Portal:Tanks

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The Tanks Portal

An M4 Sherman tank in Italy in 1943 during WWII

A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; usually their main armament is mounted in a turret. They are a mainstay of modern 20th and 21st century ground forces and a key part of combined arms combat.

Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapons platforms whose main armament is a large-caliber tank gun mounted in a rotating gun turret, supplemented by machine guns or other ranged weapons such as anti-tank guided missiles or rocket launchers. They have heavy vehicle armour which provides protection for the crew, the vehicle's munition storage, fuel tank and propulsion systems. The use of tracks rather than wheels provides improved operational mobility which allows the tank to overcome rugged terrain and adverse conditions such as mud and ice/snow better than wheeled vehicles, and thus be more flexibly positioned at advantageous locations on the battlefield. These features enable the tank to perform well in a variety of intense combat situations, simultaneously both offensively (with direct fire from their powerful main gun) and defensively (as fire support and defilade for friendly troops due to the near invulnerability to common infantry small arms and good resistance against heavier weapons, although anti-tank weapons used in 2022, some of them man-portable, have demonstrated the ability to destroy older generations of tanks with single shots),^{[disputed – discuss]} all while maintaining the mobility needed to exploit changing tactical situations. Fully integrating tanks into modern military forces spawned a new era of combat: armoured warfare.

Until the arrival of the main battle tank, tanks were typically categorized either by weight class (light, medium, heavy or superheavy tanks) or doctrinal purpose (breakthrough-, cavalry-, infantry-, cruiser-, or reconnaissance tanks). Some being larger and very heavily armoured and with large guns, while others are smaller, lightly armoured, and equipped with a smaller caliber and lighter gun. These smaller tanks move over terrain with speed and agility and can perform a reconnaissance role in addition to engaging enemy targets. The smaller, faster tank would not normally engage in battle with a larger, heavily armoured tank, except during a surprise flanking manoeuvre. (Full article...)-

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The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It was also the basis of several other armored fighting vehicles including self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and armored recovery vehicles. Tens of thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the British Commonwealth and Soviet Union. The tank was named by the British after the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. The M4 Sherman evolved from the M3 Medium Tank, which – for speed of development – had its main armament in a side sponson mount. The M4 retained much of the previous mechanical design, but moved the main 75 mm gun into a fully traversing central turret. One feature, a one-axis gyrostabilizer, was not precise enough to allow firing when moving but did help keep the gun aimed in roughly the right direction for when the tank stopped to fire. The designers stressed reliability, ease of production and maintenance, durability, standardization of parts and ammunition in a limited number of variants, and moderate size and weight (to facilitate shipping and for compatibility with existing bridging equipment size and weight limit restrictions.). These factors, combined with Sherman's then-superior armor and armament, outclassed German light and medium tanks fielded in 1939–42. The M4 was the most-produced tank in American history, with 49,324 produced (including variants); During World War II, the Sherman spearheaded many offensives by the Allies after 1942. (Full article...)

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The Battle of Phillora was a large tank battle fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It commenced on 10 September when the Indian 1st Armoured Division, with four armoured regiments and supporting forces under command, attacked positions in the Sialkot sector held by Pakistani 6th Armoured Division. After three days the Pakistanis withdrew with the loss of 66 tanks. The Indians admitted to the loss of 6 Centurions.

The battle coincided with the Battle of Asal Uttar where the Indians were again successful. It was followed by the Battle of Chawinda, where the Indian offensive was halted. On 22 September a ceasefire came into force. (Full article...)

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Operation Epsom Battle of Arras (1917) Battle of Moscow Battle of Verrières Ridge Battle of Khafji Operation Uranus Operation Tractable Third Battle of Kharkov Battle of Smolensk (1943) Yom Kippur War Battle of Gembloux (1940) Battle of Hannut Battle of Asal Uttar Battle of 73 Easting Battle of Norfolk Battle of Villers-Bocage Operation Bøllebank Battle of Medina Ridge Battle of Baguio (1945)

