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<<..... But to compare the Patton to the Merkava?
Alan >>
Agreed, it was bad comparison. The comparison was unintended and off the
cuff, but it was invalid anyway since the Merkava was a product of the
lessons learned in the Israeli war of 73. I was trying to stay within period
53-73.
You are right it was a superior tank in many ways. The Merkava, which is
Hebrew for Chariot, was and is an excellent tank with an extremely low
profile and high survivability.
It was probably was better than the M-60, although both tanks have an
extremely similar power train and gun. The Israelis are not one to hand out
lots of details about their weaponry, but it's known the Merks didn't come
out with auto loaders, that was a slight negative. They were also much
heavier and less agile than the Chieftain, although probably better for
taking hits.
Now here's something that will probably surprise you... guess what suspension
the Merks chose for their new super tank? Wasn't American, wasn't
Russian.... yep, it was British. They went with the "Hortsmann" type
suspension because of it's simplicity to repair after battle damage, just
like... the Chieftain. lol I'm not kidding, the more you know about the ol
Chieftain the better it looks. A marvel of British engineering.
As a side note: It was a historical fact that in 1982 the Merkava took on
some T-72's in the Beka Valley and did very well, although the Syrians
removed about a dozen of their dead armour before anyone could see what the
Merk had done to them. Must have been one hell of a fight. I have no record
of any Israeli loss, if there were any.
Is the venerable Chieftain without any champion, save for a Yank, to come
forth to defend it's honor as the best MBT of it's time? lol (I'm feeling
outgunned here).
Jack Lee
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