To GySgt, Navypride...

You're in the army?

So, what's you're favorite tank*?

Mine is the German Leopard, successor of the famous Tigers and Panthers of the WWII. My dad used to lead a squadron of 12 of those felines when we lived in Germany, and when I was younger I often stepped in and make a ride with them, through the Black Forest...great but noisy!

YouTube - Leopard 2 ( the best tank in the world)

The ontos are great tanks too (very impressive at least!)

ONTOS, the world's biggest shot gun


* of course you'll answer the M1, which is very similar to the Leopard

One is a Marine, the other former Navy. It's not like they will have special knowledge from serving as neither has a history in armoured units. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong gentlemen, but I don't think the thread needs to be poster-specific.

As for tanks, different kinds are suited to different roles. Their designs necessitate compromises, you cannot build a jack of all trades and expect it to outperform a more specialised design.

M1A2 Abrahms is an open country tank, like the UK's Challenger II. Both designs of their time, that would be excellent at engaging Soviet T-82's across Eastern Europe but they have shortcomings seen in Iraq. They are very fast in open country and accurate with their principle armament while on the move, excellent for tank battles of the mid-twentieth century but we do not fight such engagements any longer. They are vulnerable to RPG's in particular when supporting infantry in urban environments.

The German Leopard is a similar design though it has a modular construction that is supposed to make servicing easier, important as tanks are hampered by the logistical requirements of their deployment. Fundamentally though, if deployed, it would encounter the same problems as its American and British counterparts.

The Israeli Merkava is designed to incorporate features that would be of little use in a traditional tank battle, but are highly useful in the more urban environments that it often has to operate in. It has an engine compartment up front freeing up space for infantry transport in the rear, modular outer armour that can be discarded and replaced or augmented, has developed countermeasures against some AT weapons (The chains often seen hanging around the turret rim are supposed to help against RPG's I believe.), and still maintains a good open country performance.

The Swedes designed a tank during the cold War that was specially focused towards repelling Soviet armour in the pine forests of Northern Europe. It is a good example of a tank that could do what it was designed for very well but would be useless in other operations.

The problem with tanks is that the development and production process, not to mention the political wranglings over evaluations, contracts and supply means that we tend to fight with tanks designed for the previous conflict. The next generation of MBT's, should new ones be approved, will incorporate features designed to improve survivability at medium to close ranges, increase functionality, and reduce logistical requirements, all influenced by the changing role of armour required by current conflicts. The US has recently taken to purchasing the Stryker APC as a halfway house between light vehicles (namely the Hummvee) and its heavy armour for just this reason.

[Those with actual military experience feel free to critique that assessment.]

Interresting, thx for your answer!

(I did not limit this topic to GySgt & Navypride, I just wanted to catch their attention)

Yeah, I did not want to say that the Leopard was better than the others (in spite of the title of the video) because I don't know enough about tanks (and as you said, each tank is fitted for a particular kind of situation)

Just that I like the Leopard, its design (it's incredible when it "jumps")...and I also fin interresting to compare it with WWII german tanks (especially the Königstiger and Jagtiger)


As for the Swedish tank, I guess it's the S-103

I'm a communicator (Radio man) by birth and through promotion have become a comm planner. I don't know much about tanks. But I have always been told that the M1 has a lot of Panzer design in its structure.

Although I rode in a tank one time I don't have a lot of knowledge about them.......I do know the one I rode in was very noisy..........When I was in the Navy I worked in logistics support although I did have a tour in South Korea as a Military Advisor to the South Korean Navy....

bub said:

You're in the army?

So, what's you're favorite tank*?

Mine is the German Leopard, successor of the famous Tigers and Panthers of the WWII. My dad used to lead a squadron of 12 of those felines when we lived in Germany, and when I was younger I often stepped in and make a ride with them, through the Black Forest...great but noisy!

YouTube - Leopard 2 ( the best tank in the world)

The ontos are great tanks too (very impressive at least!)

ONTOS, the world's biggest shot gun


* of course you'll answer the M1, which is very similar to the Leopard

Click to expand...

I had read that the Leopards where not as heavily armored as the M1, but that they were faster, and relied more on a "shoot and scoot" philosophy. My information is probably pretty dated, however.

Iriemon said:

I had read that the Leopards where not as heavily armored as the M1, but that they were faster, and relied more on a "shoot and scoot" philosophy. My information is probably pretty dated, however.

Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean by "shoot and scoot," but the M1 has the ability to target and fire while the tanker is plugging in the next target. All while on the move.

GySgt said:

I don't know what you mean by "shoot and scoot," but the M1 has the ability to target and fire while the tanker is plugging in the next target. All while on the move.

Click to expand...

That is a more accurate application of the term. As I recall for the Leopards, the idea was to rely more upon their speed to effectively deploy and get out of trouble.

But again my information is probably more in the circa late 80s time.

Hmm... That was a bit of a lecture wasn't it? I reread your question and you weren't asking for my assessment of the best tanks, just what people liked. Sorry.

The French Leclerc is interesting. Very light, very fast, and only a three man crew as it has an autoloader. No idea if it's any good, but then it isn't likely to be deployed knowing the French so I guess as long as it looks good driving around they're happy. :mrgreen:

The Konigtiger and Jagtiger were impressive, if flawed. Like tracked bunkers, excellent for defensive operations but ridiculously overarmoured and thus slow. If you have the chance to visit Bovington Tank Museum in the UK has examples of the Konigtiger, Jagpanther and a sometimes running Tiger 1 (Until they burn the motor out again.).

Eheh I'll try to go to Bovington with my dad, he would love that!

When his unit was in Germany, there were many trainings, when he tells me what they had to do...it's impressive!

First, the deployment: around 15 years ago, at 6 o'clock in the morning, I remember seeing his convoy, speeding on the street: first, the light tanks (Scimitar, Scorpion, Samaritan...) with the drivers driving like *****!!! Then the heavy Leopards followed, it was extremely noisy. Since the street was narrow and they were going fast, they sometimes knocked down a mailbox (the Germans were happy because they got a lot of money back each time we knocked down their mailboxes!)

Then, the loading on trains. That was pretty dangerous, since the tank was larger than the wagon!

He told me that once, they had to cross a bridge. But it was a small bridge, with a sign saying "7 tons maximum". The Leopard is 42 tons! However, they had to cross, and the river must have been too deep, so they had to drive on the bridge: my dad's tank crossed it first, at 60 km/h ("I told the driver to cruise at full speed and closed my eyes" :shock: :mrgreen: ), followed by the other Leopards...!

And once, while they were speeding in the countryside, they passed over a hole in the road (which was being repared)...and they crushed the water pipes :mrgreen:

Unfortunately, his unit (like many others) has been dismissed in 1993, because of a decreasing of the defense budget.

CHAR LEOPARD A5