Merkava Mark IV: Israel's Powerful 120mm Tank Cannon

SCiTech

Join an active IDF Tank Commander from the elite 401st Brigade for an exclusive 2025 tour of Israel's legendary Merkava Mark IV main battle tank. In this detailed walkthrough, we get a hands-on look at the powerful 120mm cannon, the life-saving Trophy Active Protection System (APS), and the unique Israeli design philosophy that makes crew survivability the absolute top priority. This is not just a look at military hardware; it's an inside perspective on the machine that secures Israel's borders and the four-person team that operates it in one of the world's most complex regions.  This video provides a comprehensive breakdown of the Merkava Mark IV's capabilities, from its offensive firepower to its revolutionary defensive layers. If you are interested in military technology, armored warfare, or the Israel Defense Forces, this is a must-watch guide.  ► The Merkava in the 2025 Middle East Context:  The Merkava Mk. 4 is the tip of the spear for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Armored Corps, a critical asset in the complex security landscape of 2025. This main battle tank is designed for the modern battlefields of the Middle East, from potential conflicts with Hezbollah in Lebanon to operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as a powerful deterrent against the growing threat from Iran. Its development reflects the hard-won lessons from decades of Israeli warfare, ensuring the IDF maintains a qualitative military edge. The emphasis on the Trophy APS and crew survivability is a direct response to the proliferation of advanced anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) in the region, making the Merkava a fortress for the soldiers who operate it.

Transcript

00:00As you can see behind me is a Merkava Mark IV tank, part of the 401 brigade.

00:10See the cannon, 120 millimeters. We have two machine guns, one that's attached to

00:15the turret. That's the part above here. It spins around the tank and can shoot at any opponent,

00:22any enemy at up to five kilometer distance. We have the part here that's called the chassis.

00:27It's also used as the chassis for the Namer, which infantry use, and that is where the crew is.

00:34That's where the driver is. We have a few other unique defense systems. We have the trophy system,

00:40or the defense system, which intercepts missiles, intercepts cornets and anti-tank missiles that

00:49our enemies use against us. We call it in Hebrew, which is a grandma's hair that has a

00:56special material, which blocks out also any shot at the tank. The unique of tanks in Israel is that

01:04the most important thing is the tank and the crew survivability. So what we have is we have the tank,

01:10the tank's engine is in front. So when the tank gets hit, the engine takes the first hit and it

01:18saves the crew. We have four roles in the tank. We have a tank driver. The driver's of course in

01:23charge of driving the tank, listening to where the commander tells him to drive. We have a gunner

01:28who shoots. He moves the turret and aims at the targets. He has three different guns to use. He has

01:33a Browning machine gun. He has a normal machine gun with 767 rounds, and he has the 120 millimeter

01:42cannon. We then have a loader who's in charge of loading the missiles and making sure that nothing

01:48gets caught in between the turret and the chassis. As you can tell, the turret can spin and anything

01:54that is between the turret and the chassis can get damaged, and it's the loader's job to make sure

02:00that doesn't happen. And then we have me. I'm the tank commander. I give instructions to the crew.

02:04I listen to communications with the officer and the platoon commander and see what needs to be done,

02:10what's our mission.

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