Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407425
NxRA western-style special armor was very much similar. At least several layers could have been neutralized by the precursor. The remaining ones could be insufficiently effective, especially in the case of perpendicular hits. The situation was far worse when it came to Metis-M and Kornet ATGMs. The former one, introduced into service in 1991, was able to penetrate 800 mm of steel protected by ERA, while the latter, introduced in 1998, was able to go through whooping 960 mm of ERA-protected steel. Both missiles had non-initiating precursors capable of piercing through several NxRA/ERA lay- ers, along with optimized shaped-charge warheads capable of creating fast- er high-velocity superplastic jet - traveling at a speed exceeding 9 kilometers per second. This, in turn, rendered the reactive armor solutions less effective. Most of the penetration capabilities are associated with the very tip of the jet. As it was traveling at a very high speed, the moving elements of the armor had a tough time "catching" and disrupting the frontal part of the jet. The Israeli intelligence had a gut feeling (a justified one), Hezbollah and Hamas would get their hands on equipment so modern and dangerous soon. When that would happen, was the only uncertainty here. A decision was made to design a protection solution adequate to the expected levels of threat. PROTECTION The Merkava Mk 4 turret structure is welded out of rolled high hardness steel plates. The front alone is 200 mm thick. This thickness has been determined by the gun-mount design. The front plates, inclined to the back, seem to have a similar thickness. The side and top plates of the turret are not that thick - 40 mm. Apart from the fact that the angle between the armor and the front of the vehicle is high, the armor is also slanted back, and feature mounting points for the western-style special armor modules. The sides and the front part of the turret are protected by wedge-shaped special armor modules. The idea adopted by the designers was to secure the turret as well as possible, both at the front, as well as at the sides. Thus, a single, simplified module covers the gun mask, two covers the front of the turret and sides, at both sides of the gun (within angles from 0 to 35 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the turret), two latter ones protect the sides, where the crew is seated. The top of the turret has a very thick armor - more than 300 mm - that comes in a form www.fragoutmag.com