The simple fact is that the Merkava 4 is no longer competitive at 11.3-11.7 when compared to other modern MBTs like the Leopard 2A7 and T-80BVM. This is because Gaijin has decided that the armor of the Merkava 4 must be piss poor in order for the tank to be “balanced”.
The armor is modelled with the strength of a cardboard box against sabot, and Gaijin has listed the armor multiplier for the composite as 0.10x, which is lower than rubber fabric screens (0.20x). A tank using a cold war era APFSDS round can quite reliably frontally penetrate the UFP and even the turret. The chemical protection (although good) is 300-400mm less than what has been observed IRL.
For context, a tank from 1971 using a Cold War ERA APFSDS can easily penetrate the UFP of the Merkava, with the UFP only offering around 350mm of KE protection.
The turret armor is slightly better, but still horrendous.
Bear in mind that these images are not even comparing “modern” (in WT terms) APFSDS like DM43 and M829. Toptier APFSDS like DM53 and M829A2 are guaranteed to penetrate the Merkava basically anywhere frontally.
The Merkava does have some good things about it, like the LWS/APS, M332, decent chemical protection, and the good reverse, but there are plenty of numerous other issues (such as the absence of SLERA and the rear door being modelled as 30mm although the thickness is clearly much higher in photos IRL) that have not been addressed because Gaijin does not bother to take a look at them whatsoever.
And yes, I do understand the point of balancing to make sure that a few or one specific tanks are not overly powerful at a BR, but the Merkava shouldn’t be nerfed to a point where the armor makes it target practice for enemy APFSDS.
Please Gaijin, give players a reason to play the Merkavas and show the Israel tech tree some more love in general.
