not even a threat with KE rounds and its hollow charge rounds would also struggle to pen any western tank today and really had issues from the start. Its ERA is also tested against it's own ammo and armor and that's where they get the reduction numbers from. Reducing penetration by 5% when a round goes in one side and out the other doesnt really help you to survive. And if the up to 20% was a good figure youd still need armor equivalence of over 900mm RhA, and the T-90 simply does not and will not ever have that much armor.

[@EasoLV]

@@Deathbomb9 isn't T-90M capable of firing larger rounds than the base model? There are less than 100 of those, but still.

[@alexshtyn6336]

You can pickup some slight heat pollution when u zoom all the way out but was never a problem because the sensor is located up and back from the grilles .(was a guner on mk4)

[@MackieLevyn]

something about you saying "like it was a clown car" made me laugh so hard

[@aidasri4914]

why am i seeing this again now?

[@jonp799]

Cause they are currently blowing up in the field

[@faroukm4148]

@@jonp799yeah tandems are no joke

[@uIfsark]

the S tank is an MBT and has two engines in the front D:

[@stc2828]

That thing is not an MBT lol, it has 0 attack capability.

[@amiryatziv7577]

There is a similarity to centurion in the angle of the hull side walls (on mark 1-3). This is the main reason why the "puma", the heavy APC which is a modified centurion tank, can be fitted with the suspension system off the mercava.

[@929Finn]

I wonder if the transport aspect was partly influenced by the fact the Namer uses that exit as it's primary dismount (since it is a Merkava based apc).

[@asafhadad6051]

As a Tank commander of the Mark 4M i can promise u there is no thermal blockage

[@RADkate]

nothing about the supossed engineblock armor ?

[@eli84360]

Thanks for reminding me to play Halo 3: ODST with that outro music

[@connorwinton4343]

Very impressive tank.

[@IndraKurniawan-vk2qb]

0:15 the S-tank is also officially an MBT. but idk, in War Thunder it cant be played as mbt :(

[@reinbeers5322]

It has _two_ engines even

[@AttiliusRex]

What u talking about, its a great MBT in war thunder Just not suited for urban combat, but neither is any other tank

[@Stridsvagn-mz2bk]

@@AttiliusRex Swedish wedge for the win

[@powkung45]

You didn't mention the greatest myth of all, that the Merkava is the greatest tank in the world

[@adamadler5411]

Only world of tanks can tell you that.

[@grogroleal4775]

mad?

[@asafhadad6051]

As a former tank loader of this i can say for sure the reload speed of the first 10 shells are close to 3.5 sec to 4.5 sec as you go through the drum and you get tired but definitely not 6.7 sec

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

For a small country a trained tank crew is worth more than the actual tank.

[@SF7PAKISTAN]

What about the front armour? I've heard everything from it's fantastic to it's absolute dogshit and cannot handle even older AP rounds. Which one is it?

[@kurokagethescrub9627]

That bit probably results from confusion around the changes made to the tank over its lifetime. Mk 1 and Mk 2 both had plain steel armour that would have difficulty handling anything bigger than a 100mm and was outdated even at the time of their creation (though the latter model did have composite inserts for the turret). It was only starting with the Mk 3 that the Merkava got its modern modular composite armour system.

[@nahuelleandroarroyo]

The hull armor thing seems to be a deliberate sacrifice

[@BenyKarachun]

Kornet missiles couldnt penetrate the Merkava Mk3 and Mk4 from the front in 2006, Merkava has internal ERA, the tank is very tough

[@derrickstorm6976]

There's literally nothing here that you haven't mentioned in earlier Merkava videos 😟

[@tomasrakay571]

Spookston you should do more testing videos of tanks that you think that are pretty "bad" like u did the M41D

[@seemslegit6203]

Its a pretty cool looking tank tho, really unique and quite futuristic looking

[@HUSS_BOSS]

Whenever you see this triangle 🔻 near tank, run!

[@GutoSantana]

LOL

[@YarIsGoober]

Your face when military vehicle desgined for war gets destroyed: 😲

[@yazovgang]

the merkava uses composite armour which can not only stop anti tank rounds but also tandem charges tandem charges can go through Era easily but has way more trouble going through composite only big tandem charges on big anti tank systems can go through composite

[@lionzzz]

😂😂

[@omarrp14]

I was hoping to hear mention of the mortar on the tank. I’ve heard of it just being for flares/Smoke/signals. But then I’ve heard people say they use it with frag/he too. Idk where it even is on there and how the person would operate it

[@dannykaplan7172]

its on the left side of the tank where the louder hatch is . the louder uses it. and yes they have he/frag rounds too

