Sabra Mark II Early Prototype - Prototypeception

lLiberté · May 7, 2024, 6:26pm

Would you like to see Sabra Mark II Early Prototype in-game?

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Sabra

Background

Sabra Main Battle Tank is an extensive modernization of M60A1/A3 developed by Israeli firm IMI between 2002-2005 and initially started as further development of Magach 7C. It offers new 120mm gun, improved armor protection (Steel Laminate for Mk I, ERA for Mk II & III), newer engine (for Mk II and Mk III), new FCS and improved turret traverse system. Three versions of this modernization have been developed as: Mk I, Mk II and Mk III, Mk II being adopted by Turkish Army as M60T and Mk III by Royal Moroccan Army (per Spanish wiki claims, though I doubt.)

Sabra incorporates new 120mm MG253 smoothbore gun as main armament, which is upgraded version of Merkava Mark III’s MG251, increasing effective range and lethality substantially over original M68 105mm cannon. The gun is capable of firing NATO standard 120mm ammunition and Israeli LAHAT gun-launched anti-tank guided missile.
Mark I has ability to mount machine gun in similar fashion with other Israeli tanks, Mark II has 12.7mm machine gun in M19 commanders cupola and Mark III mounts 7.62mm machine gun in remote controlled weapon station. Old hybrid turret traverse system of Magach is replaced with all electric system and fire control system is replaced with Elbit System’s Knight Fire Control System.

Sabra Mark II Early Prototype

Sabra Mark II is the most well-known variant of Sabra Main Battle Tank Family/Upgrade Package serving in Turkish Armed Forces under name of M60T. This specific vehicle however, is a lesser-known variant of famous Sabra Mark II. Before getting into, I must state that most of the information coming from one source and eye-balling of low-resolution images with a little of my speculations. I highly suggest you to take everything I mention with a large pack of salt since everything could be very much wrong or misinterpretation on my side. However, I’ll support my interoperation with sources, its not all made-up by me.

Just like later model Mark II, this one is armed with IMI’s L/44 120mm tank cannon, secondary armament consists of co-axial 7.62mm/5.56mm machine-gun and two machine-guns, probably 7.62mm, on Commander’s and Gunner’s hatches. This Mark II is claimed to be powered by General Dynamics’ 1200 horsepower engine, this makes me concluded that the engine is 1200 Horsepower Continental AVDS-1790-9AR Diesel Engine which power Merkava Mk.III. This engine is coupled with RENK RK 304 transmission system on Merkava Mk.III, so it could be the case, or it might be retaining Allison CD850-6BX transmission. Armor protection is another unknown aspect of the tank, but through extremely reliable and precise eye-balling technique, I came into conclusion that this variant has the same armor technology of Sabra Mark I with different configuration. This Mark II’s turret has angled sides unlike Mark I’s flat sides. It literally seems like a Mark II with Mark I armor technology.

Authenticity of Existence of Sabra Mark II Early Prototype

Much like its younger brother Mark III, this specific Mark II has incredibly scarce information. Much of the specifications are coming from one source in Russian. That source is “Зарубежное военное обозрение №12 2003 (Foreign Military Review No. 12 2003)”, you can find this Mark II at page 46. Also, the very same image is labeled as “Sabra 2” & “Sabra II” in one of IMI’s brochures.

Here is the page 46 from Foreign Military Review No.12 2003:

IMI’s Brochures:

General Specifications

Firepower

Sabra Mark II boasts MG253 120mm L/44 smoothbore gun as its main armament which offers superior firepower over original M68 105mm gun. MG253 is capable of firing all NATO standard 120mm ammunitions and Israeli LAHAT anti-tank guided missile. Total of 40 rounds stored in the tank for the main armament. Secondary armament consists of single co-axial 7.62mm machine-gun.

Mobility

Although it is not certain, this Mark II is claimed to be powered by a 1200 horsepower engine of General Dynamics. I’ve checked if Israeli used any 1200 horsepower GD engine, and it appears that they indeed use it on Merkava Mk.IIIs the 1200 Horsepower Continental AVDS-1790-9AR and coupled with RENK RK 304 transmission system. I believe this combination is quite likely but the engine could be ay other GD 1200 hp engine and iy might retain Allison CD850-6BX transmission.

Protection

Protection is another aspect of the tank which is not certain. It seems like it has the same armor technology of Mark I in the Mark II scheme. Upper frontal plate is a dead giveaway, unlike regular Mark IIs, this Mark II has one big block instead of smaller ERA blocks. Turret also seems different, there are no junction points, instead it again appears as a single block. Another point is the breech protection, regular Mark IIs has ERA blocks, this Mark II has relatively thinner, single piece of armor. Due to size of armor blocks, I would say this Mark II offers better protection than Mark I, but lower than regular Mark II which has Hybrid reactive and passive armor elements.

Specifications

Crew: 4
Dimensions and Weight
- Mass: 59 Tons
- Length: 6.95 m
- Width: 3.63 m
- Height: 3.27 m
Armament
- Main Armament: IMI MG253 120mm L/55 Smoothbore Cannon
- Secondary Armament:
  ∙ Co-Axial 7.62mm/5.56mm Machine-Gun
  ∙ Commander’s Cupola Mounted 12.7mm Machine-Gun
  ∙ Gunner’s Cupola Mounted 12.7mm Machine-Gun
- Ammunition Capacity
  ∙ 42 Tank Rounds
  ∙ 10000 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine Gun
  ∙ ? 12.7mm Co-Axial Machine Gun
Mobility
- Engine: Continental AVDS-1790-9AR Diesel Engine, 1200 Horsepower
- Transmission: RENK RK304 Automatic Transmission, 4 Forward, 4 Reverse
- Suspension: Torsion Bar
- Maximum Speed: 50 km/h
- Power to Weight: 21.4 hp/t
Protection
- Armor:
  IMI Systems Hybrid Armor Package
  ∙ Passive Armor
  ∙ Skirt Armor
- Active/Passive Protection System: None
- Smoke Grenades: 12x
Accessories
- Night Sight
  ∙ Gunner
  ∙ Commander
- Thermal Sight
  ∙ Gunner
  ∙ Commander
- Laser Range Finder
- Automatic Target Tracking
- Hunter-Killer Capacity (Commander’s Override)

Implementation to War Thunder

This Sabra Mark II would be excellent contender for event/battlepass/squadron vehicle for Israeli Tech Tree. Currently ITT has no event or squadron vehicles, I would say either from would be beneficial for the tree since there no real need for this Mark II in the research tree. BR-wise it would fit somewhere between 10.0-10.3.

Additional Photos

Spoiler

Sabra Mk.II Early:Prototype - 2