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Image 1Diagram of a tank based on the M1 Abrams. Diagram showing the major parts of a modern main battle tank, including the turret, glacis plate and main gun.
Image 2U.S. Army soldiers on Bougainville (one of the Solomon Islands) in World War II. Japanese forces tried infiltrating the U.S. lines at night; at dawn, the U.S. soldiers would clear them out. In this picture, infantrymen are advancing in the cover of an M4 Sherman tank.
Image 3The Flying Elephant was a proposed super-heavy tank, planned but never built by the British during World War I. Pictured is a 1/48 scale model of the Flying Elephant Design B at The Tank Museum, U.K.
Image 4Map of the South Ossetia war, in which a considerable number of Georgia T-72's and assorted Russian armor were used.
Image 5A 3rd Marine Division – U.S. Marine Corps flame tank in action near Da Nang, Vietnam. The U.S. Army no longer had flamethrower tanks but the Marine Corps sent several to Vietnam. January 1966.
Image 6An M10 tank destroyer in action near Saint-Lô, France, June/July 1944
Image 7The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces.
Image 8A M3 Lee. The Medium Tank M3 was an American tank used during World War II. In Britain the tank was called "General Lee" named after General Robert E. Lee, and its modified version built to British specification, with a new turret, was called "General Grant" named after General Ulysses S. Grant.
Image 9A front view of the sole surviving A7V (Mephisto) on display at the Australian War Memorial

General images

The following are images from various tank-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Final caterpillar test, on 21 February 1916, before the mass order of the Schneider CA1 tank on 25 February (from History of the tank)
Image 2A M1A1 Abrams in the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt during Exercise Ready Crucible in February 2005. (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 3Russian Vezdekhod tank prototype, 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 4Merkava IIID Baz fires – the Baz Fire-control system increases the Merkava's accuracy and lethality (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 5US M1 Abrams tanks from the 3rd Armored Division along the Line of Departure. (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 6Arjun-Mk.1 (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 7Vickers Medium Mark Is on a manoeuvre somewhere in England, 1930 (from History of the tank)
Image 8A Holt tractor in the Vosges in early 1915 serving as an artillery tractor for a French army De Bange 155 mm cannon (from History of the tank)
Image 9The No1 Lincoln Machine, with lengthened Bullock tracks and Creeping Grip tractor suspension, September 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 10Killen-Strait tractor fitted with a Delaunay-Belleville armoured car body, shortly after the 30 June 1915 experiments (from History of the tank)
Image 11Chinese Type 99 tank (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 12The Boirault machine used a huge rotating frame around a motorized center, early 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 13Russian T-90 (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 14Tritton Trench-Crosser, May 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 15A Waffen-SS Tiger I tank in France (from History of the tank)
Image 16The electric Aubriot-Gabet "Fortress", mounted on a tractor chassis, 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 17An Asad Babil abandoned after facing the final US thrust into Baghdad (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 18British Challenger 2 Tank of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Squadron D). (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 191904 illustration of H.G. Wells' December 1903 The Land Ironclads, showing huge ironclad land vessels, equipped with pedrail wheels (from History of the tank)
Image 20US Army recognition poster of T-54/T-55 series tanks (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 21Pakistan main battle tank Al-Khalid MBT on display in November 2012. (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 22Turkish Altay MBT (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 23A Leclerc Main Battle Tank on manoeuvres. (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 24An A7V tank at Roye on 21 March 1918 (from History of the tank)
Image 25Char Renault FT, Les Invalides (from History of the tank)
Image 26Karrar MBT (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 27A Frot-Laffly landship was tested on 28 March 1915 in France. (from History of the tank)
Image 28Italian Ariete main battle tank of the Italian Army (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 29The Tsar Tank (from History of the tank)
Image 30Leonardo da Vinci sketch of his armored fighting vehicle (from History of the tank)
Image 31Ukrainian T-84 (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 32An American M1 Abrams tank destroyed in Baghdad (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 33Little Willie design, December 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 34Russian Chyorny Oryol or Black Eagle features (from History of the tank)
Image 35JGSDF Type10 Tank of the 1st Armored Training Unit (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 36Soviet T-35, a five-turreted heavy tank of the 1930s (from History of the tank)
Image 37Arjun-Mk.1A (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)
Image 38The Souain tank prototype crossing a trench at Souain on 9 December 1915 (from History of the tank)
Image 39A British Mark I tank in action on 26 September 1916 (moving left to right). Photo by Ernest Brooks. (from History of the tank)
Image 40The K-2 Black Panther model on display (from Tanks of the post–Cold War era)

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