War Machines - tanks and armoured vehicles

[Music] [Music] [Music] the most iconic image that represents modern warfare and armament would undoubtedly be the silhouette of the main battle tank [Music] the story of armor is the one most reflecting how the advancement of technology and military affairs can see saw from the aggressor to defender and back again the constant one-upmanship for armor was considered the antidote to a particular battlefield problem be it sword pike or arrow it would then become the military technicians job to pierce this new barrier then once achieved better armor is forged and so on so eventually personal armor was defeated by the age of high-power bullets as the amount of metal required to stop such shot was deemed totally impractical to carry into combat although historically the use of ballistic body armor did appear from time to time in such places as the American Civil War where it appears to have saved the life of at least one army officer and in the attempt to escape the law Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang donned heavy iron body armor and helmets fashioned from plows they did not fare quite as well to defeat modern machine guns and artillery projectiles required more mass than a man could carry but a motorized vehicle on the other hand could the Romans built a siege engine called the gallery it provided protection for the soldiers within as it approached a castle wall even da Vinci made conceptual drawings of an armored vehicle with the Industrial Revolution armored vehicles were being realistically conceptualized around the turn of the century there were prototypes of various machines put to paper and some even made it off the drawing board in 1896 an American EJ Pennington suggested an armored car with two machine guns and surrounded with plate steel a motor scout a four wheeled bicycle carrying a maxim gun with a bulletproof shield to protect the gunner was suggested by British engineer fr Simms in 1899 in 1902 mr. Simms went on to design a war car with a new Daimler internal combustion engine to mechs and machine guns and a 1 pound a naval gun it was manufactured by Vickers and at a top speed of 9 miles per hour HG Wells in a 1903 article in The Strand newspaper wrote about the land ironclad it stirred people into considering land cruisers and battleships the various technologies were available however just not combined in the right or practical mix in 1906 the Holt company of the USA fitted a steam tractor with attract suspension a year later British company Hornsby built a petrol-driven tracked vehicle in response to a request from the War Office the following year a major Donohue took the Hornsby proposal and suggested adding Armour and producing a gun carrier discouraged by bureaucratic stalling Hornsby sold their patent to halt 1912 saw Australian engineer de Mol present a set of drawings to the War Department of a fully armoured tracked vehicle as to dat an Austrian bush tin who produced drawings of a lozenge-shaped fighting vehicle in 1914 three armored vehicles were built based on a rolls-royce chassis with a Maxim machine gun mounted on a turret with 360 degrees of Traverse but an established military machine with its core of infantry cavalry and artillery could see little use in these armored vehicles a few farsighted people however didn't see a practical use for such a mobile force one man an ex-soldier who had fought the Boers in South Africa and later turned to politics and eventually become the First Lord of the Admiralty conceived of some daring uses for an armed vehicle he was a young Winston Churchill Churchill wrote several proposals for the defense of the nation which included the use of vehicles carrying maxim guns azure cannon able to maneuver on the battlefield and defend British air bases in Europe [Music] with the commencement of World War one it quickly became apparent that military doctrine and battlefield tactics based on the past had no hope of being effective against the new weapons of war namely machine-gun massed artillery fire and aircraft [Music] the Swift movement of the armies of old ground to a halt literally and descended into the hell of trench warfare for some commanders it was a matter of relying on the old ways for others they were hoping for new battlefield initiatives perhaps technology would change the balance the fennec Colonel Ernest Swinton of the British Royal Engineers was sent to the battlefields of France to see for himself the situation and perhaps suggest a method of breaking the trench stalemate [Music] Swinton had seen exactly the same condition some years earlier in Manchuria during the sino-japanese conflict they had used new weapons with old tactics and had also ground to a halt Swinton had suggested back then that a method of breaching the trenches needed to be found perhaps with an armored caterpillar with a halt track mechanism a member of the defense committee Lieutenant Colonel Maurice Hankey ran this idea against overall rebukes from the committee but undeterred took a refined version to cabinet this proposal included bulletproof rollers