As we all know, Merkava Tanks were the main battle tanks which were personally manufactured and produced by Israel and are also completely equipped for Israel Defense Forces. Besides, the first Merkava Tank whose name was Mk1 type tank was successfully equipped for Israel Defense Forces in 1979, and up to now, Merkava main battle tanks have already been developed and generated for four generations, and they are separately the Mk1, Mk3, Mk3 and the Mk4. Also, Merkava Tanks personally experienced and went through lots of conflicts which broke and occurred in Israel, and Merkava tanks were the main battle tanks which went through the most practical battles in the world at present.
Furthermore, being based on the foundation of absorbing several practical battles experience, Israel Armies confirmed and claimed the design concept that the resistance and protection are the foundation, and the corn and key point are to protect the safety of crews. So Israel Armies confirmed and determined that these three large performances of Merkava main battle tanks are correspondingly the resistance and protection, the firepower and the maneuverability at the beginning of researching and developing Merkava Tanks, which makes Merkava Tanks become the main battle tanks which own and possess the best resistance and protection ability in the world.
Moreover, Merkava Tanks encountered the attacks of the very advanced Russian-made anti-tank missiles in the southern battlefield of Lebanon in 2006. After that, more than 47 units of Merkava Tanks ever lost their combat effectiveness, and around 5 units of Merkava main battle tanks were thoroughly destroyed due to the attacks of the IED and anti-tank missiles. Also, Israel Armies started to stop the production of Mk2 and Mk3 types main battle tanks which owned the longest service life in the balltlefield in 2009.
In addition, we really hope that these important information mentioned above can help you completely understand and learn more about Merkava main battle tanks.