But I don't think this question makes any sense. Although today's tanks are desperately strengthening their protection. But basically all of them will lose their combat effectiveness if they are hit by modern anti-tank shells. Not to mention heavy anti-tank missiles.

merkava mbt

The Merkava main battle tank designed by Israelis can be regarded as the most dynamic and distinctive main battle tank in the world today. Merkava tank has experienced many conflicts between Israel and Palestine since it was equipped with Israeli army in 1978, during which it developed from 1 to four generations. On these two points alone, no main battle tank in the world today can match. The unique overall layout scheme of the front power transmission device of Merkava tank has surprised and doubted tank designers all over the world. On the list of "World Main Battle Tanks", the "Merkava" main battle tank has also been on the list repeatedly. From 1998/ 1999 "Merkava" 3 to 10, to "Merkava" 3 and "Falcon" 6 in 2000, and then to "Merkava" 4 in 20012002. The "Merkava" main battle tank weighs 60 tons and has 4 crew members (conductor, gunner, driver and loader). From front to back, the interior of the car body is: power transmission cabin (front left), cab (front right), battle room and carriage. Under normal circumstances, the rear compartment only contains ammunition, which is also the reason why the ammunition base of the "Merkava" tank is surprisingly large. When necessary, the rear cabin can carry 8 fully armed infantry or 4 stretchers. The structure of the rear door of the car body is very interesting. It actually has three back doors, the battery loading and unloading door on the left and the three-proof device maintenance door on the right. The main back door in the middle is divided into upper and lower doors, with the upper door facing upwards and the lower door facing downwards, which can be opened from the outside. But there is a locking device in the car. Like the security door, the middle and back doors are mainly used for loading and unloading ammunition, getting on and off passengers and transporting the wounded. There is a 60-liter drinking bucket on the door. In the battle room, the captain is located on the right side of the gun, the gunner is located in the front and lower position of the captain, and the loader is located on the left side of the gun.

design feature

I. Overall arrangement

The body of the tank is cast, and the armor plate with better bulletproof shape is welded on the front upper armor, and the right side is higher than the left side. There is a space behind this layer of cast armor, which is filled with fuel, followed by another layer of armor. This structure makes the tank have better anti-armor and anti-tank missiles.

The internal layout of tanks is different from that of ordinary turret tanks. The battle cabin is in the middle and rear of the car body, the cockpit is in the front and left of the car body, and the front and right of the car body are the power cabin.

The driver has 1 single hatch cover and three periscope observation glasses, and the center 1 can replace passive night vision goggles. There is a 1 channel between the cockpit and the battle cabin. When the driver's seat is folded forward, the driver can access the battle cabin.

Cannonballs can be stored in the back of the car body, and ammunition is packed in a special ammunition box and placed on the bomb rack. Bomb racks can be dismantled to make room for a group of commanders, or four stretchers, or 10 infantry.

There are three doors at the rear of the car body, one on the left is a battery loading and unloading door, the other on the right is a three-proof device maintenance door, and the middle door has two doors, the upper one turns up and the lower one turns down, which can be opened from the outside, but there is a locking device in the car. The middle door is mainly used for loading and unloading shells and transporting the wounded. There are 1 60L drinking water tank on the door.

The turret is pointed, with small frontal area and low firing rate. There is a big tail cabin in the back, which contains radio and hydraulic components.

The conductor is located on the right side of the gun, the gunner is in the front and lower position of the conductor, and the loader is located on the left side of the gun.

Second, the weapon system

65438+

The main weapon of Mekava MK 1 tank is 1 M68 105mm line bore tank gun, which is produced by israel military industries Company, and the barrel is equipped with a heat sleeve. The artillery pitch angle is-8.5 ~+20. The right part of the front upper armor of the car body is equipped with a gun moving fixing frame.

The gun can fire standard 105mm armor-piercing projectiles and armor-piercing projectiles. Israel military industries Company also developed the M11type armor-piercing projectile with stable terminal civilian operation, initial velocity 1465m/s, direct range 1600m and 65438+.

The tank carries 92 rounds 105mm artillery shells, 8 rounds to be fired are stored under the turret seat ring, and the remaining 84 rounds are stored in the rear of the car body, of which 12 rounds are packed in 2 containers and 72 rounds are packed in 4 containers.

2. Auxiliary weapons

105mm gun is installed on the left side 1 7.62mm parallel machine gun, and 1 7.62mm machine gun is installed above the commander's control tower door and loader door. The three machine guns have the same model and were made in Israel with the permission of Belgian FN company. 2000 rounds of 7.62mm machine guns installed on the bullet chain are stored in the interlayer space of gap armor.