for the tracks Churchill was impressed and encouraged this development one naval captain T Tullock advanced the suggestion of land cruisers and land destroyers even a land battleship carried on massive 40-foot wheels Churchill could see merit and advance 70,000 pounds of Admiralty money towards a pilot model little Willy was conceived and built with Maxim machine guns and a 57-millimeter naval cannon and a suspension track system developed by Wilson the device was coming to fruition and was classified top secret a new name was to replace landship and it was dubbed the tank [Music] Churchill continued to develop his thoughts on the tactical methodology of this new weapon soon Big Willy or tank mark 1 was completed it weighed in at 30 tons with a 105 horsepower engine the male version carried two cannons the female 2 Maxim machine gun 100 were immediately ordered Swinton began to develop the how-to manual for the troops who are about to become tank men [Music] general Hague needed all the help he could get on the psalm offensive and eagerly accepted 50 tanks with only partially trained crews something was better than nothing however the doctrine in use of these vehicles was confused and ill-defined few if any tanks had radio most would rely on visual signals for communications the day of battle the 15th August of the 49 tanks available only 36 reached the start line a single tank numbered d1 moved off and assaulted the German lines with machine guns blazing and was unceremoniously hit and instantly put out of action but it was the first tank attack in history a second front of Tanks moved ahead with greater success tank number d16 moved into the small town of Fleur followed by infantry three battalions of Germans fell [Music] another tank d5 late into the action due to mechanical trouble punched straight through the lines and onto the enemy artillery placements a duel ensued tank versus artillery the tank did well until it had to withdraw when it was hit and set alight [Music] individual tanks did the chief a lot but their unreliability and eventual vulnerabilities seemed to tarnish them however some believed if they were to be used together in a larger formation more could be achieved besides the infantry who had ventured forth with the tanks knew immediately they would rather be with them than without particularly when crossing no-man's land the British combined 400 tanks in one push along a seven mile front their first attempt to manage such a large tank assault unfortunately the infantry failed to follow up on their advance and secure their successes even by 1918 towards the end of the war tanks had been used haphazardly and not used in any defensive role no one understood this capability March 21st a German push encountered British tanks in isolation and quickly overpowered them it was then towards the town of evoke war that a group of 30 British tanks were able to slow the German advance but German forces had made a breakthrough with no infantry immediately available 12 newly arrived whippet tanks were raced to the scene they attacked headlong halting the German advance until infantry could secure the battlefield 5 a.m. on the 11th of April three male tanks await with infantry outside the town of Moshi Lupo the promis'd artillery barrage has not materialized the crouching infantry sensibly refused to move forward into the German machine guns the three tanks cannot retreat from their radar as they would be picked off in the daylight by artillery there's only one way to go forward and assault 200 entrenched Germans on their own they advanced the terrified Germans ran and the town fell without a fight the tanks rolled through the village and out the other side the Germans regained their composure realized there was no infantry following the tanks and moved back into the town the three tanks turned and had to attack all over again this time they are hit with everything the Germans have including armor-piercing rounds soon one tank is a fire a second is hit but the crew keep firing until they are destroyed the third tank was gaining the upper hand when the delinquent artillery barrage finally arrived destroying the town the Germans and the last surviving tank this was the first time tanks had assaulted alone and with great success [Music] the design was continually refined and improved the mark 3 was a training tank mark 4 with increased armor and the fuel tank relocated to the exterior and rear of the tank to increase crew survivability engines and transmissions designated for the newer Mach 5 model had become available and put into the improved mark 4 it also had improvements made to its firepower to six pounder cannons and four machine guns the mark 5 was adapted to negate the Hindenburg Line which the Germans had recently modified they had dug trenches wide enough to stop these new English tanks so the new tank was stretched six feet in length this allowed it to cross the purpose-built trenches the mark 5 weighed in at 33 tons and included side hatches the mark fives increase in length had upset the original balanced design so the mark 5 star as it was called