Re: Merkava 4
Apparently the Israeli tankers were quite pleased with the AMX-13 (except for terribly weak armour), and the design was largely used as a testbed for various components of the Merkava, back in the 70s. I knew they got the forward-mounted engine from there, but I had no idea about the autoloader. Given the context, there may indeed have been a filiation.
Come to think of it, didn't the Merkava-3 have a smaller, five-shot revolving autoloader?
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