Some Merkava tanks are equipped with1m2hb12.7mm machine guns, which are fired from the car above the105mm gun barrel, and the machine guns are used to train gunners. In the urban war in Lebanon, machine guns were used instead of cannons.

3. Fire control system

Merkava MK 1 tank adopts matador Mk 1 fire control system. Its digital fire control device is designed by Elbit Computer Co., Ltd., and its laser rangefinder is made by Elop Company, which can be used by both the captain and the gunner. The system is centered on the central processing unit, including operating device, control and feedback servo loop and sensor. The operating device includes three operating devices: the commander, the gunner and the loader. The gunner operating device is the main operating device, which provides the necessary manual input information for the ballistic computer, such as the type of bombs, the high and low display and the recoil compensation of each bomb in the horizontal angle. In addition, the gunner's operating device also includes logic board and preselection input display device, which can make the system check the gun bore and make the system self-check. The commander's operating device provides system display reading, shooting distance and ammunition input information. Loader operators provide ammunition input information.

The control loop transmits the computer aiming angle data to the gun hydraulic pitch drive device and the direction angle data to the moving crosshair. The feedback loop can ensure that the actual aiming angle and crosshair direction angle are consistent with the calculated data, and can accurately correct the error.

Sensitive components of fire control system include atmospheric sensor, laser rangefinder, turret inclination indicator and target angular velocity sensor.

The computer is broken, and the gunner can use the directional machine and the high-low machine to control the gun. The commander can control the artillery with an override device and fire before the gunner.

This gun is equipped with a two-way stabilizer. The stabilization system is the same as Cadillac Gage company in the United States, and is produced by Israel PML Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.

The captain has a 1 sight, which can rotate 360 degrees with a magnification of 4 times and 20 times. The rotatable head of the captain's periscope is connected with the turret directional drive system through the 1 reverse rotation device to compensate the turret rotation. The magnification of gunner periscope is 1 and 8 times, which is integrated with laser rangefinder.

The night vision equipment of tanks is low-light-level night vision system, and thermal image night vision system can also be selected.

Third, the propulsion system

1 engine

The tank adopts AVDS- 1790-6A 12 cylinder air-cooled diesel engine from Teledyne Continental, with rated power of 662kW(900 HP). See the section "Engine of Tank and Armored Vehicle" for details.

2. Transmission equipment

Matching with the above diesel engine is the CD-850-6A transmission device of Allison (DDA) Company in Detroit, USA, with 1 high, low and reverse gears. For details, please refer to the section "Transmission of Tank Armored Vehicles".

3. Mobile devices

The tank adopts balanced spiral spring suspension device, and there are three groups of suspension devices on both sides of the car body, each group has two balance elbows and two rims. All six balance elbows move independently relative to their respective coil springs. There are also four hydraulic shock absorbers, four limiters and four rollers on both sides of the car body, in which the first, second and fourth rollers only support the track near half of the car body.

4. Command and control system

The communication between the commander and the driver of ordinary tanks depends on the vehicle communication system, but the Merkava tank uses the commander command and control system.

The system includes the steering wheel signal generator used by the conductor, electronic equipment and the driver display connected with the intercom system in the car. The signal generator of the conductor's handle is installed on the turret, and the electronic equipment can be placed at will. The display used by the driver is fixedly installed in the driver's seat, which is convenient for the driver to observe whether the window is open.

When the conductor turns the steering wheel, the driver can hear the standby signal from the earphone and see the corresponding standby symbol on the display screen. When the conductor releases the steering handle, the steering handle will automatically return to the middle position. At this time, the driver heard the command of "good driver" from the earphone.

Fourth, the protection system

In view of the fact that the tank puts the protection performance at the top of the three major performances, the following measures have been taken:

1. Total plane

In order to reduce the secondary effect caused by ammunition explosion, no ammunition is placed in the front of the car body and above the turret seat ring. In order to ensure the safety of passengers, the seats should be arranged at the back of the car body and at a relatively low position as far as possible. Armor used to protect passengers accounts for 70% of the total combat weight of tanks, which is much higher than other tanks.

2. Power transmission front end

The tank is unique in that the power transmission device is placed in front, and its main purpose is to improve the frontal protection ability of the tank and protect the safety of the passengers.

