Israel doesn't have near the history of invading it's neighbors as do all of the arab countries...
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quote:"How is the armour on the Egyptian M1A2's? And is the tank downgraded at all? It make me antsy that Egypt's wargame are all aimed at Israel despite their diplomatic ties. I wonder how an abrahms-merkava engagement would fair"
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The Egyptian M1A2's have pretty good armor...at least as good as the LeClerc & a lot better than anything else the Egyptians have... However, because it lacks the DU inserts of American tanks, it's not as well-protected (of course) as the American Abrams...

And, yes, I'm 'antsy' as well over Egypts 'pretense' for their war-games... I was angry at my government for selling them the Abrams, at 1st... However, now I see that it was more of a 'control' measure...

If we hadn't sold them advanced tanks...someone else would have... At least, this way, we know exactly what their capabilities are & can share that info, if necessary, with the Israelis... That is, if they haven't obtained than info already...:o

Knowing how the Israelis build their equipement, (or re-build as the case may be...:D ) I'd say that the Merkava will probably destroy anything that the Egyptians can field...including the 'export Abrams'...

I'd be willing to bet that the Israeli 'Sabra' could probably go 'head-to-head' with the Egyptian Abrams & still come out on top... After all...the Israelis DO have a nuke program...which means that they have access to DU for tank armor...*whistling innocently*:rolleyes