COBI Merkava Mk. 1/2 Set 2621

COBI's Merkava Mk. 1/2 is a 1:35 model built from 825 blocks, made in cooperation with the Deutsches Panzermuseum in Munster and based on the museum's own vehicle. The turret rotates, the barrel and wheels move, the tracks work, the hatches open and the engine can be seen by opening the service hatch.

The engine is at the front

Almost every tank ever built puts the engine at the back. The Merkava puts it in the nose, in front of the driver, and that single decision explains the whole vehicle.

A engine block and its transmission are several tonnes of dense metal. Put them between the enemy and the crew and they absorb a hit that would otherwise reach people. Israel designed the Merkava after the Yom Kippur War, in which it lost a great many tank crews, and the requirement handed to the designers was blunt: the crew comes first, before firepower, before mobility, before cost.

Everything follows. The turret and fighting compartment sit at the rear, furthest from the direction of threat. There is a door in the back of the hull — almost unique on a main battle tank — so the crew can get out under cover rather than climbing out of the top, and so ammunition can be loaded without anyone standing exposed.

That door has another use. With the rear ammunition stowage emptied the compartment will take several infantrymen, or stretchers. A Merkava can carry wounded out of a fight, which is not something other tanks do.

Israel is a small country with a small population, and it built its tank around the arithmetic of that.

The Mk. 1/2

The first Israeli-designed main battle tank, in production from 1979, with the 105 mm M68 gun. The Mk. 2 added reinforced armour, side skirts and a better fire control system. Merkavas have been in every Israeli operation since, and the first two generations were finally replaced in 2021.

In the COBI range

Part of the 1:35 Armed Forces collection with the Leopard 2A4 (2618), the Abrams (2632, 2633) and the T-72 (2624, 2625).

Specifications

Pieces: 825 · Scale: 1:35 · Licensed by the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster · Engine visible under service hatch