If this is true it was because all of the weight of the armor and such was keeping it on the ground to begin with.


My 2 cents.

It probably is true, that's still a 1500hp engine.


(Abrams during engine refit)

The gas turbine ("jet") engine gives more horses per ton, it's true. They guzzle the fuel and have blazing hot exhaust as a tradeoff, the latter being unhealthy to your own cowering infantry who'd very much like to hide behind it as it advances up against entrenched or otherwise determined enemies.

The Ruskis have done the same trick in their T80, while most nations have instead focussed on reducing the weight of the tank then running a big diesel. The Abrams is 70 ton; it's not easy to move that much mass quickly.


(T80 on maneuvers)

Amusingly, some folks have even dabbled with those types of engines in cars.


( )

EDIT: SC wiki's images are huuuge. Spoilered for sanity.

Reality Break: Terran Dominion Crucio Siege Tank

No clue how much it weighs, though it appears to be sized at least for an MBT.

Its 'shock cannon' fires tungsten shells that soften in the air, the outer portion of which turns into plasma upon impact, splashing infantry enough to instantly melt/asplode power armor and wearer, and creating quite a shock. The core of the shell retains its integrity enough to punch through vehicular armor and the hulls of FoB buildings. An extended barrage can shake down any building in seconds or a minute or two, and the accuracy can hit any moving target, no matter what speed (computer can probably track velocities up to 300km/h or so; dog-sized and even cat-sized targets are easy; dunno about lab rats tho) - so long as it is within range, and hoping the target isn't next to a friendly or at point blank (few dozen meters).

Range is probably at least 6km or so. In turret mode, it shoots two regular projectile cannons. Same accuracy.

The major limit to the system is thermodynamics, which basically pulls the firing rate to a hault, so that it's shooting once about every six seconds.

Crew is separated by two separate hulls and they probably have an internal comm channel for the tank alone.

"Fluttershy" - spot the commander?


"T76a" imaginary Russian tank (or so said the label... this looks like an IS10 to me)


Thunderer siege "tank", 40k





Marcharius, budget baneblade, 40k
The big M somewhat resembles a Churchill or Black Prince, at least to my eye.

I've always assumed that was the intent.

Time to bring out a staple of scifi - Hovertanks!

















Surprisingly,





there is more to it than movie props and drawings...




Wooden mockup of a hovercraft tank design, 1937, USSR.
Adventurous bunch the Ruskis. Despite two big aircraft engines for a rather hectic 1,450hp the design was still limited to well under 10 ton, with armour appropriate for stopping small arms and a lone machine gun for armament. Could have been rather quick though, at 120kph, but this was only a design & 1:4 scale mockup; actually building & operating them would have been an impressive feat in those days, for Russia or anybody else. Never progressed past mockup stage.

I found it in Wikipedia under Hovercraft Tank. Gotta wonder if the hovering armoured vehicle idea will come round again some day...

Earlier in the thread i did the ripsaw

here is the riptide
and the minirip

Came on all ye tank appreciators! Page 2 shall never hold us - na'er for long, at any rate!


Tanks of old!


Tanks of today!


Tanks in the sand!


That make stuff explode!


Post 'em up for all to see, of tanks we've many - but there's more out there, and all for free!

Not as technical as some of your but it is my only tank picture.

Since Ripcord keeps showing up, lets have a look at one of the first really fast tanks in history - the BT tanks, from Soviet Russia!





A successful model built in the hundreds, the Russians learned a lot experimenting with the quick, nimble and cheap BT series. They tried new gearboxes, tank rocket launchers, even remote control! It also pioneered the proud russian tradition of jumping obstacles by way of sheer speed and finding crews with cast-iron balls.







Roadwheels were experimented with, making it one of the very few armoured car / tank convertible vehicles to see mass production.



(remote control version below, I think it's the one on the left - and yeah, it's completely blind. But when you wanna know if zee Germans had a field gun lying in wait... put that one out front )



The BT was a nifty tank and a great learning experience for Russia,



and as followers of the thread may remember, it lead to the A20 prototype,



...which was the precursor to their most successful tank of the war.