3. The important part adopts gap and/or interval armor technology.

Tanks are armored around the front, top and turret of the most vulnerable car body, as well as the top, back and sides of the battle cabin, all of which adopt gap and/or interval armor structures. Some mezzanine spaces store fuel and some machine guns to strengthen protection and prevent secondary effects.

4. Additional protection

Making full use of tank components and equipment to protect passengers is the guiding ideology of tank design. For example, storage batteries, three-proof devices, hydraulic power components, suspension devices, engines and transmission devices are arranged around the passenger compartment to strengthen the protection of passengers.

5. Special protection of ammunition

In order to prevent the secondary effect of ammunition detonation, the tank puts it in a special container that can withstand high temperature, and puts it in the middle and rear part of the car body under the turret seat ring that is not easy to be attacked.

Machine guns are stored in the interlayer space of gap armor, which can also prevent bullets from hurting passengers.

6. Automatic fire extinguishing and explosion suppression device

The tank is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing and explosion suppression device specially developed by Spectronix company of Israel, which can suppress and extinguish the combustion and explosion of oil-gas mixture within 60 ms ..

7. Three-proof device

The tank is equipped with a collective protection three-prevention device, and the central pressurization system establishes overpressure in the car, thus preventing biological, toxic gases and radioactive dust from entering the car.

8. Special protection of eyesight

The gunner's sight is protected by bulletproof sheets and steel plates of machine bullets. Headlights are mounted on retractable devices, which can be retracted to enhance protection when not in use. Several small ribs are welded on the right side of the front of the turret to prevent shrapnel and machine bombs from hitting the commander's sight and laser rangefinder.

Model evolution

So far, the tank has developed three models: Merkava MK 1, Merkava MK2 and Merkava MK3.

1. Merkava MK2 tank

1983 tanks have the following improvements compared with MK 1:

(1) Enhance the front protection of the vehicle body.

In addition to continuing to use the interlayer gap armor in MEKALI MK 1 and the protective measures of storing fuel in the gap, the tank also added 1 special armor partition behind the engine to improve the front protection of the tank body.

There is a 1 rectangular cast steel cover plate above the engine, which is not only a part of the front armor of the car body, but also can be used as a crane bracket to lift the engine and transmission device, open the cover plate and facilitate the maintenance of the engine.

The inclined armor plate at the front of the car body extends upward and is higher than the turret seat ring, which has a protective effect on the joint between the turret and the car body.

(2) Protect the turret with composite armor.

In addition to MK 1 protective measures, the turret of the tank adopts composite armor on the front and side to enhance the protection of the turret. A chain is hung under the turret tail cabin as a shielding measure for armor-piercing projectiles.

(3) Measures to improve the secondary effect of shells.

All the shells of the tank, including those to be fired, are stored in glass fiber bomb storage barrels with insulation lining. The bomb storage barrel has a certain bulletproof ability, and even if the tank armor is punctured, the shells are not easy to be hit. The bomb storage barrel has a certain heat insulation ability, and even if high temperature occurs in the car, the shells in the bomb storage barrel will not explode in a short time.

(4) Add 60mm mortar for self-defense.

On the left side of the turret of the tank, there is a160mm mortar, which can be loaded and fired from the vehicle. This gun can fire grenades to kill soft targets, as well as smoke bombs and flares.

(5) Improve the fire control system.

The tank uses the matador MK2 fire control system. Compared with Matador MK 1, the improvements include replacing the Nd: YaG laser rangefinder with a more advanced ballistic computer. The fire control system can send the corresponding pitch angle and advance angle information to the gunner's sight, and the sight can pitch with a magnification of 8 times. The captain's sight is a panoramic sight with a variable focal length lens, with a magnification of 4 times and 20 quilts. The conversion magnification is controlled by the pedal.

In Merkava MK2A tank, the captain has 1 low light night vision.

The gunner has a 1 Hughes thermal imaging sight, which is used for shooting at night and is integrated with the sight during the day and connected with the artillery. The captain has 1 monitor, which can display thermal images on the captain's thermal imaging sight. In Merkava MK2B tank, there are 1 more advanced digital computers of Elbit Company, 1 meteorological center equipment and 1 automatic roll corrector. The meteorological center device includes sensors such as crosswind, air temperature and air pressure, which can provide relatively complete shooting correction parameters for artillery. Shooting with the aid of the "shooting door" device can greatly improve the shooting ability of the tank when it is moving.

2. Merkava MK3 tank

The appearance of this tank 1987 put into production and equipped with troops has not changed much compared with the previous two models. But almost every main component is new, which obviously improves the firepower, maneuverability and protective performance.

