Israeli light tank

[Iarmor]

https://tankandafvnews.com/2017/03/29/photo-of-the-day-israeli-mystery-tank/

 

Not many details, but a nice pic

 

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Iarmor

[Nike-Ajax]

Fuck me ... Its not a Chaffee because it has one too many road wheels, its not a Centurion because it has only one return roller and the driving wheel is in the front, its not a Super Sherman because both the wheel and chassis is wrong.

 

Its not a AMX13 because it has one too few road wheel and the return rollers seem wrong.

 

The engine is not in the front so its not a Merkava 1...

 

Its not a M48 nor M60 because the driving wheel is in the front ...

Its not a M22 Locust

 

The uniforms, picture quality and colours indicate late 70´s or more likely early 80´s 

 

Aside from that its a mystery to me

[Iarmor]

On 7/14/2017 at 1:44 PM, Nike-Ajax said:

The uniforms, picture quality and colours indicate late 70´s or more likely early 80´s 

 

It is from the Merkava Mk. 4 development period, presumably 1999-2003. Read the first comment here.

Also note the Merkava Mk. 3 at the background. The Mk. 3, with its long-overdue 120 mm gun, entered service only in 1990 (by that time the Syrians and the Iraqis have already acquired well over 2,000 T-72s).

[Nike-Ajax]

Well ... Israel have for almost all its wars had inferior equipment to their arab adversaries. And still kicked their asses soundly every time.

 

Point of example for instance the 1976 war where Israel Centurions blew up more Syrian T-62´s than could easily be counted. The South africans back in the good old days, routinely blew up T-62s with their Centurions.

 

Also the Israelis are masters of improving vehicles. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Nike-Ajax

[Mirzayev]

1 hour ago, Nike-Ajax said:

The South africans back in the good old days, routinely blew up T-62s with their Centurions.

 

Sorry man, but this is not true. The first time that the SADF ever deployed their Olifant Mk1As in combat was at Cuito Cuanavale, all of which were initially drawn from the Tank School as part of E Squadron, 61 Mech. SADF records do not indicate that the T-62 was ever faced in battle. 

 

The Cubans and Angolans never deployed T-62s in battle in Angola, but instead used T-55s. That isn't to say that T-62s were not in Angola; they were delivered during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, but they never saw actual combat. For some reason, Steel Armor: Blaze of War depicts the Cubans as using T-62s at this battle, likely so Graviteam could add another campaign. I would consider this a "what if" scenario.

 

Finally, while it is true that the SADF did destroy plenty of T-55s, the primary tank-killer of the Border War was the Ratel-90. This is a bit odd, as the Ratel-90, on paper, SHOULD be terrible at fighting tanks. Its armor can be penetrated by 23mm rounds, the turret is non-powered, and the ammunition used did not have the penetration factor to kill a tank at normal engagement ranges. 

 

Of course, reality seldom corresponds to the "paper specs." Ratel-90 wingmen took advantage of the mobility of the Ratel-90, and would routinely charge the enemy tanks from the flanks, firing at extremely close ranges to disable them. 

 

Now, during the planned Operation Prone, the SADF was worried about the Cubans deploying T-62 tanks as part of the 50th Division's potential invasion of Namibia (South West Africa at the time.) The Olifant Mk1A would have certainly been a match in a one-on-one fight, since they had upgraded the "old Centurion" to have a hand-held laser range finder, a 105mm cannon, smoke grenade launchers, and an image-intensifier. However, the Cubans had a lot of tanks, significantly more than the South Africans. Fortunately, peace negotiations were successful, so Operation Prone never had to be executed. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Mirzayev

[Iarmor]

On 7/15/2017 at 8:00 PM, Nike-Ajax said:

Well ... Israel have for almost all its wars had inferior equipment to their arab adversaries. And still kicked their asses soundly every time.

 

Point of example for instance the 1976 war where Israel Centurions blew up more Syrian T-62´s than could easily be counted. The South africans back in the good old days, routinely blew up T-62s with their Centurions.

 

Also the Israelis are masters of improving vehicles. 

 

Up until 2003, the danger of Iraq sending an armored corps or two through Jordan to join Syria in a war was a major concern for Israel. ATGMs were developed to counter the threatening T-72 hordes, but still the 120 mm was needed and came late compared to the Leopard and Abrams.

During the 1990-1991 gulf crisis, 105 mm gunned IDF tanks were almost put to that test. Training in December 1990:

 

 

And in February 1991:

 

 

Edited March 25, 2018 by Iarmor

[Nike-Ajax]

True.

 

But Israel would have annihilated them as they historically have every time where they are always numerically, and yes often technologically, at a disadvantage. This for a number of reasons. 

 

Which can be boiled down to that the israelis are vastly better soldiers, better trained, far FAR better led, have better tactics and use what they have better.

 

And as opposed to the arabs learn their lessons (mostly).

Edited July 17, 2017 by Nike-Ajax