Posted on 08/27/2006 9:32:50 PM PDT by Flavius
Commander: Not many tanks harmed during war
Commander of 401 Armored Corps Brigade, Colonel Moti Kidor: 'During war hundreds of antitank missiles fired, 18 damaged'
Hanan Greenberg Published: 08.28.06, 00:07
As the war continued in the north, more and more tanks were damaged. Many voices were heard in the past declaring the Merkava MK 4 model as "the safest in the world," but it turned out that many of these tanks were damaged by Hizbullah antitank missiles, causing the IDF a significant number of losses.
Colonel Moti Kidor, Commander of the 401 Armored Corps Brigade, however, says that "those who ask these questions simply don't understand the field, and unfortunately these include senior IDF officers. When you look at the full picture, one understands that during the war hundreds of antitank missiles were fired, and in total 18 tanks were damaged. Of those, missiles penetrated only five or six. To my sorrow, eight soldiers were killed in these incidents."
He added: "Like every tank in the past and in the future, the Merkava MK 4 is vulnerable. It's basically like asking why a chopper fell. If you strike it, it falls. I don't think there is any surprise here, and whoever is surprised simply doesn't understand. It's true that eight soldiers were killed in tanks, and that every soldier is a world in himself, but in relation to the number of missiles fired at us – it's not a lot."
In total dozens of Armored Corps soldiers were hurt and dozens of tanks hit, all from the Merkava MK 2, 3, and 4, some from tanks sent from the war reserves store unit shortly before entering in Lebanon. Among those injured were many reserves.
"Only a small number of tanks were seriously damaged, most of them have already been returned to units after the recovery," said a senior IDF officer.
"The Armored Corpse played in this war, like in previous war of the State of Israel, a central role in the fighting, and absorbed many casualties. We'll have to take away lessons from this to be ready for the next war," the source added.
Second best tank in the world next to you know who...
The Merkava is very well adapted to urban warfare.
How does this tank compare to the M1 ?
It's an outstanding machine.
http://targetcentermass.net/index.php?p=564
Check it out!
As usual, the media painted an unrealistically negative picture during the actual events - probably because their sources are terrorists and they take the terrorists' words as the truth over anybody else's.
You will always need infantry to protect tanks...
Third best behind the M1-A2 and Challenger II.
No tanks were harmed in the making of this war!
Duh -- make that post# 5.
Ouch.
I hope Col Moti has some "stuff" for the 'duck and cover' mode.
Incoming.
Hard and easy to compare. It will take many pages to analyze Merkava and M1. I was one of the first Israeli tank commanders to work and test Merkava 1.Most of the info you can find on Internet.There is no perfect tank,but Mekava overall very well made and safe.It was made specifically for local use.
More like "splash"
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Thank You.
I tried to download the video from the site you suggested but it's not working for me. This video shows the machine engaging other tanks, artillery and even a helicopter. That's outstanding!
Yes, it's one of the best I've ever watched. I was very impressed!
Your link is the same video I watched at the other site. It's impressive.
"How does this tank compare to the M1?"
Nothing compares to the M1A Abrams. And the 4th ID version with full computer capability is generations ahead of all others.
The best source on the Internet for all things military.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/
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