The number of produced tanks "Merkava"
Israeli military historian Oleg Granovsky, who regularly reviews Israeli military-industrial complex, conducted a study in which, comparing sources, he calculated the number tanks Merkava project, released over the entire existence of the program.
At the moment, the IDF and the Israeli Ministry of Defense do not publish official aggregate data on the production volumes of the Mervak MBT production both as a whole and for individual models. At the same time, scattered numbers were often placed in the public domain.
The concept of the Merkava project came to light in 1970, when the government, together with the Ministry of Defense, decided to create its own Israeli tank. The first official photo in the press appeared in 1977, and two years later the tank was officially presented.
Different sources give different estimates of tanks issued
Merkava has 4 versions. At the moment, Merkava-1 has completely abandoned the current forces. According to historian David Edelman for 2017 a year, Merkava-2 completely dropped out of personnel units, and in the reserve units it also almost did not remain. The IDF’s main battle tanks now remain the third and fourth versions of the “chariot” - the name of the tank is translated from Hebrew.
The National Security Studies Institute's (INSS) report on the Israel Defense Forces gives the following figures: 2014 Merkava 580 and 1 for operational storage, 2 Merkava-780, 3 Merkava-360, and 4 production or ordered.
Granovsky also cites several other sources, in particular, the article by Rolf Hilmes for 2009, G.: it referred to 350 “Merkava-1” (1979-1983), 350 “Merkava-2” (1983-1989), 350 “ Merkava-3 ”(1990-2002, including 150 in 1990-1995 and 200 in 1995-2000), 400“ Merkava-4 ”(with 2002, ordered).
An Israeli researcher notes that for all the years of production, the Merkav’s irretrievable losses were small and amounted to approximately 20 units. An unknown number of tanks - within 7 units - were lost in the 1982 year. Several cars — no permanent losses — were hit in 90's in South Lebanon.
Most of all, the “Merkav” IDF lost in the 21 century, when this car became the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces. 3 were destroyed in Gaza in 2002, 5 in Lebanon, in 2006, several cars were lost for non-combat reasons.
How many tanks were released?
In 1979, the first 4 production tanks were released, and in 1980, the construction of 30 machines was already confirmed. Then the pace grew - 7-12 machines per month. As a result, the IDF received about 120 tanks per year. However, there was no information on how long this pace was maintained.
Granovsky had to refer to the data on the units armed with tanks: they knew both the number of personnel and the number of units armed with a particular tank. As a result, bringing together these and other data, the historian reached the figure from 222 to 300 machines of the first generation maximum.
Oleg Granovsky emphasizes that much less is known about the production of the Merkava-2. Counting the number of cars produced by this model had to be carried out quite roughly, according to the brigades. Moreover, the researcher notes that due to the reduction of the military budget, the production rate has seriously decreased since 1984. However, despite this, the total number of second “Merkav” turned out to be more - 369, in the case of incomplete states - 350.
Merkava-3 was produced from 1989 to 2002. They, according to Granovsky, released from 693 to 702. Granovsky's assessment of the Merkava-4 gives 460-480 machines of this type, with a continuing production rate of 30 machines per year. The historian emphasizes that the IDF first published statistics in 2018, which noted that during the 2017 year, the Israeli army received 30 new machines.
The total estimated amount produced by the Merkav for the entire time Total Israeli historian counted 1,760-1,880 machines.
At the moment, the IDF and the Israeli Ministry of Defense do not publish official aggregate data on the production volumes of the Mervak MBT production both as a whole and for individual models. At the same time, scattered numbers were often placed in the public domain.
The concept of the Merkava project came to light in 1970, when the government, together with the Ministry of Defense, decided to create its own Israeli tank. The first official photo in the press appeared in 1977, and two years later the tank was officially presented.
Different sources give different estimates of tanks issued
Merkava has 4 versions. At the moment, Merkava-1 has completely abandoned the current forces. According to historian David Edelman for 2017 a year, Merkava-2 completely dropped out of personnel units, and in the reserve units it also almost did not remain. The IDF’s main battle tanks now remain the third and fourth versions of the “chariot” - the name of the tank is translated from Hebrew.
The National Security Studies Institute's (INSS) report on the Israel Defense Forces gives the following figures: 2014 Merkava 580 and 1 for operational storage, 2 Merkava-780, 3 Merkava-360, and 4 production or ordered.
Granovsky also cites several other sources, in particular, the article by Rolf Hilmes for 2009, G.: it referred to 350 “Merkava-1” (1979-1983), 350 “Merkava-2” (1983-1989), 350 “ Merkava-3 ”(1990-2002, including 150 in 1990-1995 and 200 in 1995-2000), 400“ Merkava-4 ”(with 2002, ordered).
An Israeli researcher notes that for all the years of production, the Merkav’s irretrievable losses were small and amounted to approximately 20 units. An unknown number of tanks - within 7 units - were lost in the 1982 year. Several cars — no permanent losses — were hit in 90's in South Lebanon.
Most of all, the “Merkav” IDF lost in the 21 century, when this car became the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces. 3 were destroyed in Gaza in 2002, 5 in Lebanon, in 2006, several cars were lost for non-combat reasons.
How many tanks were released?
In 1979, the first 4 production tanks were released, and in 1980, the construction of 30 machines was already confirmed. Then the pace grew - 7-12 machines per month. As a result, the IDF received about 120 tanks per year. However, there was no information on how long this pace was maintained.
Granovsky had to refer to the data on the units armed with tanks: they knew both the number of personnel and the number of units armed with a particular tank. As a result, bringing together these and other data, the historian reached the figure from 222 to 300 machines of the first generation maximum.
Oleg Granovsky emphasizes that much less is known about the production of the Merkava-2. Counting the number of cars produced by this model had to be carried out quite roughly, according to the brigades. Moreover, the researcher notes that due to the reduction of the military budget, the production rate has seriously decreased since 1984. However, despite this, the total number of second “Merkav” turned out to be more - 369, in the case of incomplete states - 350.
Merkava-3 was produced from 1989 to 2002. They, according to Granovsky, released from 693 to 702. Granovsky's assessment of the Merkava-4 gives 460-480 machines of this type, with a continuing production rate of 30 machines per year. The historian emphasizes that the IDF first published statistics in 2018, which noted that during the 2017 year, the Israeli army received 30 new machines.
The total estimated amount produced by the Merkav for the entire time Total Israeli historian counted 1,760-1,880 machines.
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