Don't read too much into what wasn't said. This is what he said...
Quote:
not very accurate - yes, it's not comfortable, but a merk can carry 2-3 fully loaded combat soldiers in the back without giving up ammo. Merks in combat DID carry 1-2 soldiers in the back specifically for combat purposes (i'm not going to go further) and very successfully.
that doesn't say that the tank is a troop carrier - on the contrary, but it HAS the ability to carry troops even without giving up ammo.
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Everything I'm reading is saying they aren't going to off load their ammo to carry 8 men or for that matter a 4-man scout team. From one of the photos out there, it looks like if they had 3 men, the third would be standing on the floor of the turret basket. There could be health risks if the turret is rotated to any degree, but that is only my impression based on the photo so take that worth a grain of salt. Kevin, you raise a similar question that hasn't been answered yet.
5-alef didn't go into any details as to how this tactic is used, which is appropriate and expected, however. Also, emphasized was DID. That honestly can be taken any number of ways, but his intentional vagueness leaves us to draw our own conclusions (in the past; during his experience; obsolete tactic). You might get a vote for 2-3 men, provided isn't a crew served weapons team.
Looking at some of the other photos, I wouldn't take those containers as seats, even though you can certainly sit on them. I wouldn't want to be on one of the handles on top, as they don't look very comfy. I'm not sure what those containers would be.
While there could be more answers, have we really gotten anything we didn't already figure out ourselves?