Merkava Mk.2D

This page is about the Israeli medium tank Merkava Mk.2D. For other versions, see Merkava (Family).

Merkava Mk.2D

Merkava Mk.2D

Israel

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.7	9.7	9.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

STORE

Description

The Merkava Siman 2 Bet Dor Dalet is a premium gift rank VI Israeli medium tank with a battle rating of 9.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Winged Lions".

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

ESS

Creation of a smoke screen in the direction of movement of the vehicle

LWS

Notifies about the vehicle's exposure to laser emissions

Armourfront / side / back

Hull90 / 50 / 30

Turret65 / 65 / 65

Crew4 people

Visibility103 %

Unconventional armor layout offers components of the tank as protection (engine, fuel tank etc.) making chemical ammunition (HEAT, HESH, HE) very difficult to use against the vehicle. Lower-end APFSDS (DM23, T320, 3BM25) may struggle to get through as well. A 35mm plate surrounds the engine block on the interior of the vehicle, protecting the crew from spalling and fire. Composite screens on the Hull front (covering the driver), turret face and sides offer protection against HEAT projectiles. Low crew positioning for the turret can cause misplaced rounds to deal minimal damage.

Notable weakpoints:

• Area below the gunner's sight can be easily penetrated by APFSDS killing gunner and commander
• Shot to driver with APFSDS may set off ammunition rack in back of vehicle if bringing full load
• Turret ring

Armour type:

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	Upper: 90mm @ 30 degrees Lower: 50mm @ 57 degrees	50mm + 20mm composite on top ~115mm composite on lower	30mm	30mm rear 20mm middle 60mm front + 30mm composite on right side
Turret	65mm turret point 30mm heavily sloped	65mm + Variable thickness composite	65mm	30mm + 25mm composite covering slope
Cupola	30mm	30mm	30mm	30mm

Notes:

Tracks, wheels and suspension are all 20mm thick.

Mobility

• Maximum speeds forward and backward of 54 km/h (6 gears) and 10.3 km/h (2 gears) respectively

• 963 HP @ 2400 RPM

• HP/T of ~15.3

Sluggish but performs well on roads and even surfaces, slow to accelerate and has zero-point turning.

Modifications and economy

Premium vehicle, all modifications are unlocked upon purchase.

Armaments

• 105mm Sharir cannon

• 12.7mm M2HB machine gun

• 7.62mm FN MAG machine gun x3

Main armament

105mm Sharir cannon equipped with 2-plane gun stabilizer and effective rounds. Will struggle in uptiers against heavily armored targets, i.e. T-80B, Leopard 2A4, M1 Abrams. 8.7 second reload with stock crew and 7.7 with maxed (not expert or aced.)

105mm Sharir cannon					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	62	-8°/+20°	±180°	Two-plane	38.1	52.7	64.0	70.8	75.3	8.71	7.70	7.10	6.70
Realistic					23.8	28.0	34.0	37.6	40.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
M152	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
M156	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M111	APFSDS	337	335	330	322	314	306

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
M152	HEATFS	1,173	10.5	0.05	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°
M156	HESH	732	14.85	0.1	4	4,310	73°	77°	80°
M111	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M416	730	11.4	20	5	25	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Merkava Mk.2D

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
62	35 (+27)	7 (+55)	1 (+61)	No

Notes:

• Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
• Rack 3 is a first stage ammo rack. It totals 6 shells and gets filled first when loading up the tank.
• This rack is also emptied early: the rack depletion order at full capacity is: 3 - 1 - 2.
• Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 and 2 into rack 3. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready rack.

Machine guns

12.7 mm M2HB machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition1 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate575 shots/min

7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition6 000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate1 001 shots/min

2 x 7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40 machine gun

Ammunition3 600 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate1 001 shots/min

12.7 mm M2HB
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	900 (200)	577	N/A	-8°/+19°

7.62 mm FN MAG 60-40
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	5,950 (200)	600	N/A	N/A
Pintle	1,750 (200)	600	-5°/+50°	-60°/+120°
Pintle	1,750 (200)	600	-5°/+50°	-120°/+60°

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Effective firepower
• Great HEAT protection
• Superb RP and SL rewards
• Plethora of smoke

Cons:

• Relatively low mobility
• Unreliable armor against APFSDS
• Struggles in uptiers
• Large profile

History

IDF Artillery Corps cadets being tested with a Merkava Mk.2D.

Merkava Mk.1 tanks served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) from 1979 as the primary Israeli MBT. Not long after its introduction into service, this tank was sent to lead the way during the First Lebanon War of 1982. Despite proving itself under fire against Syrian T-72As and a variety of other threats, it was obvious that the first iteration of the design was not suitable for the changing combat environment of the 1980s Middle East. In particular, it was found to be lacking in close-quarters and urban combat against asymmetric threats - primarily guerilla infantry using unguided rocket launchers.

The second generation of the Merkava was already under development when the First Lebanon War broke out, but benefited greatly from lessons learned during combat. Over the 6 years in which the Merkava Mk.2 was in production, several important changes were made to compensate for the Mk.1's deficiencies. The Merkava Mk.2D represents the final variant of this generation of Merkava tanks, including all of those modifications.

Firstly, a very familiar feature of all modern Merkava tanks was added to the first Mk.2: the Hairs of Shulamit, a line of heavy iron spheres dangling on chains around the rear rim of the turret. This simple device helps deflect incoming rounds away from the vulnerable turret ring, and increases the chance of prematurely detonating HEAT rockets and missiles. This feature proved to be so successful and cost-efficient that it was retroactively added to all Mk.1 variants as well.

A Merkava Mk.2D in a staging area during Operation "Pillar of Defense".

Another major improvement was made to the fire control system, whose computer was updated to take many additional factors into consideration, such as air temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. This significantly improved the accuracy of the tank's 105 mm cannon, allowing it to reliably outperform the T-72 at long-range combat. The computer was also taught to handle a variety of new shells made available for the Mk.2, and to be able to record its ballistic calculations in order to gradually improve accuracy over time for the specific cannon it was controlling.

The Mk.2's powertrain also saw several improvements, the most major of which was an upgraded transmission that could pivot the tank in-place - a feature sorely required for manoeuvres in dense urban terrain. The Mk.2's engine itself was also slightly more powerful than the Mk.1's.

Other features included thermal optics, additional top armour, and finally (unique to the Mk.2D) a modular armour system allowing damaged segments to be quickly replaced after a battle.

The Mk.2 continued to serve until as late as 2016. As of 2021, some Merkava Mk.2 hulls are being converted into heavily-armoured APCs, primarily to serve as Command and Control vehicles known as Ofek ("Horizon").

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Merkava Mk.2D from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #291 - Metal Beasts section at 00:26 discusses the Merkava Mk.2D.

See also

• Merkava (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] Israeli Ground Forces CBT Early Access Packs!