Description
The Merkava is a main battle tank used by the Israel Armed Forces. The Merkava Mark III was introduced in December 1989 and was in production until 2003. Compared to the Merkava II, it has upgrades to the drivetrain, powertrain, armament, and electronic systems. Ballistic protection is provided by special armour modules, which are attached to the tank by bolts.
The main gun is a 120mm smoothbore gun designed and produced by Israeli Military Industries (IMI). It is widely confused as a licensed production of the Rheinmetall L44 tank gun. This gun and a larger 1,200 horsepower diesel engine increased the total weight of the tank to 65 tonnes, but speed increased by 10 km/h.