had the sponsons redesigned to improve turning an uprated engine was also added mark 6 was a mock-up only it had a gun in the front and no side cannons the mark 7 was too late to join the war and only three were ever built the market was the first anglo-american development and called the Liberty tank only 124 were built before the British pulled out of the project they survived a few years and were sold to Canada for training purposes the French commanders of 1917 needed no convincing as to the effect of tanks and set about immediately building their own orders to manufacturers totaled 800 small tanks based on a Hulk chassis an armored box surrounding a 75 millimeter cannon the Hun oft was born surprisingly the Germans only saw tanks as a passing fad and did not immediately pursue them although they did study the machines destroyed or captured from the British [Music] 16th of April 1917 the French assembled 180 of their own and British tanks for an assault like the Somme offensive earlier it had pockets of success but the vehicles were unreliable many broke down many became bogged in the shell churned mud and barbed wire some saw it as a failure including the Americans who were about to join the war with no tanks whatsoever [Music] thank crews and commanders were learning little by little they studied how tanks can be successful in battle in the Battle of Passchendaele tanks proved they could achieve stunning victories no matter how small the British were ever-improving there rhomboid old tank the mark four had superior armor able to defeat the German armor-piercing bullets ways of communication were also explored the tank still suffered constantly from communications problems with their commanders the infantry and the artillery the increasing numbers of British and French tanks on the battlefield were becoming a problem for the Germans the Americans realizing the need for these tanks borrowed them when available from their allies the Germans had to respond and develop the a7v it was a massive machine 7.34 metres by 3 metres wide and over 3 metres high it was operated by 16 soldiers and two officers and armed with six MgO 8 machine guns and a 5.7 centimeter gun mounted on the front the female version liked the cannon but had two additional machine guns powered by two four-cylinder Daimler engines it was slow and functioned poorly off-road it was 230 millimeter steel plate at the front and 20 millimeter elsewhere however this was not hardened steel like other tanks and could only protect the occupants against small arms and rifle fire only 30 saw service [Music] the Germans began to feel their handful of tanks and also turned captured British and French tanks to their favor small skirmishes and the tacks along the lines began to make breakthroughs some battles were more successful than others but inevitably there came the time when tanks would oppose other tanks on the battlefield [Music] April 24th 1918 near Villa both on earth all the German built tank 13 and total at the time was sent out in support of a three infantry division attack like the British they had found out that tanks were quickly separated from the infantry in the fog Sun broke down others got lost from out of the fog three of these a7v tanks found themselves facing free british mark fours the battle was engaged the Germans quickly drove off two of the British female tanks which were only armed with machine guns but the third male tank attacked with its cannon and moved to flank the three Germans with several hits one German tank toppled over into a ditch a second had lost five crew members from a hit and abandoned their machine a group of seven whippets appeared from the south and engaged the one remaining German one whippet was lost while others were hit and damaged the German offensive was eventually stopped by the end of the first world war the military value of the tank drew mixed results for some they were ineffective expensive and unreliable but for others they were seen as the future of land warfare new designs new tactics and doctrines would see them become the linchpin of modern warfare you the tank advanced little after the Great War most were hoping they would never be needed in battle again but a few realized their potential and continued to push their development the mark C Hornet was a medium tank design based on the Whippet did not make it into production till the end of the war [Music] the infantry had plans to acquire their own tanks there were two competing designs the medium Mark D and the Vickers light tank [Music] the vicar's similar to the previous marks had many improvements a revolving turret suspension and the engine and a separate compartment from the crew designated the a to e1 its advanced transmission was unreliable and the design was abandoned Britain had been the developer and originator of the battle tank but lost the edge after the war they did continue to develop armored vehicle designs for cavalry and infantry support in 1934 the a nine or cruiser tank was developed intended to for a deep behind enemy lines its main advantage was speed 125 were put into