[lacrew]

Its a good tank....most western tanks favor crew survivabilty, to include the M-1. I think this shut down is more about money. And, tank production is not like car production - at some point, the Army has enough tanks...they can’t buy them forever.

[norton]

"...tank production is not like car production - at some point, the Army has enough tanks...they can’t buy them forever."

There is also the truism that (assuming a short war) you fight today's war with what you've got today, not what you might have next year.

[rmlew]

Its a good tank....most western tanks favor crew survivabilty, to include the M-1. I think this shut down is more about money. And, tank production is not like car production - at some point, the Army has enough tanks...they can’t buy them forever.
Israel could use alot more, actually, especially now that the possibility of war with Egypt exists. Israel is finishing its production of 600 Merkava IV tanks. It another 700+ Merkava III tanks. It also has another 180 Merkava I and 100 Mark II tanks. However the Merkava I and II have inferior armor and the Merkava I is obsolete. The Merkava II and be brought up to the IID standard with better armour, but it is still inferior to the Mark IV and only has a 105mm L7/M68 main gun. These are outgunned by the M1A1 Abrams tanks we gave Egypt. If Israel had the budget, it would convert its older Merkava tanks into armoured personel carriers (Namer) and 155mm artillery (Slammer).