A beautiful tank but I wonder how survivable it can be at a mere 44 tons. Quite honestly its almost the same weight class as most IFV's now. It is undoubtedly strategically mobile but is it survivable on the modern battlefield or are we seeing the re-birth of the tank destroyer in all but name?
I saw a japanese news report on it once and they said it has been designed with the emphasis of superior protection from rocket propelled grenades. And at 44 tons that is quite impressive.
ReplyDeleteIn my poorly educated opinion, the two best tanks in the world, were/are the Leclerc and the Challenger.
ReplyDeleteBecause they were different.
Everyone trains and equips to fight Abrams, T72s and Leopards.
If you turn up in a Leclerc, or a Type 10, any planning they have about timelines, fuel dumps, resupply areas and such are going to be about as relevant as those France had in 1939.
If you turn up in Challengers, only a very small number of dedicated anti tank assets are going to have a hope in hell of stopping you
LeCLerc? seriously? Challenger? not anymore. against the Russian horde yes but in offensive combat? hell no.
DeleteThe Lecler, and all post WW2 French tanks, are based off of the French rapid maneuver/ rapid deployment style of warfare. A Leclerc weights 60 tons, while the M1A2 SEP wright 69.5 tons. Due to this, the Leclerc is a bit faster and has 60 miles more range, excluding add on fuel tanks. Furthermore, it has an autoloader, only needing a 3 man crew. Also, it's main gun is a French 52-caliber 120mm smoothbore, longer than the Abrams' current gun, giving it's shells a higher muzzle velocity. Also, it's armor is modular, and can be changed quickly. So while a Lecler's armor isn't as heavy as an Abram's, it is close, it's main gun is a bit better, it has a slightly greater range, and it's fire control systems are excellent. It's main drawback is that it costs alot, about 15 million dollars per tank, so only Oman and France have bough them.
DeleteChallengers have incredibly heavy armor, which makes them pretty slow. They can also fire HESH rounds, which obliterate bunkers and pillboxes.
The most lethal anti-tank weapon in the world is a highly motivated and dedicated United States Marine with a known location, a grid and a radio.
ReplyDeleteCapable of calling for and delivering everything from a surrender leaflet to an atom bomb.
OOHHRRrraaaaa!
without a doubt. but i wonder if anyone remembers that anymore.
DeleteThe Type-10 is intended for use on almost all standard road bridges in and in urban areas in Japan whereas the Type-90 is considered appropriate mainly for Hokkaido vs the Russians.
ReplyDeleteThe chances of Japan being invaded anytime soon is pretty much nil. I don't see them being used anywhere except Japan. If anybody could invade Japan (China) in the future, then this would be fine.
Of course, a lighter tank might be just the thing for a Japanese amphibious force intent on re-taking islands.
watching the Japanese slowly transition to an offensive force is going to be a beautiful thing to watch.
Deletetoo bad japan's ongoing population loss and aging population is going to make that military REAL hard to field.
DeleteType 10 was developed to replace older Type 74 tanks employed by Japanese infantry divisions. Their heavy forces are concentrated in the 7th Armored Division stationing in northern Japan to deal with hypothetical N. Korean invasion (or the Soviets during Cold War era). That division will retain heavier Type 90 MBTs which offer better armor protection. BTW, the Japanese Defense Ministry is accelerating its work on a brand new amphibious fighting vehicle to fend off Chinese.
ReplyDeletei thought they were simply going to buy AAV?
DeleteA moderately relevant story about Japanese tanks. There I was, no shit! In 1986 I was a radio operator with C Co 1st Tracked Vehicle Bn., 3rd Mar Div, a M60 tank company deployed to Camp Fuji Japan. We had just returned from the field, when an Officer in the JDF, and two Japanese MP’s showed up at the Company office. Long story short, on the way back in from the field we had passed a column of Japanese tanks heading out to the field, and one of our Marines had been observed taking pictures of these tanks. As these were prototypes of Japans latest and greatest tanks, they did not want pictures to end up in Janes Defense Weekly. The company Master Gunner quickly located the Marine and his camera and turned it over to the Japanese. Four hours later the Japanese returned the Marine his camera with the negatives and developed pictures of everything but the Japanese tanks and five rolls of new film along with a typical polite Japanese apology.
ReplyDeleteAs to the discussion at hand, a lighter, faster tank makes a certain amount of sense for the Japanese. The T72 and its variants were barely competitive with the M60. A smaller faster tank with a decent gun and modern fire control technology would be a match to any of the Soviet tanks in the world today, upgraded or not.
good story and i can't argue the point. the T-72 is a shit bird of a tank and i sometimes wonder if a LAW rocket couldn't take one out....but i'm looking east at the Chinese. they're gonna make the next move when it comes to tank development.
Deleteehh, the monkey model T-72 were shit. The Soviets NEVER gave their Arab customers the good stuff. They kept that for themselves and the Warsaw pact.
DeleteI suggest a book called "Arabs at War" to explain just how badly the arab armies used tanks.