Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407425
of 8 modules. To maximize the protection levels, no separate hatch is avail- able for the loader. The commander's hatch, meanwhile, has a structure that is identical to the top part's armor. Not only does this armor protect the crew from top-attack ATGMs, as it also provides additional safety in engagements involving RPGs in mountainous and urbanized terrain. A shaped-charge pro- jectile hitting the turret at an angle of 30 deg would need to go through 60 cm of special armor and 8 cm of the top layer. These parameters shall be sufficient to stop any non-tandem SC warheads that are used, for instance, in the RPG-7 projectiles. The relative thickness of the front and side armor of the turret is also very much impressive, at more than 900-950 mm for angles from 0 to 35 deg in relation to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Along with the turret structure, 1000-1100 mm of armor is available. The sides of the turret are also well protected, even at a perpendicular angle in relation to the structure. The modules of the armor are 650 - 880 mm thick here. The top portion features extra storage compartments that can hold equipment - two on the left, two on the right. They are no deeper than the thickness of the top armor, hence their presence has no detrimental impact on the levels of side protection. All of the modules can be rapidly removed. In the case of the turret, this feature is essential in the powerpack replacement procedure. The layout of the front of the Israeli special armor has been disclosed along with the photographs depicting Merkava Mk 4, hit back in 2006. The structure of the front armor modules differs greatly from the Mk 3D. Still, we are speaking of reactive armor, but the 'driving' layer is much thicker, while the outer portion is of multi-layered design. The vehicles that were hit had the armor modules deformed to a great extent. This could mean that SLERA (Self-Limiting Explosive Reactive Armour) has been present. Here, a mixture of glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) and explosive Dottikon, or a mixture of Dottikon and rubber could have been used. Materials as such could reduce the penetration capability of a shaped charge by 45 to 60%, for a single SLERA panel. The advantage here stems from a rapid shift of the elements of the armor. This, in turn, makes it possible to stop faster SC jets. Armor as such may also effectively act against modern sabot rounds, including ones that feature penetrators with the metal pro- tection layer, so that they are more effective against NERA and NxRA VEHICLES