Every tank is tested by his own manifactureur (Sorry for the bad english) For example; the Leopard2A6 could hold off 7 of the world's most powerfull anti-tank weapons when the 8th rocket finally got trough the armor. You can call a tank a Main Battle Tank when it has good performance at all areas like Fightability,manoevrebility etc etc. And the top 10 of Hong-Xing is just....nvm M1A1???? this tank is never gonna get in the top 10 in his lifetime. T-95 Black Hawk?I think the Russians could't even affort to produce more than 100 tanks of these,but the most interesting; this tank is't being used by the Russian army at this moment so why in the top 10????? No information is released of this tank at all to put it in the top 10. Merkava (bra)?? Brazilië????? this tank is made by Israël Its obvious that you don't know anything about tanks except there names. And the Leclerc has a better fire rate with his 6 shots/min????? The Leopard2A6 has 8 the Challeneger has too M1A2 has it too etc etc... And Couac_Attack if you think a tank has to go slower because it has to reload,because the loader is standing in the tank 0_0 If you don't even know a loader can sit in a tank than do't post messages in this forum because this is the proof that you don't know anything about tanks,i think you haven't ever...ever seen a tank from the inside,i think you are just a little boy of 12 years old. And also when people say a M1A2 has a 700HP engine...dream on...it has 1500HP. People that say the Leopard2A6 has a top of 72 It is true,that is what krauss-wegmann is saying but i have contacts with alot of tankers here in Holland and they are going 80 on the roads easely. And a tank can go mutch faster than that but the engine is restricted so it wont go any faster.

>>M1A1???? this tank is never gonna get in the top 10 in his lifetime<< M1A1D beats any current Russian tank, including the various makes of the T-80 and the T-90, hands down. It certainly makes the top ten before the T-72 -- much like the Merkava in the Bekaa Valley, burning Iraqi tanks in 1991 and 2003 prove the point.

your list is funny , t-72 above merkava 4? the merkava 1 (25 years old) made a joke out of the t-72 in the Lebanon war (1982) between israel - lebanon and syria.

If the Merkava 3/4 hadn't had an engine as weak as it has now,it had beaten the T-72 i think,but because of its underpowered engine its mobility is weaker than that of the T-72 Its probably because of the engine placement of the Merkava,not enough space in front... But i think you are right,the Merkava has got better Firecontrol than T-72 i think...

The Merkava Mk 1 is better in all areas then the T-72. The Merkava Mk 4 deserves to be in the top five with the Leopard, Challenger, M1A2, and Leclerc. 1: Leopard 2A6 2: M1A2 3: Challenger 4: Merkava Mk 4 5: Leclerc Top five right there

The Merkava Mk 4 engine's is as powerful as the M1A2 and much more powerful then T-72

Merkava 1 & 2 had 900 hp engines, but Merk 3 is 1200hp (61 tons), and Merk 4 is 1500hp and 65 tons. Merkava 1 and 2 had superior powerplants to the M60A3 (759hp), a contemporary design. They only seem anemic when the latest generation western tanks come online in the 1980s like the M1, Leo 2, etc. Merkava 3 corrected for this, in upgrading the powerpack to the same class as the Challenger 2 (1200 hp at 62.5 tons). Merkava 4 is in the same power pack range as the M1A2 (1500hp and 69.5 tons, though the turbine makes the M1 series fast of the blocks compared to diesel), of the Challenger 2E. As for the Soviet/Russian tanks, Merkava 3 and 4 have higher power to weight ratios than either the T-72 or the T-90, though the T-80 is superior with its turbine.

Do the experts have cuncluded that it lags power,it can be a 1500HP engine,but cars have that too as you said it has to do with good/excelent power to weight ratio and the Merkava lags that,i think thats the reason. I can't tell more about the specific working of an engine so big as tank engines because i can't talk english so good to explain that.

The Merkava's power plant is fine, and where can I get a car with 1,500 hp? That study you read on the top ten tanks was bull. The Merkava doesn't need insane speed anyway, as any war it would fight would be in defensive and in heavily urban areas. The Merkava also has amazing protection, weapons, and fire control surpassing crappy Russian tanks and equally that of the M1A2 and Leopard. Not to mention the ability to carry 8 soldiers.

>>1: Leopard 2A6 2: M1A2 3: Challenger 4: Merkava Mk 4 5: Leclerc Top five right ther << M1A2SEP beats Leo2A6, in my opinion, because of the radically superior optics. Leo2A6 EMES-15 is up to x12 power magnification, M1A2SEP's gunner's FLIR channel is up to x50, and a generation ahead of any other tank's thermal channel. This not only means longer range target detection, but longer range target identification, reducing risks of fratricide, etc.