An update and quick run down/explanation of why a few well known tanks didn't make the list...
Chinese Type 99.
We're entering a strange period in military intel. Either they don't know much about this tank or they're not passing it along. This tank didn't hit the list because we don't know much about it. We can see the obvious. ERA Tiles. Angular sloping. Big gun (assumed to be a Russian model), but other than that, its pretty much a blank.
AMX 56 LeClerc.
I wanted to include the LeClerc. I really did. But name one thing it leads the pack on. Quite honestly I expected to see it at the top of my expeditionary list but it fell because the French did not include it in its latest combat ops in Northern Africa. So its not expeditionary. Firepower? Run of the mill. So is it capable in ways we don't know? We don't know. Its been in service for years but is still a mystery.
T-90.
This one is simple. I'll never trust Russian tanks until I see some type of move ahead in tech. Have you seen the insides of a tank that got penetrated but didn't burn out? Human goo. Its almost merciful when the Iraqi tank crews suffered catastrophic explosions of onboard ordnance. I need to see more before I hold these tanks in high regard.
Any others that should have made the list but I forgot about? I don't think so.
Which brings me to the juicy bits.
Don't be led astray by optics, guns etc. Take a look at the Altay MBT. Guess who is partnered with Turkish industry. BAE. Perhaps the number one armored vehicle house on the planet. Guess who is in Poland. BAE. Many of these new tanks like the Altay and armored vehicles like the Anders have a Brit/US pedigree.
Get over it guys. The little guys (meaning countries) are coming. And they're coming in well designed armor that will take the market by storm. Can't afford the LEO, Abrams or Challenger, but still need top line stuff? Check out the Toyota of armored vehicles coming from Turkey or Poland. The armored vehicle segment has been neglected by the Western traditional military powers and a new breed are going to take the reigns.
UPDATE:
I'm getting complaints about the CV-90120T being listed as the best expeditionary tank. I've gotten e-mails that call it a mobile gun system, others call it a APC with tank gun attached and others are simply calling it an enhanced IFV.
It doesn't matter.
We can do the "change" thing and call it all of the above, but if we were to flash back to the past, then a vehicle like the CV-90120T would be called an infantry support tank. Tank being the operative word. Anyway you slice it (in my opinion), if you have a vehicle mounting a tank caliber gun, operating in any of the tank classic roles then you have a tank.
CV-90120T? Tank. Commando 105mm wheeled vehicle? Tank. Anders 105mm? Tank.
Chinese Type 99.
We're entering a strange period in military intel. Either they don't know much about this tank or they're not passing it along. This tank didn't hit the list because we don't know much about it. We can see the obvious. ERA Tiles. Angular sloping. Big gun (assumed to be a Russian model), but other than that, its pretty much a blank.
AMX 56 LeClerc.
I wanted to include the LeClerc. I really did. But name one thing it leads the pack on. Quite honestly I expected to see it at the top of my expeditionary list but it fell because the French did not include it in its latest combat ops in Northern Africa. So its not expeditionary. Firepower? Run of the mill. So is it capable in ways we don't know? We don't know. Its been in service for years but is still a mystery.
T-90.
This one is simple. I'll never trust Russian tanks until I see some type of move ahead in tech. Have you seen the insides of a tank that got penetrated but didn't burn out? Human goo. Its almost merciful when the Iraqi tank crews suffered catastrophic explosions of onboard ordnance. I need to see more before I hold these tanks in high regard.
Any others that should have made the list but I forgot about? I don't think so.
Which brings me to the juicy bits.
Don't be led astray by optics, guns etc. Take a look at the Altay MBT. Guess who is partnered with Turkish industry. BAE. Perhaps the number one armored vehicle house on the planet. Guess who is in Poland. BAE. Many of these new tanks like the Altay and armored vehicles like the Anders have a Brit/US pedigree.
Get over it guys. The little guys (meaning countries) are coming. And they're coming in well designed armor that will take the market by storm. Can't afford the LEO, Abrams or Challenger, but still need top line stuff? Check out the Toyota of armored vehicles coming from Turkey or Poland. The armored vehicle segment has been neglected by the Western traditional military powers and a new breed are going to take the reigns.
UPDATE:
I'm getting complaints about the CV-90120T being listed as the best expeditionary tank. I've gotten e-mails that call it a mobile gun system, others call it a APC with tank gun attached and others are simply calling it an enhanced IFV.
It doesn't matter.
We can do the "change" thing and call it all of the above, but if we were to flash back to the past, then a vehicle like the CV-90120T would be called an infantry support tank. Tank being the operative word. Anyway you slice it (in my opinion), if you have a vehicle mounting a tank caliber gun, operating in any of the tank classic roles then you have a tank.
CV-90120T? Tank. Commando 105mm wheeled vehicle? Tank. Anders 105mm? Tank.