The main improvements of tanks are:

(1) protection

Compared with the first two models, the tank adopts more and more advanced composite armor, especially in turret design, which can be replaced by more advanced composite armor modules.

The turret body is no longer a double-layer notched steel plate armor, but a single-layer shell structure. This single-layer shell is not only a matrix steel armor, but also a matrix with composite armor modules installed on the front and both sides of the turret. The composite armor module is a steel armor box, which contains a composite armor plate assembly, which is connected with the turret base and fixed by bolts.

This modular armor is also used on the outer wall of the car body protruding from the turret seat ring. Modular armor is also bolted to the front upper armor plate in front of the driver to enhance the response to attacks from the left. Side skirts are also made of composite armor skirts that are elastically connected.

In order to minimize the risk of fuel fire, when the two rear fuel tanks are attacked and damaged in a small area, the fuel can be discharged quickly, and in the case of large area damage, the fuel can be discharged from the top.

Fuel is no longer stored in the interlayer of the car body floor, but the gap between the two plates is very beneficial to attenuate the shock wave of mine explosion. The thickening of the bottom deck also improves the anti-mine ability.

The position of the three-proof device is moved to the rear cabin of the turret, and the battery is located outside the turret seat ring, thus achieving the dual purposes of facilitating maintenance and strengthening side protection.

(2) Fire fighting system

The tank is equipped with the matador MK3 fire control system. The main improvement is that the magnification of the new gunner's sight is 12 times, which is independent and stable in both directions. Equipped with Nd-doped YAG laser rangefinder and day and night observation channel. This kind of mirror, ballistic computer and a set of sensors together form a command ceremony fire control system, which can simplify the target capture process and greatly improve the hit rate in the moving process.

The tank is equipped with an advanced threat early warning system, which was developed by Amcoram Company of Armco. Three wide-angle detectors are installed at the back of the turret and the gun shield, which can detect all directions and display threat warnings on the captain's screen.

In order to improve survivability, tanks are equipped with all-electric turret rotary drive and artillery pitch drive.

(3) Weapon system

The main gun was changed from 1 105mm line-bore gun to 120mm smooth-bore gun, which was developed by israel military industries company and can fire shells of M 1A 1 tanks and Leopard 2 tanks, but the recoil device was designed more compactly. The recoil device is concentric and uses nitrogen as elastic medium, so the diameter of the device is100 mm; Smaller than the same stove; Another advantage is that the gun can be pulled out from the front of the turret.

The shells are still stored in the rear of the car body, but each box contains 4 shells instead of 1. This tank has 50 shells.

(4) Propulsion device

The tank adopts AVDS- 1790-9AR air-cooled diesel engine, which is an improvement of the first two tank engines, and the power is increased from 662kW(900 HP) to 895kW. The main reasons for power improvement are the adoption of new turbocharger and intercooler, new connecting rod and piston, and 10 hole injector.

The transmission is the only inherited component.

The mobile device has 12 load-bearing wheels, which are elastically supported on two concentric spiral springs, 6 on each side, 4 of which have rotary hydraulic dampers, and the front and rear two have hydraulic limiters. The total suspension stroke is increased to 600 mm, of which the stroke is 300 mm. The track is dry steel single pin type, and each track has 1 10 track shoes. The acceleration time from 0 to 32km/h is 10s.

Variable car

1. Merkava155mm self-propelled gun

Developed by Soltam, the car adopts Merkava tank chassis.

2. Merkava tank with bulldozer/mine-clearing equipment

The front lower armor plate of the car body is equipped with mine-clearing equipment designed and manufactured by Israel and Merkava tank with bulldozer.

3. platoon communication Merkava tank

This car is a Merkava tank with additional communication equipment and antenna.

Performance data:

Model: Merkava MK 1 tank Merkava MK3 tank

Crew: 4 people, 4 people.

Total combat weight: 60000kg 6 1000kg.

Net weight: 58000kg 59000kg

Unit power:11.03kw/t14.67kw/t.

Unit pressure: 88.3 kPa 96.0 kPa

Captain (artillery forward): 8.630m8.780m

Body length: 7.450m 7.600m.

Car width: 3.700m 3.700m.

Car height:

To the top of the control tower: 2.750m 2.760m.

To the top of turret: 2.640m 2.650m.

Height of fire line: 2.150m.

Height from vehicle bottom to ground: 0.47m0.53m

Track width: 640mm 660m.

Orbital landing length: 4.780m.

Highest speed of highway: 46 km/h and 55 km/h.

