Key Points and Summary – Israel’s Merkava is a unique main battle tank, combining heavy firepower with the ability to act as an infantry carrier. Some experts even call this tank the best on Earth, although many claim the M1 Abrams is better.
-Protected by the advanced Trophy Active Protection System, its armament includes a 120mm cannon and a distinctive internal 60mm mortar for targeting infantry behind cover.
Merkava Tank Firing. Image Credit: IDF.
Merkava Tank Israel. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Its critical role in recent combat has inspired further investment.
-The newest “Barak” variant, unveiled in 2023, represents a major technological leap, incorporating AI-powered targeting, 360-degree observation systems, and a helmet-mounted display for the commander, ensuring the platform’s dominance.
Meet the Merkava Tank: Best on Earth?
The Israeli military fields a number of widely respected military capabilities: the ballistic missile-intercepting Iron Dome; the Israeli variant of the F-35, the F-35I Adir; and drone surveillance and precision-fire counter-terrorist platforms.
The Israel Defense Forces also has a formidable mechanized armored combat force led by its famous Merkava Main Battle Tank.
The Merkava has come under heavy attack from Hamas militants, and its performance has proved critical to successful IDF forward operations.
Israel’s confidence in its armor recently inspired a large $1.5 billion investment in Merkava tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers such as the Namer and Eiten.
Infantry Carrier & Attack Firepower
The Merkava functions as both a tank and an infantry carrier. It is equipped with a 120-mm cannon and advanced Trophy Active Protection System.
While it is not clear whether the Trophy is a hemispheric system — meaning a platform able to track and destroy threats coming from above — the Merkava reportedly does have the capability to strike elevated targets.
This is quite significant, as combat in Ukraine has demonstrated how vulnerable tanks have become to top-down attacks.
Hamas or other terrorist groups might try to emulate the tactic, seeking elevated terrain or using drones to attack IDF armored formations and tanks.
Much like other APS systems, Trophy likely works with advanced computing, sensor detection, and fire-control technology capable of finding, tracking and intercepting or destroying incoming anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).
An Israeli Defense Forces Merkava Mark 4 tank fire 120mm canon shell
amazing action military photography 2022 2008(c)-Nehemia Gershuni Photograpy
A New MBT Arrives
In 2023, Israel unveiled its newest variant, a tank slated to succeed the Merkava 4. The new platform is called the Merkava “Barak” Main Battle Tank.
According to a statement from the IDF cited by The National Interest in 2023:
“Sensing and front-end processing capabilities based on artificial intelligence, the ability to reveal the enemy and create targets for combat troops on the battlefield, full combat in closed ranges based on 360-degree peripheral observation and a ‘pilots’ helmet for the commander, multi-touch screens, advanced operation controllers, adaptation to changing combat situations and improved survivability – these are just some of the capabilities of the new tank that was recently brought to service in the IDF.”
Merkava vs Russian Tanks
The Merkava fires heavier anti-tank missiles from its main gun tube than most tanks, and it also has a much longer reach.
As a result, it can outrange or destroy most, if not all, Soviet-era tanks. While there may not be a large mechanized armor threat in Israel’s immediate surroundings that requires a ready platform as powerful as the Merkava — at least not in large numbers — the tanks played a consistent and critical role in recent IDF operations against Hamas.
The Merkava would likely prove essential to Israel if it chose to seize territory in an engagement with Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran.
The main battle tank would allow Israel to breach defenses and advance as a heavy firepower node, depending upon the anti-armor ATGM threat.
Attacking at Speed
Much like the advanced Abrams tank, the Merkava operates with high-resolution thermal sights and anti-armor and anti-tank weapons capable of striking enemy armored vehicles at long distances before it is detected.
M1 Abrams Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Merkava also brings a unique anti-personnel capability that increases lethality in attacks against fast-moving small groups of enemy fighters: It is armed with a 60-mm light mortar that can be fired from within the turret.
This allows a Merkava to drop anti-personnel shells on out-of-sight targets behind a wall, or on the other side of a hill.
The tank thus provides its crew with ways to engage an enemy without resorting to the overwhelming blasts of its main gun—an essential consideration in counterinsurgency.
By operating as both a heavy tank and an infantry carrier, the Merkava could achieve unprecedented speed of attack by breaking enemy defenses and then dispersing infantry forward to advance, move to contact, and close with an enemy.
About the Author: Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven President
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
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