News - Middle East: In a "security incident" in Jabalia, a city in northern Gaza, on Sunday, the Israeli regime lost another Merkava 4 tank with three crew members, a much-hyped military vehicle that has been experiencing heavy losses for the past two years in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli media reported that three of the regime’s soldiers were killed while operating a Merkava 4 tank, the flagship of the regime's offensive capabilities, in a complex resistance operation.

The slain soldiers were identified as Sgt. Shoham Menahem, 21, from Yardena; Sgt. Shlomo Yakir Shrem, 20, from Efrat; and Sgt. Yuliy Faktor, 19, from Rishon Lezion.

The Israeli army still doesn’t know whether the tank was hit by an anti-tank missile or struck by an explosive device planted underneath — which demonstrates the increasing complexity of operations carried out by Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas resistance movement.

The Merkava 4 tank, the most modern among the family of the Israeli military's battle tanks, has been hailed as "the most advanced and most protected tank in the world."

What is the Merkava 4 tank?

The Merkava 4 is the latest variant of the Israeli main battle tank (MBT), part of the Merkava family developed by Israel Military Industries (now renamed Israel Aerospace Industries and other contractors). Introduced in 2004, the tank is designed for survivability, mobility, and firepower, tailored to the Israeli military's operational needs in urban and conventional warfare, including in Gaza.

At approximately 65 tons, it is one of the most massive main battle tanks in modern service and has a crew of four (commander, gunner, loader, driver). The main armament is a 120mm smoothbore gun (IMI MG253), capable of firing high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), and LAHAT anti-tank guided missiles.

Secondary armaments include a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, a 7.62mm or 12.7mm commander’s machine gun, and an internally operated 60mm mortar.

The Merkava 4 is powered by a 1,500 hp General Dynamics GD883 (MTU 883) turbocharged V-12 diesel engine, providing a top speed of 64 km/h and a range of around 500 km.

It has six rubber-tired road wheels on either side with the drive sprocket at the front, idler at the rear, and four track-return rollers. Each road wheel is suspended by a separate helical spring with suspension arms for two road wheels, caged in a housing.

Its design philosophy emphasizes crew survivability, with a front-mounted engine to shield the crew, modular armor for rapid upgrades, and urban warfare capabilities to combat resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon.

What are tank protection systems?

The Merkava 4 is known for its multi-layered protection, combining passive armor, active protection systems (APS), and design features to counter modern threats like anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

It uses advanced composite armor, combining steel, ceramics, and other materials to defeat kinetic penetrators like APFSDS rounds and shaped-charge warheads like HEAT rounds.

The exact composition is classified, but it likely includes ceramic tiles, depleted uranium, or similar high-density materials. The tank’s sloped turret and hull design enhance deflection of incoming projectiles, reducing penetration likelihood.

The armor is modular, allowing damaged sections to be replaced quickly in the field without requiring extensive repairs. This design also enables upgrades as new combat requirements emerge.

Unlike most MBTs, the Merkava 4 places its engine at the front, acting as an additional shield for the crew compartment located at the rear. This configuration absorbs blast energy from frontal hits, significantly improving crew survivability.

The tank features spaced armor to counter HEAT warheads, which rely on focused jets that lose effectiveness against layered or spaced defenses. Slat (cage) armor is often added to the rear and sides to detonate RPGs and ATGMs before they impact the main armor — a critical feature in urban environments like Gaza.

The Merkava 4 is equipped with the Trophy APS (developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems), one of the world’s first operational hard-kill active protection systems. Trophy uses radar (Elta EL/M-2133) to detect incoming threats like ATGMs, RPGs, and tank rounds. Once detected, it launches interceptors (explosive projectiles) to neutralize the threat mid-air before it strikes the tank.

By 2025, the Merkava 4 Barak variant (introduced in 2023) incorporates enhanced Trophy systems with improved sensors and faster response times, addressing lessons learned from urban combat and drone threats.

It is also equipped with smoke grenade launchers (24 tubes) to create a visual and infrared screen, obscuring the tank from enemy targeting systems. Infrared jammers and laser warning receivers alert the crew to laser-guided threats, enabling evasive maneuvers or countermeasure deployment.

The Merkava 4 stores ammunition in fire-resistant containers to minimize the risk of catastrophic explosions if hit. The rear compartment design further isolates ammunition from the crew. The tank includes a rear hatch for crew evacuation and troop transport — up to 10 infantry in emergencies — enhancing survivability in ambushes.

Enhanced optics and a 360-degree commander’s sight, produced by Elbit Systems, improve situational awareness in dense urban environments.

What are the tank's weak points?

Although in theory it is considered one of the safest and most advanced tanks in use today, practical combat use has shown numerous shortcomings that sometimes resulted in damage, destruction, or even capture of the tank.

Israeli regime sources claim that only five Merkava tanks have been lost amid the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, although this implies complete destruction of the fleet. Military analysts point out that the number of severely damaged tanks is in the dozens and that many, dragged from the battlefield, required restoration of most subsystems — while some did not return to service.

In Israel’s failed attempt to invade Lebanon last year, Hezbollah destroyed at least 43 Merkava tanks, eight bulldozers, four armoured vehicles, and personnel carriers using guided missiles.

The Trophy Active Protection System, also claimed by Israeli sources to be effective, has shown a number of problems and limitations during the genocidal attacks on Gaza from 2008 to the present.

These include inability to reliably intercept threats approaching from steep downward angles, vulnerability to certain types of kinetic energy weapons, and potential risks to nearby infantry due to the nature of its countermeasures.

The system has limitations in its elevation coverage, making it vulnerable to threats like drones dropping munitions from above. This is especially devastating in urban conditions where tanks move through narrow streets between tall buildings.

Trophy is not designed to defeat kinetic energy projectiles, which are a common type of anti-tank weapon. In parallel with the improvements and modifications of Israeli passive armor, the penetration weapons of their enemies are also being improved.

Furthermore, the Trophy system's countermeasures, which involve projecting explosive charges, can pose a risk to dismounted soldiers operating near the protected vehicle. The system also requires reloading, which can be a liability in sustained engagements. Each Trophy system is reportedly costing over $1 million per tank, making the cost-efficiency low compared to enemy armament.

The tank and its protective systems are also vulnerable to advanced electronic warfare or swarm drone attacks, although the Merkava manufacturers claim that the new Barak variant mitigates this problem.

On the first day of Operation al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, the Israeli military reportedly lost up to 14 Merkava 4 tanks — not only in attacks with missiles and explosives, but many tanks were seized by resistance forces.

Sophisticated armor, protective systems, sensors, and a range of supporting units did not help the occupying forces, as resistance fighters literally captured the tanks with their bare hands.

Videos of the operation show Palestinian fighters climbing onto Merkava tanks, extracting Israeli personnel, and taking them into captivity.

Also, numerous videos that surfaced later show Palestinian fighters running towards Merkava tanks and other armored vehicles, placing explosives under them, and successfully fleeing as the explosion destroys the armored monsters.

Source: Press TV