How strong is Merkava in reality and in PR?

[Xavo|xXx]

Pretty offtopic, but it's a thread about a tank so I'll ask anyway.

How easy/hard is it to set of an ERA block? Like will a rifle round do it? Or hitting it with a sledge hammer? Or does it have to be something much bigger (rocket or tank round obviously)?

[Hunt3r]

Pretty offtopic, but it's a thread about a tank so I'll ask anyway.

How easy/hard is it to set of an ERA block? Like will a rifle round do it? Or hitting it with a sledge hammer? Or does it have to be something much bigger (rocket or tank round obviously)?

Probably requires penetration through the steel plate above the explosive, which I would reasonably guess to be thick enough that at least .50 cal is needed to break through.

[killonsight95]

I think the metal plating on those is enough to stop it from exploding if you hit it with normal rounds but I think a well placed 50.cal round might set it off. It'd be interesting to watch the front of a tank explode after being shot at.

[Hunt3r]

I think the metal plating on those is enough to stop it from exploding if you hit it with normal rounds but I think a well placed 50.cal round might set it off. It'd be interesting to watch the front of a tank explode after being shot at.

Now imagine you fired canister or something similar onto ERA, I'd imagine any infantry near the tank would be knocked over by flying bits of metal...

[77SiCaRiO77]

if ERA is just explosives, bullets have been demostrated to not detonate them, unless they are incendiary, and AFAIK, canister are just metal balls, so I doubt they could set them off either.

[Hunt3r]

if ERA is just explosives, bullets have been demostrated to not detonate them, unless they are incendiary, and AFAIK, canister are just metal balls, so I doubt they could set them off either.

I think it's more of a question of how much heat and how much impact force it takes to set it off. Canister should probably have sufficient impact force, but not that much heat compared to sabot and HEAT.

[risegold8929]

right now the israeli's are developing the new trophy system, which is an countermeasure against guided AT missile, although still not widely used and tested, but did some partial success against the AT-14 in 2011 when fired by Hamas and the Merkava evaded the missile.

The trophy system also recently (August 1st) intercepted another anti-tank missile aimed at it from the Gaza strip.

[tankninja1]

actually frontal hit on the major western tanks by a shaped charge round is relatively harmless, case and point the ERYXs can penetrate about 900mm of steel armor while most Western tanks have an equivalent to 1000mm worth of steel armor however, 900mm penetration is good enough to kill tanks from the sides or rear.

[Hunt3r]

Ceramic armor can make HEAT projectiles need well over 1400mm of RHAe penetration when it comes to the mantlet on the turret. The lower hull is always vulnerable, however.