Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1365706
Author: Israel Defense Forces New gun and new stabilizer system, and new turret drives, have all become a basis for the new vehicle. 120 mm caliber has been selected for the gun. The manufacturing was launched at IMI Slavin Land System Division. The gun has been derived from the US-made M256 - cousin of the Rheinmetall 120 mm L44 tank gun. The new smooth-bore gun has been installed in an inte- grated cradle, with a pneumatic recoil mechanism replacing a spring-based solution. The barrel alone weighs 1,200 kilograms, it is 5,300 mm long, with a 300 mm recoil travel. The barrel is also covered by thermal insulation that prevents any deformation. It also features a system that blows the air thru. Bayonet mount makes it possible to replace the barrel without removing the whole gun assembly. The stabilization and aiming are done by a system based on electromechanics. The maximum rate of movement is defined as follows: 15 degrees per second in the elevation plane, 34 degrees per sec- ond in azimuth. Initially, the fire control system of the legacy Mk 3 Merka- va MBTs (trademark Knight) has been a successful one, where adjustment of the firing solution was implemented automatically with the gun moving, whilst the main sight was stabilized independently in two planes. The ther- mal imaging camera was the same as the one used in late Mk 2B MBTs, but the imagery could be displayed on a separate display at the commander's disposal. Despite the multi-sensor nature of the fire control system, a fully stabilized panoramic viewing instrument for the commander was missing, thus the hunter-killer capability has been illusory, to say the least. The reason stemmed from the primitive periscope sight that has been well known from the legacy variants. It can be said that the commanders of Merkava MBTs from Mk 1 to early Mk 2 were rather using a pair of hatch binoculars, than have a proper observation tool at their disposal. A breakthrough came when the new BAZ fire control system was fielded, allowing the Israeli to catch up with the West thanks to the hunter-killer capability and a new, yet fully stabilized commander's periscope sight with selectable 4.6x or 12x magnification, laser rangefinder, and a thermal imaging camera. The commander was also able to receive feed from the gunner's sight. The gunner's optical tract is also stabilized in two planes. The night tract features a sec- ond-generation thermal imaging system with a 5x magnification and a simple auto tracker unit. In later variants of the Mk 3 platforms, BAZ was enhanced with a satellite navigation unit and extra programma- ble radio that made it possible to disseminate data at the company level. In 1997 Merkava Mk 3 BAZ MBTs became the first one to feature the BFT terminals. For training purposes, post-action review capacity VEHICLES