production with various manufacturers it could attain speeds up to 40 kilometers per hour its chassis would go on to be the basis for the more heavily armored Valentine model developed for the army and introduced during the Second World War the Crusader was a cruiser tank with five road wheels for better weight distribution it was a fast tank but suffered from the lack of heavy armament his 2 pounder gun was very limited in range and penetration [Music] the French developed the SHA they earn as their main battle tank it had a crew of four very effective armor it had a range of 200 kilometers and a top road speed of 28 km/h and served the French forces with some effect until overrun by German forces in 1922 the Russians looking for new tank technology turned to the Germans for assistance they traded secret facilities for German know-how by 1927 at Kazan a tank training school was opened their new tank designs and tactics were studied in great depth American manufacturers took the British tank design and produced the mark aid armed with two six pounder cannons and 30 caliber machine gun it had a crew of eleven a range of fifty miles at six and a half miles an hour he also took the French huh no FTD set design and produced their own the first all-american design tank was the Ford three-ton m1918 a two-man vehicle with a top speed of 8 miles per hour 15 were built and one sent to France for evaluations the war ended before it could go into mass production they explored other designs in 1922 and through that decade the t2 and t4 models for various reasons none went into production the t28 was classed as a super-heavy tank destroyer weighing in at 95 tons only two were built in 1928 a maverick tank designer J Walter Christie put forward a chassis design that would allow a nine ton tank to travel at speeds up to 30 miles per hour his design was utilized in most of the succeeding tank models until 1944 [Music] it was the Second World War that quickly became the tank war breakdown mechanized infantry fast-moving artillery and aircraft all contributed to a fast mobile and brutal war City the tank was in the forefront of strategic and tactical thinking on every battlefield the German doctrine on the use of tanks was well developed their attention to armor protection and firepower was superior to most other tanks however it came at the expense of speed and reliability tank production suffered for example in 1943 the u.s. built nearly 30,000 tanks Britain built 7476 but Germany with the increase in materials and precision construction could only output nearly 6,000 the Soviet Union constructed an estimated 20,000 for a year developed during the thirties the Panzer 3 was introduced to battle at the beginning of World War two and they quickly realized it was under armored it was upgraded to 30 millimeter hardened steel plate and gained a second 30 millimeter plate front and rear this made it in pervious to British and Soviet anti-tank weaponry except at close range the models main armament was also upgraded as new opposition armor appeared throughout the war the model was withdrawn from main service and we designated to a support role facing the panzer 4 as main battle medium tank designed originally as an infantry support tank it took on the main and the armor role as the pants of three was pulled from that service over 8,800 were produced and exported to other countries the British had continued developing their tank designs the Matilda was one nearly 3,000 were produced the a11 model only armed with machine guns the later model a12 sported a quick-fire 2 pounder tank gun introduced in 1937 it saw service through the war the Valentine utilized design elements of the a-10 tank suspension and transmission but was lighter armor than the Matilda but matched it for speed initially considered too small and cramped it was eventually accepted after the british expeditionary force was evacuated from Dunkirk with the loss of all their equipment it was a successful infantry support weapon and desert warfare it was also utilized by the Red Army as a light tank the Churchill was known for its effective armor and good off-road capability and its chassis was the basis for many variant and specialist vehicles it was however undergunned with a 2 pounder cannon attempts to improve this with a 3-inch howitzer did not fare too well it was almost shelved but an improved version the mark 3 went into battle in North Africa and proved its capability to survive numerous direct hits from German guns the mark 3 also fielded a 6 pounder gun on an improved turret design and is credited with knocking out a tiger tank the mark 6 version of the Churchill sported the even larger 75 millimeter gun and saw action from Normandy through to the end of the war [Music] the Cromwell was a cruiser tank based on the Crusader and replaced the American Sherman tank in some quarters and was the fastest of all British tank designs it was improved over time with a new power plant the comet one 834 was an advance on this design and incorporated and improved cannon the comet went into action in the final months of the war