0-32km/h acceleration time: 13s 10s.

Fuel reserve: 900L L l.

Maximum road travel: 400 km, 500 km and 500 km.

Deep wading:

Unprepared:1.38m1.38m.

Ready: 2.0m2.4m

Climbing degree: 60% 70%

Rolling gradient: 38% 38%

Height of climbing vertical wall: 0.95m 1 m.

Crossing width of pipe trench: 3.0m3.5m

Engine:

Production company: Teleda National Continental Company

Model: AVDS17906A AVDS1790-9AR

Type: four-stroke 12V90 four-stroke 12V90

Air-cooled turbocharged diesel engine Air-cooled turbocharged intercooled diesel engine

Power/speed: 662kW/2400rpm 895kW/2400rpm/

Transmission equipment:

Production Company: Detroit Diesel Engine Detroit Diesel Engine

Allison company. Allison Corp.

Model: CD-850 6A CD-850 6A

Type: Hydraulic machinery Hydraulic machinery

Number of forward gears/reverse gears: 2/ 1 2/ 1

Steering gear type: double differential double differential type

Type of suspension device: balanced spiral spring, independent concentric spiral spring.

Main gun caliber/model/type: 105mm/M68/ line bore 120mm// slide bore.

Caliber/type/quantity of parallel weapons: 7.62mm/ machine gun/1/ machine gun/1.

Caliber/type/quantity of air defense weapons: 7.62mm/ machine gun /2 pieces of 7.62mm/ machine gun /2 pieces.

Hot Smoke: Nothing.

Smoke bomb launcher diameter: 78.5mm.

Ammunition base:

/kloc-0.05mm cannonball 62-85 rounds

50 rounds120mm shells.

7.62mm machine gun 1000 rounds, 2000 rounds.

Turret driving mode: electro-hydraulic electric.

Rotating range of turntable: 360 360.

Captain's Override Control: Yes or No

Artillery pitch range: -8.5 ~+20-8 ~+20.

Gun stabilizer;

Horizontal: Yes.

Height: Yes.

Fire control system type: command ceremony

Night vision type: low light level image enhancement or thermal imaging low light level image enhancement or thermal imaging.

Armor structure type

Text:

Front roof: clearance+modular armor

Top and bottom: homogeneous

Side (skirt): seam homogenization+modular armor

Top: Homogeneous

Bottom: clearance clearance

Turret:

Front: Gap homogeneity+modular armor

Side: gap homogenization+modular armor

Top: gap homogenization+modular armor

Tail: homogeneous

Three prevention devices: yes and no.

Fire extinguishing and explosion suppression system: yes or no

Photoelectric alarm equipment: None.

Electrical system voltage: 24V

Battery quantity/voltage/capacity: 8/12V/500Ah.

Unconventional layout

Of course, the biggest feature of Merkava MK 1 tank is its unique layout, front power system, middle cab and rear war room. The driver is located on the left side of the front of the car body and the engine compartment is on the right side. The driver has a hatch that opens to the left and three periscopes for closed observation (the middle one can be replaced by a passive night vision device). Because the protruding part of the engine roof only accounts for 2/3 of the front side of the tank, the driver's front world can be basically guaranteed. A tank driver voice command system developed by Israel is installed in the cab. The commander reminds the driver of the direction the tank should pass through through the handle, and sends out the speed command through the button. The display screen in front of the driver will display arrows in the corresponding direction, and at the same time, you can hear computer-generated prompts such as "fast", "slow", "front" and "rear" through headphones installed in the fuel tank cover. This device is specially designed for tanks by Herta Company of Israel. With the help of this device, the commander can even make the tank carry out tactical maneuvers quickly and accurately through internal communication without calling loudly.

Behind the power room is the war room, and the inclined position of the driver can also be separated from the war room with armor plates. But under normal circumstances, when the driver leaves the car, he should enter the war room from the back of the chair and get off at the entrance behind the war room. This is because in combat, most of the main fire threats come from the front. If the driver gets off in front of the car with a gun in his face, he may be dead. You can develop good operating habits during training, and you won't lose your mind in a highly tense battlefield situation.

The war room of Merkava tank is located in the back half of the car body, and its spaciousness is surprising. The operation space of the conductor, gunner and loader is very large, which is mainly due to the reasonable layout of internal equipment. The hidden space behind Merkava tank can carry a small team of infantry, but it is not usually done, especially in wartime, and it is necessary to provide safe space for the wounded. In case of emergency, Merkava can carry up to 8 wounded people.