M1 Abrams Tank vs. Israel’s Mighty Merkava: Who Wins?

By Sebastien Roblin,The National Interest

The Israeli Merkava (Chariot) main battle tank is an example of a sophisticated weapon system designed to deal with very specific national requirements.

Though similar in performance to Western main battle tanks such as the German Leopard 2 and American M1 Abrams, the Merkava has many features not found in any other contemporary tank designs.

(This first appeared in November 2017.)

Today we’ll compare the Merkava to the Abrams in terms of the three vital qualities of a tank: firepower, mobility, and armor.

What aWar Between America and China Would Look Like.

First, however, a little background.