the British also to call American tanks like the Stuart the ground and the Sherman crewed by seven men this tank was armed with a 74 millimeter cannon mounted on a non rotating turret although fast it was no match for German guns and armor it was also used by the British in the North African campaign a very versatile tank it was mass-produced by Chrysler and constituted 65% of the tanks produced during the war developed from the m3 it had a rotating turret with the 75 millimeter cannon by war's end there were 18 models or variants in action it's all service in every theater of the war [Music] the Soviets built their t26 model on the british vickers 6-ton er in the 1930s and it was considered a most successful design over 12,000 units were produced and it constituted a majority of the Red Army's tank forces until 1941 it saw extensive service in the Spanish Civil War although its performance during the Second World War was not very good it did play a major role in the Battle of Cal King Goll in 1939 the Soviets developed the cruiser tank the BT early enough to see service in the Spanish Civil War and a winter war with Finland utilizing the Christie suspension system they were lightly armored that carried a 45 millimeter tank gun it's designed led directly to the development of the t-34 a model [Music] produced between 1941 and 1958 it was considered to be the world's best tank during World War two although better armor and armament would surpass this model it was the most influential in the outcome of the Soviets war with Nazi Germany in more recent times the vintage t-34 has been given full honors as the Russian military and War veterans paid tribute to the tank that turned the tide of war and saved them from defeat over sixty years ago the Red Army began a counter-attack against Nazi forces which had pressed their way up to within firing range of Moscow the most powerful weapon on the field of battle was the new t-34 tank it was almost invulnerable to the standard anti-tank guns and its cannons outshot the opposing nazi machines only about 35 tanks were outside moscow enough to turn defeat into victory [Music] they eventually faced off against superior Nazi tanks the Panther and Tiger but by then there were around 1,000 t-34 and they swept the field they're writing to put up a monument to this tank because it played a great role in the course of the war the Soviet Union lost nearly 26 million people in World War two more than any other nation [Music] when the Germans engaged the Soviet t-34 tank in June 1941 they were immediately impressed by its design and capability the sloping front armor could deflect a hit much more easily wider tracks and larger road wheels gave it better mobility particularly in snow and mud the pants of v or panther was specifically designed to counter the soviet t-34 tank and replaced the older pants of two and four although they remained in service as well the design was completed quickly and rushed into production with a lack of machine tools and materials delays and reliability issues slowed its progress the armor was slanted at 55 degrees to the front with plates 80 millimeters thick very few allied weapons could penetrate this shield although the Panzer 5 had relatively thin side Armour to compensate for his excessive weight and this proved to be one of its few vulnerable sports it was armed with the 75 millimeter gun whilst an average caliber the gun had a large propellant charge and longer barrel providing higher muzzle velocity the flat trajectory aided in targeting enemy tanks [Music] the German Tiger tank was a change in direction for German tank designers instead of a balance of firepower Armour and mobility the tiger was designed specifically with heavier armor for survivability and greater firepower and a reduction in mobility and maneuverability it weighed 56.9 tons with a crew of five its armor varied from 25 to 110 millimeters thick and its main armament was the lethal 88 millimeter cannon it could hit and destroy a Sherman or Churchill tank at a range of 1.6 kilometers it had a range of only 195 kilometers and a top speed of just on 38 km/h with 100 millimeter thick armor at the front and 110 millimeters thick protecting the front of the turret the Russian t-34 could not penetrate it at any range because of its weight the tank could not cross many bridges so it was designed to Ford rivers up to 4 metres deep with a complex snorkel and air intake system it was designed primarily to take on the Soviet t-34 tank and over 1,300 were manufactured during the war the tiger 2 had several names the Bengal tiger the Royal Tiger and the King tiger he took the design path of the first tiger model but utilized the improvements of the Panther to increase its formidable performance its front Armour varied from 150 to 180 millimeters thickness with a deflective angle taken from the Panther the American m4 Sherman tank could not penetrate it even at point-blank range [Music] it weights 69 tons with a crew of five it was armed with the 88 millimeter l/71 gun and capable of speeds up to 41 km/h and a range of 170 kilometers only 487 were