How It Works-Amazing Vehicles

© WIKI; Gett y

DID YOU KNOW? The French-built Renault FT-17 was the first production tank with a fully rotating turret

tanks were heav y and unwieldy contraptions

that were prone to mechanical failures. The

engines were simply inadequate for propelling

the tremendous weight of the vehicle for ward.

The exhaust fumes from straining engines

sometimes even sickened the crews so seriously

that they could not function.

The second generation of armoured vehicles

refl ected the experience of the Great War, and

numerous innovations of the interwar years

were put to use during World War II. The

purpose-built tank chassis was refi ned, diesel

and gasoline engines became more powerful

and some were borrowed from the aircraft

industr y. The rotating turret-mounted machine

guns and cannons were introduced and armour

protection improved, while communication

bet ween tanks was vastly enhanced w ith

reliable radios that replaced hand signals and

directional fl ags.

During the second half of the 20th century and

beyond, evolving technology has transformed

the tank into a modern marvel of mechanised

warfare. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) foster

unprecedented coordination of units, while

sophisticated infrared target acquisition and

stabilisation equipment allow tanks to track

multiple targets simultaneously and accurately

fi re weapons on the move. They also feature

state-of-the-art turbine engines combined with

composite armour – lighter and many times

stronger than steel – for unprecedented speed

and security.

Conditions inside a Mark I

were hot, noisy and dangerous

for the eight-man crew

An American crew awaits orders for a light tank in

Coburg, Germany in 1945

M4 Sherman tanks equipped with

fl ame-throwers were deployed by the

US in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945

The fi rst tanks were designed

to break through barbed wire

on enemy lines