Merkava Mk.1 TE Draft
Merkava Mark 1 - Israel (1979-2014) Main Battle Tank - 250 built Introduction The Merkava Mark 1 was the first version of the Israeli Merkava main battle tank (MBT) to enter service with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). It was first introduced in 1979, serving in the regular army until 2009 and in the reserves until 2014. Around 154 of these tanks first saw part in military action during Operation “Peace for Galilee” in 1982. Naming The name Merkava (Hebrew: מרכבה ) translates as ‘Chariot’. It comes from the codename given to the tank’s development program in the Israeli Ministry of Defense. It follows the local tradition of giving tanks names of ancient weapons. This began with the Centurion, known as the ‘Sho’t’ (Hebrew: שוט ), meaning ‘Whip’. Over the years, as happened with other IDF vehicles, urban legends about the meaning or reasoning behind the name ‘Merkava’ have appeared and proliferated, with references to The tank’s design, with its engine at the front, is lik...