built due to the ending of the war it's one flaw like other German tank designs was a short track below the curved front turret with relatively thin armor a directed shot could deflect down from the turret front and pierce the chassis roof this was countered with a new turret design with a flat face for the later models [Music] the Soviet t-34 8/5 and the is - were utilized against the tiger - they were effective only at close range the tiger - saw action in Normandy and the Eastern Front and in the streets of Berlin the soviets tank design was continuously refined during the war including the 85 millimeter field cannon and a three-man turret design its pedigree was imported directly into the later t-34 thirty-five design tanks produced until 1981 the power and versatility of the main battle tank was now forever enshrined in military law tank design and improvement continued on after the hostilities ended the new threat of a massive Soviet tank force in Europe was glaring at the Americans and their allies the m41 Walker bulldog never saw combat service with US forces but was in action with South Vietnam forces with a 76 millimeter cannon it fared well against its Russian opponents although it was renowned for its high rate of fuel usage and noisy engine to counter the massive Soviet tank forces in Europe the m48 Patton was put into service it had a computer fire control system the most advanced at the time however this was setup for mid to long range engagements as would be found in the European battlefield against Russian tanks when it was put into service in Vietnam this proved the hindrance as most engagements were close combat in dense foliage [Music] swarmed across the 38th parallel to attack unprepared South Korean defenders caught off guard they were all but overwhelmed until the unit as a stopgap at the beginning of the Korean War several m4 Sherman tanks were modified and sent from Japan to the 89th tank battalion fast moving tank fared well against the North Korean Russian tanks these upgraded M fours were replaced with the m26 pershing this main battle tank first saw service towards the end of world war ii at Remagen in germany weighing 45 tons and armed with a 90 millimeter cannon it was well matched against the German tanks it also saw service in Korea against Soviet tanks a total of 2,400 were produced the m26 was the basis for several other tank designs including the m45 with the larger 105 millimeter gun and the m-46 with a larger power plan first introduced in 1960 and fitted with the 105 millimeter gun the Patton weighed over 50 tons and 15,000 were produced it first saw action in the service of the Israeli forces in the Yom Kippur War he also appeared in the first Gulf War of 1991 when 210 tanks spearheaded the Marine Forces into Kuwait the m551 sheridan was a light tank design with its main armament a guided missile system it saw service in Vietnam Panama and the first Gulf War [Music] the m1 Abrams tank was put into production in 1980 it was powered with a 1500 horsepower turbine engine and had a top speed of 45 miles per hour and a crew of four first seeing action in the Gulf War the Abrams beat every Iraqi armored division it encountered the Abrams is improved with a more powerful 120 millimeter gun better Armour and suspension including better NBC protection shipped to the Gulf and placed in front-line service not one abrams was lost to enemy action the British chieftain tank went into service in 1966 and featured the heaviest armor and most powerful gun at the time with a crew of four at weight 55 tons and supported a rifled 120 millimeter cannon it saw service in the iran/iraq war and the first Gulf War no longer manufactured the Abrams tank is now being refurbished and upgraded to meet future demands the tanks are completely stripped down repainted new electronics and command and control system these tanks are one of the most advanced armored vehicles in the world the German leopards tank was introduced in 1965 a conventional design at had good cross-country speeds and a 105 millimeter British cannon this model was adopted by several countries its variants and derivatives continued on for several years [Music] the leopard 2 was developed after the Germans pulled out of the joint American mbt-70 project the American designed battle tank incorporated several new concepts including housing the entire crew in the turret a new suspension system enabling fast cross-country speeds for the 50 ton weight the cost overruns and delays in the mbt-70 development saw it cancelled in 1971 the funds transfer to another design which went on to become the Abrams tank the leopard 2 however became a success weighing in at 62 point 3 tons and with a crew of four it is capable of 72 kilometers an hour and a range of 550 kilometers it has a smoothbore 120 millimeter gun and third-generation armored composite one of the best selling tanks in the world the leopard 2 and its later model variants have only seen limited combat in Afghanistan the British challenger tank took over after the chieftain line of Tanks in the mid-1980s the most advanced feature being