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 %

The Merkava Mk.2D has a complex armour array, with the composite screens and interior armour plates giving the tank a more imposing armour profile than the first glance would suggest.

The tank is rather resistant against chemical tank shells like high-explosive and HEAT shells thanks to the composite screen present on the hull and turret. The composite screen on the sides are even enough for these kinds of threats. However, some higher-performing missiles can still cleave through this armour like butter, so beware of tanks that can fire missiles from a long distance.

Though only a portion of the Merkava Mk.2D's front armour is covered in composite screen, the iconic Merkava engine placement enables the non-composite areas of the hull front to still be survivable against incoming shells. If the penetrating shell cannot penetrate through the engine and its two armour plated fire walls, then the crew interior can survive against a frontal penetration.

Despite all this elaborate protection against some chemical shells, the Merkava Mk.2D's protection against kinetic shells is pretty poor except for the turret front due to its awkward geometry. However, as most enemies the Merkava Mk.2D faces have access to rather high-end kinetic APFSDS shells, this makes the Merkava Mk.2D rather vulnerable to most battlefield threats a player will face in a match.

Armour type:

• Cast homogenous armour (Hull front, Turret, Gun mantlet)
• Rolled homogenous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
• Composite screen (Extra laid on Hull front/sides and Turret front/sides

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	20-60* mm (22-88°) Front glacis 50-90 mm (30-57°) Lower glacis	30-50* mm (12-13°)	30‡ mm (12-44°)	30 mm (81-90°)
Turret	30-65*‡ mm (0-78°) Turret front 100 mm (0-83°) Gun mantlet	30-65*‡ mm (0-61°)	65‡ mm (0-70°)	30 mm (86-90°)
Cupola	30 mm (0-32°)	30 mm (0-33°)	30 mm (0-33°)	30 mm
Composite screen	* - Presence of composite screen.
Spaced armour	‡ - Presence of spaced armour.

Notes:

• Tracks and suspension wheels are 20 mm thick.
• Turret front has 100 mm CHA plate behind the base armour.
• Turret sides and rear consists of spaced armour with the base cast armour and a 45 mm plate behind them.
• Engine is surrounded by RHA plates ranging from 10-35 mm in thickness.
• Hull rear consists of spaced armour with two 30 mm RHA plates.
• Belly armour is 30 mm thick in RHA.
• Ammo rack bundles are surrounded by a 5 or 10 mm thick RHA armour.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB60 / 26 km/h

RB and SB54 / 24 km/h

Number of gears8 forward

4 back

Weight63.0 t

Engine power

AB1 717 hp

RB and SB900 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB27.3 hp/t

RB and SB14.3 hp/t

Comparing the top speeds of contemporary main battle tanks to the Merkava Mk.2D, the Merkava Mk.2D is on the slower side. The only other main battle tank the Merkava Mk.2D will beat in a straight line race is the M60 Patton tanks.

Acceleration is quick in the first 20 km/h speed in gear 1-3, though it starts slowing down when reaching gear 4-5 at around 30-40 km/h. As such, the Merkava Mk.2D can make some quick moves if starting from a stop, but it will still take a while to build up the necessary speed to cross through the open in a timely manner.

When moving at high speed, the Merkava Mk.2D's could have enough momentum to turn the entire tank in a near 180 degree. This does allow the Merkava to quickly orient itself if attacked while it was moving at high speed towards an objective. However, doing this will bleed most, if not all, of the Merkava Mk.2D's speed and so it would be best not to do turn so hard when there is a need to keep moving into a cover.

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	60	26	63	1,492	1,717	23.68	27.25
Realistic	54	24		852	900	13.52	14.29

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB3 082

RB2 987

SB3 876

Crew training10 000

Experts850 000

Aces2 100

Research Aces1 900 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 150 / 200 / 230 %

2 × 220 / 220 / 220 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment Mine protection ESS	Horizontal Drive 105mm_usa_HESH_ammo_pack 105mm_usa_M735_APDS_FS_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire LWS/LR NVD Elevation Mechanism 105mm_us_M416_Smoke_ammo_pack Smoke grenade Artillery Support 105mm_DM33_APDS_FS_ammo_pack

Armaments

Laser rangefinder

Reduces the error and increases the maximum measurable distance of the rangefinder

Night vision device

Improves visibility by enhancing natural light or active illumination.

Thermal imager

Allows to see thermal radiation in the infrared range day and night

Main armament

105 mm Sharir cannon

Two-plane stabilizer

Reduces the swing of the gun in two planes while moving

Ammunition54 rounds

First-order6 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

8.7 → 6.7 s

Vertical guidance-8° / 20°

105 mm Sharir					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 protection against chemical shells
• Plethora of smoke launchers
• Effective firepower with APFSDS and laser rangefinder / warning system
• Thermal imaging systems for gunner

Cons:

• Relatively low mobility
• Below average gun elevation angles
• Large ammunition racks in the rear of the vehicle
• Unreliable armour against APFSDS

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

Premium Vehicles: Merkava Mk.2D - War Thunder Wiki

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!