The Merkava 4 MBT

[PlasmaKrab]

Right, the crew is 4 men, I just ad been reading too fast. Anyway it says additionally...

8 soldiers riding on top looks few enough for a big beast like a Merk4 since even an Abrams can carry a whole inf squad (on the turret only), and I don't think the current Israeli "all-armor" doctrine would call for grunts riding on top of tanks.

Additionally, the "ride on top" hypothesis doesn't fit with the 3 litters that the text accounts for. The Command Group too seems unlikely to be plainly seated on the turret, exposed to any small arms fire.

So this may well be some marketer's brewup, if so I think there has already been heads rolling. I found no confirmation, and I cannot access the IMI website at:

http://www.imi-israel.com/

Edit:

This other article talks only about "enough space to carry a few fully armed infantrymen", which is not much difference from the previous Merkavas IIRC, although maybe now the infantrymen's space is more "official" so to speak.