In this topic i want to discuss the problem with unrealistic underapproximation of the Merkava 4 armor, with laughable armor values even by cold war standards, as well as continuous ignoring of the issue by the developers and refusal to buff it to have more accurate/competitive armor values. I will discuss why historically and logically it cannot have such small armor values.
As it currently stays, Merkava’s armor is the worst in the game, even the cast tower of T80B (without ERA) has more armor than a meter of add-om side armor of the Merkava. The spall lining is missing, the tower ERA is missing and mislabeled as NERA, and you can’t launch LAHAT from the barrel like it can do irl. With Merkava being the largest and the heaviest tank it suspiciously has nothing to show for it, which begs the question, from where did all that weight comes from if not from armor? The interesting part is that one time (if i’m not mistaken, on dev server) Merkava did had good armor approximation with 800mm tower, however it was for some reason rejected. The bug report on this issue was made, where reporter does way better job than me here explaining why it doesn’t make sense, Community Bug Reporting System but it’s been 4 years and only a turret basket nerf to show for it. (BTW even the parts on screenshots which don’t glow green can be shot through, armor analyses bug)
So now let’s discuss why this physically can not be this bad.
First: there is a rumor going around that the tank was not made to battle other tanks, this is by definition is not true, because the first Merkava was conceptualized and build specifically to battle soviet imports due to embargos and distrust of the partners and while the argument can be made that the first iterations of the Merkava’s had subpar armor can be made due to lack of knowledge and embargos the latter can not be said about the modern Merkava’s and it’s derivatives due to own development and international cooperation with Europe/America. With that said, the Merkava was made and build for internal use, without export in mind, meaning that they were making decisions solely on what they expect to be battling against, which means Soviet/Russian exports. Unless we make a case that Israelis in their infinite wisdom decided specifically not make armor that benefits in battle against the only tank series they were excepted to battle against, complete lack of protection against soviet made(captured and researched) rounds it unreasonable and unrealistic. Not even mentioning that the tank was designed with survivability of the crew above all else, and seeing this subpar of an armor on the tank doesn’t speak survivable to me.
Second: proportions. The “UFO” looking turret of the Merkava is an additional add on armor, meaning that it was designed to be replaced when damaged, by the looks it is about + - a meter thick with angles and as pictures suggest ERA plating. The sheer size and weight of the Merkava suggests use of aggressive protection sacrificing low profile. The tank is for internal use and with country being attacked all the time it is foolish to suggest that they are saving on armor when the only tank they are excepting to fight against are the various T-series. The current armor is at best good against cold war rounds, which is ridiculous to suggest that the designers just gave up when it comes to the main form of protection against modern darts.
While yes we don’t have exact armor values due to documentations being classified, we still can at least try to approximate it based off of available photos and history, but as it currently stands current approximation makes no logical sense.
(Personal opinion addendum. It’s complete lack of common sense to even suggest that a meter thick add on armor on the largest and heaviest tank currently in service can not hold on against long ago outdated Soviet darts. It’s been 4 years and the only thing we’ve got is turret basket on a paper thin armored tank, it’s infuriating to play as with all things mentioned above and APS does nothing to make it better, especially now that everybody has it. Seeing Merkava being nerfed in last patch after 4 years of neglect was the straw that broke me)