[gingertanker]

Ok...So, i can accurately reply about the merkava mk II, and if i makae mistakes, they will be very minor and the result of changing my position and not having been in a merk for some 4 years now.

The "corridor" or "back-corridor", as we call the rear entrance of the merkava was originally installed to allow easy bail-out for tank crews. it replaced bailing out from the turret hatches, and allows the crew to mount/dismount the tank quickly and without climbing up and being exposed to enemy fire. this is effective to the point that in the Mk IV, the quick mount drill is done by the rear corridor, not by hatches.

to the left and right of the corridor are the main ammo stocks, made of 12(im almost certain about this, if im wrong dont kill me), 4 round milspec-fire resistant polymer cases. they are capable of being assembled and dissassembled, so you can choose to have more or less ammo cases. in maximum capacity they hold, as noted 12X4 round=48. in addition 6 rounds are carried in a rack just under and to the left of the gun, near the loaders legs. these are used for quick loading, with the 4 round cases in the back used to refill the 6 round rack or if needed load to the gun. There is also a possibilty, almost always used for white phosphorus rounds, to stack rounds in the lower front area of the hull, just outside the turret ring, in(up to 3) removable 2 round up-right polymer cases. this is meant for the WP, which is far more accurate if allowed to stand upright before firing, for technical reasons i cant be arsed to spicify right now.

so, the corridor is placed in the center rear of the hull, with 6 4 round packs to eahc side. it is roughly(dont take me to court) 1.6-1.75 meters long, and allows a man to more or less lay, allthough probably will have to bend his knees to fit in properly. it would be a hard press for 4 infantry troops to fit there, and almost impossible if you consider their gear. I would say 2 easily with full gear, 3 with some of the gear in the rear outside storage. 4 would be possible, but so severly unconvinient that they would arrive half dead to the combat area. i think in the merkava 4 its a little roomier, so i imagine they could do 4 guys with some discomfort and alot of good will.

but! the ammo stocks can be very easily removed, and with one side removed you could have 24 rounds left in the tank and easily carry 6 men or maybe more. with all rear ammo removed you can fit in two strectchers with wounded and 2-4 medical team. so lets assume for the best mix of troop and ammo(Mk II), you could have only 24 rounds in the rear+6 ready to fire+6 in upright cases=total 36! and still carry 6 men easily in the back. 36 rounds aint that bad. i would assume(although i dont know for sure), that the same is true for mk IV, only probably less rounds, possibly 24-26, because 120mm is bigger.

hope this clears some things up.