7th Armored Corps Brigade of Israeli army will be equipped with Merkava IV main battle tank 1302141

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Defence & Security News - Israel
 
 
Thursday, February 13, 2014 08:28 AM
 
7th Armored Corps Brigade of Israeli army will be equipped with Merkava IV main battle tank.
One more Armored Corps Brigade of the Israeli army will be equipped with the latest generation of main battle tank, Merkava IV, fitted with the active protection system Trophy to replace old Merkava Mark II. Merkava IV tanks integrated with Trophy active protection systems are presently being deployed in combat areas along Israel's borders.
     
One more Armored Corps Brigade of the Israeli army will be equipped with the latest generation of main battle tank, Merkava IV, fitted with the active protection system Trophy to replace old Merkava Mark II. Merkava IV tanks integrated with Trophy active protection systems are presently being deployed in combat areas along Israel's borders.
Merkava IV main battle tank of Israeli Army fitted with Trophy active protection system.
     
Based in the Golan Heights, the 7th Armored Brigade of the Israeli Army uses the Merkava Mark II tanks for more than 20 years.

The first version of the Merkava tank enters in service with the Israeli Army in 1979. The Mark II was first introduced into general service in April 1983 and incorporated numerous small upgrades as a result of the previous year's incursion into Lebanon.

The new tank was optimized for urban warfare and low intensity conflicts, with a weight and engine no greater than the Merkava Mark I.

The 7th Armored Brigade’s tank crews have begun training with the new, hi-tech replacement at the Shizafon Advanced Armor Training Base in the Negev. New recruits to the brigade are now sent to train in the Merkava Mark IV, while battalions that worked the Mark II until now will this year take a two-month “conversion” course, enabling them to switch platforms. The first battalion to undergo a conversion course will begin using the Mark IV in August, according to the army.

The Mark IV is the most recent upgrade of the Merkava tank and has been in development since 1999. The Merkava IV fitted with the Trophy active protection system increase the survivability of the tank against threats as anti-tank missiles and rockets.

The Trophy is designed to work against all types of anti-tank missiles and rockets, including handheld weapons such as rocket propelled grenades. The system can simultaneously engage several threats arriving from different directions, is effective on stationary or moving platforms, and is effective against both short- and long-range threats.