Should the Merkava Mk. 2D receive the M426 (DM63) round?

from the last patch, the merkava mk. 2d went up once again, i don’t know why but it happened.
it didn’t get any new round and that’s pretty strange, it still has the main round as the M413.

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Doesn’t need it, still in a great spot.

22mm of extra flat pen isn’t really changing much anyway

Yes absolutely, it needs a better round like the Magachs to be viable at the BR. All it has over other variants is a larger profile, less trolly turret, and turret/hull armor that isn’t really ever going to stop anything it faces. I personally would even take it a step further giving it M428 SWORD APFSDS, but that would be better reserved for a Merkava Mk.2D LIC/Late and the Magach 7C Late with its extra roof armor.

More than anything, it needs a reload buff. The Merkava Mk1/2s reloading at 6.7s is abysmal. It should have a 5.0s aced reload imo, as it would make it much more competitive and viable, and also easier to raise the BR if needed. The fact the Merkava Mk.3 and Sabra Mk.1 have better 120mm reloads then their 105mm counterparts is stupid really, and despite it being a balancing factor it isn’t quite balanced for where they sit/should sit at.

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it’s like saying DM33 to DM63 is a pointless production.

a reload buff would be pretty appreciated, i don’t really understand how some 120 rounds reload faster than 105 rounds, and there’s plenty documents talking about the fire rate of the 105 merkavas.

No other 9.7 105 has such a round or reload rate.

YOu make it sound like it is so much worse than any other 9.7 when it comes to the gun, but it really is not. It is very much on par, or rather identical.

Looking at it it boogles the mind how these things where the same BR as a Leo 1A5 when better in almost every aspect except for top speed and having the identical gun performance.

If you give them D63 or similar it would essentially give them a 10.7 round at 9.7

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What mbt at 9.7 has a 5 second reload?

the problem is you’d have to buff basically every lower br mbt to reload that fast and it has far reaching consequences

a 6 second reload is pretty logical.

Did you read anything I said?

yeah

there’s still MBTs under it’s br that reload faster, Turm III and Vickers/Vijayanta are three examples.
and yes, i know the turm 3 is autoloaded.
for some reason the Vickers/Vijayanta has a 5 second reload in the 105mm l7.

Yes this was unnececery uptier at least give it better round

In my personal opinion, perhaps they shouldn’t be 9.7 then. They’re some of the more modern MBTs, and I feel like they should be competing at high BRs. The Merkava Mk.1/2 are more modern than some of the other MBTs at the BR, and I would love to see them at a mildly higher BR such as 10.0-10.3 with a better reload rate to compete. 6.7s isn’t very competitive, and more often than not you’re dealing with a 7.1s reload unless you cough up that GE. That means you’re on the same level as a T-64/72/80B when it comes to reload and that isn’t really viable. Even lowering it to a 6.0s reload would change the tanks performance a lot, as it would go from barely getting out reloaded by those previously mentioned tanks, to out reloading the T-80 series and on par with the Leopards.

Rounds aren’t related to BR, but rather balance. Take the Sabra Mk.1 for example. Besides, it’s not the most drastic improvement in performance, adding it the 2D in its current state wouldn’t even require a increase in BR.

Merkava 1/2 cant go up due to their bad mobility
Idk why they even got moved up to 9.7 to face leo 2a4 and t80b

i also thought about the sabra, but in it’s reload situation.
the merkava mk. 2d should be on par with it’s reload rate which is 6 seconds ACED, and then it would be balanced.
maybe in the future we might see the merkava mk. 2d getting the m426 round just like the merkavas got new rounds before, however these are just my thoughts.

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Rounds are very much BR depending.
Just because there is an exception does not make it the norm.

almost every vehicle currently equipped with DM63 or similar got it for the BR and not when first added. Most DM63 wielders who had it when added are actually premiums.

And again. If it is about balance why are israel mains constantly crying about THE strongest tanks at their BRs finally being up BRèd where they belong?
Facing Merkavas in 8.3 is a crime against humanity nothing else.

The constant belitteling of their armour and especially survivabilty is getting on my nerves. a Merkava is absurdly survivable to the point where often you have to wonder if perhabs they might not have unlimted crew replenishments and can do them wjhile moving and outside of caps.

what about the vextra? it has a way better round and it’s on 10.0.
you assume THE STRONGEST tanks at their brs? how come?
slowest mbt, no composite, slow reload, what?

and what about the US merkava at 9.0? it still has everything a merkava has but w/o thermal and M413.

You mean a completely differnt class of tank which just got that round this patch and has as its only other option a round that would be bad even for a 9.0?

because it literally is…as any stats page shows

its speed is average, composite is meaningless at that BR anyways and its still far more survivable than any composite armoured tank due to its layout, as stated it litzerally has the normal reload. at 9.7 it even has one of the fastest reloads.

So maybe get real and stop crying.