its Chobham armor which was adopted by the american abrams design 180 challenger tanks were deployed during the Gulf War it claimed 300 kills against enemy Armour with zero losses it also claims the longest tank to tank kill in military history by destroying an Iraqi tank 5.1 kilometers away the Challenger 1 has been replaced with the Challenger to model a redesign of the first it includes second-generation Chobham armor called Dorchester and is advertised as the most reliable main battle tank in the world having seen service in Bosnia Kosovo and Iraq the Challenger 2 is the only tank not lost to enemy fire although one was destroyed by friendly fire from another challenger 2 tank the Russian line of tanks have survived well around the world with numerous countries adopting their models and was superior designs like t-72 are still in front-line use [Music] [Music] not unlike what happened between the world wars of the 20th century with the fall of the Soviet empire military and political strategists began to debate the use of main battle tanks nations were turning to lighter faster fighting vehicles and with the emergence of numerous anti-tank missile systems both vehicle mounted and man carried the main battle tank seemed doomed [Music] however ex-soviet manufacturers began selling their wares to other nations India and Pakistan purchased the t-84 and t90 models Ukraine manufacturers are also selling designs capable of firing the new NATO ammunition and anti-tank guided missiles through the same gun barrel [Music] the Russian Black Eagle is the latest model based on the t-80 hull with heavier Armour and new turret and gun design a later prototype sports the new 152 millimeter gun the turret has also been separated from the ammunition storage allowing for greater survivability of the crew the Russian t90 is crewed by three men has a range of 650 kilometers and a top speed of 65 kilometres per hour its main armament is a smoothbore 125 millimeter gun capable of firing a variety of projectiles and missiles it claims several models and has been sold to India who are developing their own variant this tank is an interim for the Russian military were currently developing their next main battle tank among the latest in main battle tanks is the Italian re attic armored with a similar composite and steel design to the Abrams and British Challenger 2 models top speed 65 kilometers per hour range 550 kilometers it carries a 120 millimeter main gun two machine guns and a crew of four [Music] low profile and high-speed are the indicators for future design wheeled prototypes are in trial [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] with the flood of anti-tank missile systems now available on the battlefield it would seem the main battle tanks usefulness may be doomed however to developments in recent years that are in use and being further developed a reactive Armour and active missile countermeasures these the modern tank can resume its command of the battlefield [Music] currently in use with us and other forces the reactive armor system is effectively a plate of explosives layered over the existing armor plating when struck a section of plate exports outwards countering the kinetic force of the incoming explosive neutralizing its effectiveness negative countermeasures are computer-controlled systems able to detect and defeat incoming threats trophy is an Israeli development for their main battle tanks and armored vehicles the system consists of a fire control computer and a radar detection system with a 360 degree view when a threat is detected the anti-tank missile or RPG is tracked and the on-board computer calculates an optimum intercept point then fires are neutralizing spread similar to a shotgun blast at the incoming warhead destroying it before impact you can engage multiple targets simultaneously this system is being upgraded to include a reload capability and the ability to intercept kinetic energy projectiles like the tank fired sabol run [Music] the Russian arena system is similar except it fires an explosive round that detonates at the optimum point either destroying or deflecting the incoming threat [Music] metal storms read-back weapon system is another capable of defeating multiple incoming missile threats from multiple angles [Music] with these new technologies and because so many tanks still remain in military service around the world combined with their proven capabilities in recent conflicts the main battle tank remains a potent force for the battlefield of the future [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Automotive Channel

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Keywords: wrecks, to, riches, watch, free, online, full, episodes, cars, hot, rods, dvd, series, mechanics, rebuilding, Barry, White, muscle, new, latest, mythbusters, armoured vehicles, war machines documentary, armoured vehicle, tanks documentary, war machines game, armoured, artillery documentary, documentary history, armored cars and tanks and guns

Id: G2_AjGl9EeY

Length: 52min 2sec (3122 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 09 2018