I thought Merkava tanks were just about indestructible?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275348,00.html

North: Tank crew members’ bodies retrieved


IDF concludes mission to collect remains of four soldiers killed in Lebanon when their tank drove over bomb while in pursuit of Hizbullah terrorists who kidnapped two of their comrades
Hanan Greenberg

The IDF has concluded its mission to collect the remains of the four soldiers killed in Lebanon Wednesday when their tank drove over a bomb while in pursuit of the Hizbullah terrorists who kidnapped two of their comrades. snip

Heavy exchanges of fire ensued, and Hizbullah announced that it had destroyed an IDF tank as it was trying to cross the border into Lebanon. The tank was located some 70 meters (230 feet) inside Lebanon when a bomb weighing over 200 kilos (440 pounds) exploded under it, killing all four crew members.

The Merkava mark 2 tank was not equipped with an armor shield against bombs, but army sources said that the deaths could not have been prevented even the tank had been better protected.

[LeftCoast]

1. Is there anything that can survive being blown up by a 400lb bomb?

I seem to recall the OKC bomb was about that size. Could be wrong though.

[Kutjara]

2. If the bomb was close enough to the bottom of the tank...

...then the crew can be killed even if the tank itself isn't penetrated. Basically, all the explosive force transfers through the hull of the tank, ripping any loose objects from the inside walls of the vehicle and sending them richocheting-around a thousand feet per second, shredding anything in their path. Add to this the organ-crushing effects of the explosive shockwave itself, and there wouldn't be very much left of the tank crew.

[achtung_circus]

3. No tank is indestructible.

Any tank is a balance between armour, firepower and mobility. Increase in one area of performance means decrease somewhere else.

Israel designed the Merkava for their needs, based on their experience. It's a good tank, possibly #3 in the world after the Arbrams or the Leopard II (coin toss, there) but a big enough explosion will penetrate any armour.

[The Magistrate]

4. A Quarter-Ton Underneath It, Sir

Will wreck anything there is or ever was....

[HawkerHurricane]

5. And RMS Titanic is unsinkable!

Put enough explosive in the right place, and you'll destroy the tank... and it takes far less to 'merely' kill the crew.

[whistle]

6. The math is now totally off balance from the original rationale that

...Israel used to begin this war...return two kidnapped Israeli soldiers or else. Now in just a single encounter four Israeli soldiers are dead and still no return of the two captured Israeli soldiers from the start of this war.

[kentuck]

7. We have trained them well in Iraq...

the world, and especially the Middle East, will never be the same. They are now bomb experts. Thanks Dubya!

[PFunk]

8. My thoughts exactly.

Plus we also have trained them how to take on and wind against a tech-superiour enemy also. Nice going GB.

[Aristus]

9. Former M1A1 tanker here: The Merkava is an extremely good tank.

But all tank armor is thinnest on top and along the bottom of the hull. It's thickest in front where a full-on tank attack is expected. The thin bottom is susceptible to mines and roadblasts, especially if they're using 400lbs+ of explosive. Also, a blast from the bottom can knock the tracks off; when that happens, the tank is basically a sitting duck to more conventional attacks.

[kentuck]

10. It won't take them long to figure that out...

and Israel will be stuck in a bigger mess than they could ever have imagined.