The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday -Israeli Merkava - Main Battle Tank - Mar 23rd, 2004

www.israeli-weapons.com ^

[archy]

***The treadhead threads are fun to do. :-)***

***I'd think it'd be interesting to fire the Main gun (remotely) just to see what happens. :-)

Your idea of *fun* and *interesting* might be considered peculiar in some circles.

[archy]

Thanks, Archy, especially of the tanker with the tephillin!

Hardly surprising that among those who take their soldiering very seriously, you would find in their number those who take their Faith the same way.

-archy-/-

[E.G.C.]

BTT!!!!!!

[SAMWolf]

Israel's victories were due to her Air Force and Armored Forces, which are amont the best is the world. I've read about all the Arab-Israel wars. They learned and adapted the principles of Blitzkrieg almost to perfection.

[SAMWolf]

Your idea of *fun* and *interesting* might be considered peculiar in some circles.

"Peculiar" is one of the kinder words used to describe my ideas. :-)

[archy]

Israel's victories were due to her Air Force and Armored Forces, which are amont the best is the world. I've read about all the Arab-Israel wars. They learned and adapted the principles of Blitzkrieg almost to perfection.

The Armoured Force has been well-discussed here; the origins of the Israeli Air Force are also of intrerest. In 1947-'48 with an attempt by their neighbors to drive those of the new nation into the sea and their stopgap air force just reaching the point where it needed a command structure, the Israelis wisely studied the air services of the world looking for similarities of size, mission, operating conditions, and equipment, looking for those operational controls and techniques they might adapt to their own use.

They found their prototype in Switzerland, which also offered the interesting difference that their air force managed to mostly remain outside the hostilities, Switzerland having fiercely maintained its neutrality. And their air service flew the Messerschmidt BF-109E, not too dissimilar from the reengined Czech Avia S199 BF-109 variants then operated by the Israelis.

And while they were at it, the Israelis also borrowed the structure and methods of the Swiss military reserve system, and Israel's resulting force of mostly experienced reservists who maintain their proficiency as citizen-soldiers has also served the Jewish state well. They got two for the price of one out of that deal....

[Professional Engineer]

This looks fun!

YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

[Darksheare]

Yeah, it does!
Gotta wonder about how much powerplant 'oomph' it takes to get an MBT five foot or so off the ground.
And what speed it's going to do so?
I want one!

[aomagrat]

It has one. It's covered up by the canvas tarp in the photo.

[archy]

Yeah, it does!

Gotta wonder about how much powerplant 'oomph' it takes to get an MBT five foot or so off the ground.
And what speed it's going to do so?
I want one!

Remember it's not as heavily armoured as an American Abrams, counting on armour shape, mobility and getting off the first shot themselves to keep casualties down rather than trying to *absorb* enemy AT weapon hits, a philosophy I'm VERY much in agreement with. But with almost as much HP as an Abrams and less weight, their performance is indeed sporty, even in the older versions. How fast are they going? A bit over 40MPH, maybe 45. Downhill they'll hit 50+/80+ KPH, according to Israeli tankers I've talked with who *tried to sell me one.*

If you really want one and are willing to settle for a Merkava 2, something might be arranged....

More/older Merkavim info.

[Darksheare]

COOL!
I'll have to wait until I have enough spare cash to consider getting one though.
I'm sure the import fess are horrendous, if indeed it would be allowed into the country.

[yhwhsman]

If you really want one and are willing to settle for a Merkava 2, something might be arranged....

VBEG

Just thinking about how much fun one Merkava, 80 acres of gently rolling hills, and several T-72 chassis in interesting positions could be.

[Red6]

It's a good defensive tank if you're in a small country fighting third world/class enemies. So I guess for the IDF it's a good machine.

Red6

[SAMWolf]

For the kind of fighting Israel is doing it's a good fit.

[Red6]

Yes, jumping tanks.

The Russians like to do that kind of nonsense stuff too.

Normally though it's good to have the mechanics standing by to replace Torsionbars and all the other stuff that is going to bend, snap or crack :)

Red6