[@omarrp14]

@@dannykaplan7172 I found a video of it being fired. I could see how the mount would allow for up/down adjustment. But how does horizontal work, turret rotation? Also when would it be used and is it worth the space taken

[@dannykaplan7172]

@@omarrp14 the only way for horizontal use is by turret rotation, its really not worth that space that it takes. the only use that i can imaging that it will maybe help is the smoke rounds, because its not that accurate

[@nahuelleandroarroyo]

With it you can ping infantry in cover! You dont need to soften a position with aux support, you can drop rounds and then move in., the same with smoke, you can help infantey beyond LOS or blind old tanks using regular night visión (not thermals)

[@kertaspaper94]

Surprised YT put this on my feed today instead of a month ago

[@gp-network4370]

Can you cover some tank myths of the Italys mbt: Ariete?!

[@ZETH_27]

*!Strv 103!* A video like this discussing myths would be great for the 103 since many people seem to either praise it as a godly unkillable doorwedge of doom, or a clumsy, slow, fragile piece of cheese.

[@bavtie1]

I shall be using "doorwedge of doom" to describe this vehicle forever now

[@Notreallysureactually]

I just want people to stop calling it a tank destroyer.

[@moizahmed9881]

I heard from a tank info KZbinr that merakva ideology of the engine being at the front and israel army saying it acted as extra armour is wrong because mordern apfsds can pen it easily and except giving more protection it makes more shrapnel so it does more harm. Idk if this is true just wanted to tell something 😃

[@SilentButDudley]

Not entirely true at all. It acts as a sort of secondary stage of armory, since the engine is made from a solid block. Sure it has a chance of exploding the engine, but that chance is very very minimal. It is designed to protect the crew, and it does that job well in practice. Otherwise there would be no point to continue designing it thet way.

[@nothingspecial6925]

@@SilentButDudley It USED to be that way when the Merk was designed back in the 70's but modern APFSDS will rip through it much easier than people think. Of course its going to provide some stopping power but there's a high chance of catching fire due to the radiator being at the front too. It definitely provides more protection against chemical munitions but against modern kinetic its nothing to rely on.

[@lior_theboom]

May i remind you of heat?

[@moizahmed9881]

@@lior_theboom heat is basically obsolete ngl

[@IwillLose]

@@moizahmed9881 Wait, most anti tank guided missiles and so are heat right? you think those are obsolete?

[@trofchik9488]

There is a believe in my country that Merkava is designed with crew survivability in mind. Hence the front engine placement which protects the crew. Plus the rear door which is more safe to leave tank through than through top hatch. Plus the ammo not being stored inside the turret.

[@StrielokPLsz]

about thermals, we have SW-IR MW-IR and LW-IR, thermal region for solids is in in LW-IR, gas are mostly in MW-IR, so military thermals are cryocooled to archieve

[@michaelno4756]

I always find it very weird that you can't see through the merkavas 60mm smokes with thermal. Doesn't that work on other ww2 smokes too? Would be such a unique mechanic.

[@zhufortheimpaler4041]

modern (meaning from the 80´s onwards) smoke grenades used by at least the Bundeswehr (and thus several other NATO partners for example) use IR blocking/obscuring compounds in their smoke.

[@nahuelleandroarroyo]

VSS smoke does not protect from thermals (at least a couple ive seen)

[@michaelno4756]

@@nahuelleandroarroyo I know but ESS* is not as flexible in it's use and can in praktis only be used like this very passively.

[@BenyKarachun]

That 60mm smoke is white phosphorus, it'll melt through your bones, you cant see through it because its really hot

[@interpl6089]

aaaand what do you know...the IDF actually uses the Merkava as an APC in Gaza today...

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I could see the eventual primary utility of the compartment being picking up whatever's left of the crew of a fellow tank that's gotten schwacked.

[@adamadler5411]

No space, and there are units in the army that are responsible for personnel recovery, In Judaism the body must be buried as soon as possible after death. If the crew is wounded but alive all units in the area will move to secure and if they are dead the same thing will happen. Soldiers are prioritized in Israel above equipment.

[@T33K3SS3LCH3N]

The history of the rear door is pretty interesting. Israel's prior experience was that fortified tank positions were extremely powerful and often lasted so long that they ran out of ammo. So they wanted a rear door to be able to resupply dug-in tanks in a relatively safe way. This seems like a pretty unrealistic concept in most modern scenarios, but the door still provides some neat utility in general like the ambulance use.

[@themeddite2935]

I think part of the Myth of the Merkava having Infantry seats is partly due to Arma 3. The NATO MBT is well a version of the Merkava.