![]() The Chieftain turned out to be a pretty capable tank. In return they would get older Centurion tanks as a stop gap before a dedicated Chieftain assembly line is setup in Israel. The Israelis would participate in the final stages of development while contributing funds for the cash strapped project. They finally got a good proposal in the year 1966 when the British offered to co-develop the Chieftain main battle tank with the Israelis. ![]() Israel was looking for a suitable tank to counter the T-62 but the western countries were not ready to sell them their best tanks thanks to the diplomatic pressure from the Arab states. The T-62 can be distinguished from its predecessor by the position of the bore evacuator and the distance between the first 2 road wheels. This led to the development of Merkava a.k.a the Chariot in Hebrew. The Israelis were determined to obtain something on par with the T-62. were no match for the T-62’s 115mm main gun and new generation of armor. In the 1960s, with the arrival of the T-62 in the region, a new tank was desired as the older AMX-13s, M48s etc. Its adversaries in most of the cases could easily import state of the art weapons from both east and west while the Israelis had to use older weapons to fight against them. Until recently, it has always suffered either qualitative or quantitative disadvantage in almost all conflicts. Israel has been constantly involved in some or the other conflict during its entire history. The Merkava has been involved in every major conflict in Israel since its introduction in the 1970s, and has proven to be a formidable fighting vehicle. It is known for its heavy armor, powerful armament, and excellent crew survivability. The Merkava is the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |