BEST TANK IN THE WORLD

Originally posted by Mosquito Im not sure but i think Malesia choosed "PT 91" tank while to India and Vietnam Poland is exporting T72 M1. They are affcourse worse than the tanks of newest generation but are upgraded so much that well used may be dangerous even for them.

During the selection exercises the Malaysia Army gave all the tanks a good bashing in atypical tropical physical and weather conditions. Surprising PT-91 survived and the rest packed their crate and go home. First delivery shall be 1st Quarter 2006.

 

The Aussies is using the Leopards and we regularly conduct training with them locally,however, they never bring any of those crate. Probably they must have bad experience in the tropical jungle. Tanks regularly get stuck in the soft swamp

 

Malaysia has a specific reason for acquiring MBT which I have no liberty to discuss it in public domain. However, during the evaluation certain specification has to be met. Firepower will be excellent in an open tank battle but endurance and survivability are also important criterion. The various  tanks were put into very severe test not on a specific artificial environment but the tanks have to be driven to a considerable distant before it can be accepted. Malaysian environment can be considered as closed terrain which usually rugged, covered with dense, multiple canopied trees and impenetrable undergrowth and criss-crossed by numerous rivers and streams. In such environment visibility is inevitably limited and movement is near impossible even for the infantry. The tanks are vulnerable to the ever present ambush by a handful of infantry with RPG and Carl Gustv.

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Edited by TinTin

Malaysian is currently using Stomers and Scorpions. Pictures showing Stomers and Scorpions during the US-Malaysian Joint exercise at the South China Sea.

 

Edited by TinTin

And soon to be... the M1A3

Originally posted by Moustafa Pasha � The best tank in the world actually is the Abrams M1A1/A2 battle tank USA � � <FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size=3>�

I think this is what you are all looking for. The best tank

the best tanks are hands down the M1A1/A2 tanks. they are the fastest and the most powerfull. Don't even try to argue with me, because I know first hand how they operate, and they have also done studies.

An RPG will only disable a M1 via a hit in the treads, a similar strike will also disable a challenger...

Aghart is right, different tanks have different strengths. If it was so clear cut a case of M1's being simply 'the best' many more countries would of taken them up as their tanks. Remember it competed in sweden and greece against the leopard and lost.

The M1 also had to be improved pretty much from the start (105mm canon to the european 120mm for instance) and its these improvements that kept the M1 up to date, rather than the orginal design itself. What the M1 is design for and good at is tank battles, cold war imagined battles against large amounts of soviet armour.

What it wasnt design for and needed improvement in, is urban warfare. You'd rather be in a Merkava 4,  Isreali's designed this with urban warfare experiance and with that intention from the start. M1 on the other hand, is going through the TUSK update now, this will make it better protected 'allround' rather than just front on, for such fights. Remember, this was becuase of a weakness in the M1 design and something they had to add on.

So even if the total losses arent huge, it is notable that mines, well used RPG's and IED's have done a better job that Iraqi armour ever did. Demonstrating the inherent weakness and strength of the M1.

anyway here are three sources on successful M1 attacks:
A tank disabled by a Kornet missile from behind
Two soldiers in a M1, die after hitting a landmine

Total loses and damage of M1's to march 2005

 "About 1,135 Abrams tanks have seen action in Iraq, Tucker said, some more than once. Of those, he said, �probably 70 percent have been hit or damaged in some way. In fact, it�s hard to find an Abrams tank out there that has fought in Iraq that has not been damaged.�

Eighty tanks have sustained damage that required them to be sent back to the United States for repairs, said Tucker, noting that the damage was �fairly minor� in some cases.

�If a seam or a weld was broken, that�s pretty delicate work, and we couldn�t do that in theater, so we�ve brought tanks back to the U.S. for welding repairs,� he said. �About 63 of those 80 tanks will go back to the fleet.�" (from the third source a handy quote.)

Edited by Leonidas

Originally posted by aghart with all due respect!! numerous M1's have been disabled by RPG attack especially around the engine. Challanger has shrugged off similar attacks. This question of the best tank is impossible to answer as different situations favour different vehicles.

Not so fast slick. I spent a year in Iraq and the Challenger's HAVE been disabled by everything from RPGs to molotov's. I know of one particular incident where several RPGs shots disabled a Challenger completely, it's crew surviviability being excellent so all survived. If you think an RPG can't disable a Challenger you've never seen the results of a well placed RPG round.

Secondly the Brits are in a far less dangerous area than the Americans--Shia rather than Sunni--subject to far fewer  insurgent attacks.

[I would add in this edit that the two 'disabled from rear engine compartment'  M1s I saw were the result of the crews carrying extra fuel cans in the rear near the engine which were hit and caught fire.]

Having seen the Leopards, Challengers and Abrams I'd say the best tank category is a near tie with each one having strengths and weaknesses.


Edited by Virgil