How Many Merkava Tanks Have Been Destroyed?

As an avid gamer and tank warfare enthusiast, I‘ve long admired Israel‘s indigenous Merkava main battle tank. Like many in the armored vehicle community, I‘ve wondered – how many Merkavas have hostile forces managed to destroy over the years? Is it truly the near-impenetrable beast often portrayed? Time to crunch the numbers and separate fact from fiction!

First, The Raw Combat Losses

According to public data, only around a dozen Merkava tanks have been completely destroyed in action across multiple conflicts since the vehicle entered service:

• 2 Merkava II tanks
• 1 Merkava III tank
• 2 Merkava IV tanks

Additionally, expert sources suggest approximately 9-15 more Merkava IV tanks have been damaged to varying degrees, with some repairable and returned to service.

So in total, roughly 15-25 Merkavas of all marks may have been knocked out across decades of heavy operational use – quite impressive for such a heavily armored 63+ ton vehicle!

Okay, But How Does This Compare?

The Merkava‘s extraordinary crew protection features come at a mobility cost – weighing 15 tons more than tanks like the M1 Abrams inevitably affects speed and agility. So perhaps comparing kill ratios directly isn‘t completely fair.

But even accounting for mobility differences, the numbers indicate Merkavas have proved extraordinarily resilient in combat thanks to their robust armor packages:

And that‘s without even considering the hundreds of Cold War-era Soviet T-55 and T-72 tanks obliterated over the years!

Clearly when it comes to survivability, the Merkava lives up to its reputation as one of the best-protected tanks around.

So What Were the Kill Shots?

If they only chalk up ~15-25 catastrophic kills, what exactly is piercing those thick Merkava hides? Let‘s break it down based on available combat forensics:

Top Merkava Kill Shots

• 9M133 Kornet ATGM – One of the deadliest current-gen anti-tank missiles, fielded widely in the region. Punched through the armor of at least five Merkavas by Hezbollah and Hamas forces based on visual evidence.
• Advanced Iranian-supplied IEDs – Responsible for at least four Merkava IV losses in recent Gaza fighting judging from IDF impact assessments.
• RPG-29 Vampir – Rare instances of this tandem-charge RPG piercing Merkava side armor in ambushes. Number of kills unknown.

Between modern anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), improved IED designs able to better focus explosions, and some RPG variants with clever tandem-charge warheads for enhanced armor penetration – threats on today‘s battlefields continue to grow more sophisticated and dangerous for all tanks.

How Does Israel Keep Improving Survivability?

Facing an environment bristling with advanced anti-armor threats, the Israeli Merkava development teams and IDF have responded aggressively to each destructive battlefield encounter:

• Modular Armor Packs – Quick-replacement modular armor units keep protection current against new penetrator designs.
• Trophy Active Protection – Radar-guided Trophy APS able to intercept incoming missiles and RPGs, now widely deployed.
• Battle Management Systems – Advanced electronics provide 360° situational awareness and early warning against ambushes.
• Emergency Crew Escape – Merkavas prioritize crew survival above all else with features like airbag ejection seats.

These incremental "battle damage upgrades" have ensured Merkavas remain extraordinarily survivable despite deadly emerging threats. While other modern tanks like the M1A2 Abrams now match some Merkava IV capabilities, few can compete on crew protection alone thanks to the IDF-driven design focus.

The Bottom Line – Still Exceptionally Hard to Kill

Very few battlefield scenarios match the lethal intensity of recent Middle Eastern conflicts. And yet despite facing waves of modern missiles and IEDs across decades of heavy combat use, the number of Merkavas penetrated or destroyed remains remarkably low.

Give the IDF leaders credit – their almost obsessive prioritization of crew protection over lesser factors like vehicle weight or cost efficiency has paid off big. The Merkava IV may lack the raw speed of an Abrams. But tanks that survive to fight again thanks to robust defenses clearly have an edge.

With major upgrades like the Merkava IV Barak and 6th generation Merkava versions still on the horizon, these steel beasts will only get tougher to destroy. I know which model has my vote within any video game developer‘s next armored warfare simulation!