The armor is a composite of steel, ceramics and Kevlar. The tank uses modular armor which can be taken off and replaced quickly. The Leclerc entered service in 1992 after 15 years of development and trials. Companies who build and upgrade these tanks give a more conservative (but still ridiculously high) figure of $12.6 million per tank. Critics within the French government say each Leclerc has cost France $23 million or more. Figures on the cost of this tank vary greatly depending on who you talk to. This is France’s main battle tank and currently the most expensive tank in the world. A newer 2A7+ model is currently being tested and marketed with a price estimated of around $12 million per unit. One of the most successful tank designs, the Leopard 2 is used by several nations with the 2A6 currently in service with Germany, Canada, Finland, Greece and Portugal. As with most Western tank designs, ammunition is stored in a separate compartment to prevent catastrophic explosions like those witnessed in Soviet/Russian tank designs. The engine is a 1500 hp diesel which can propel the tank up to 45 mph. Armor is thickest on the front of the turret, hull and sides. The 63 ton tank uses an advanced armor package which is composed of steel, ceramic, tungsten and plastic. Like most Western tanks, the Leopard 2A6 uses a 120mm smoothbore main gun which can fire an assortment of projectiles with very high accuracy. Since then the tank has gone through a number of upgrades and modernizations with the 2A6 model being the ‘standard’ frontline version in use today. The oldest tank on this list, the Leopard 2 first entered service in 1979. Like the T-72, the T-90 has a three-man crew and uses an automatic loader for the main gun. It also sports an active protection system which can destroy many types of incoming prjectiles. The T-90AM has the latest fire-control equipment and uses an advanced explosive reactive armor which is said to be highly effective against the newest Western ammunition. This tank is an evolution of the T-72 using a newer 125mm main gun, newer 1230 hp engine and an advanced array of armor and defense equipment. The higher end (and nearly twice as expensive) T-90AM currently serves with the Russian army. There are various models of this tank with the cheaper T-90S exported to countries like India. In recent years this policy proved to be too expensive so the decision to focus on one type of tank was taken. Monetary values have been updated as close to 2014 figures as possible, often using government or production company reports.ĭuring the Cold War, the Soviet Union had a policy of building two types of tanks: a cheap mass produced version suitable for export (T-62, T-72) and an expensive high end version (T-64, T-80). That said, they are ranked not by which one is ‘the best’ but instead by which tanks cost the most per unit. These tanks are considered the best because they score highly in the three categories of mobility, protection and firepower. The following list takes a look at 10 of the top-of-the-line tanks in use today. Finally, computers, high end optics and advanced warning and protection devices all make today’s frontline tanks deadly and expensive. Tank guns have become larger and more accurate and fire a range of projectiles from ‘regular’ high-explosives to guided missiles. Gone are the tractor engines of World War One, replaced by turbocharged diesel and, in some cases, turbine engines producing well over 1,000 hp. Engines have improved in power and reliability. Tank armor has gone through radical changes over the years, moving from steel plates to composite material made up of steel, plastics, ceramics and other classified material. Of course, pushing to have the best protected, fastest and most powerful tank costs considerable money. Tank developers have pushed the limits of technology in an attempt to achieve the highest rating in the three most important tank characteristics: mobility, protection and firepower. From the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights to the border region shared by Iraq and Iran, the Middle East has seen some of the largest tank battles of the past 50 years.Īs with any military weapon, the major powers of the world have continued an arms race involving tank production since that September day during World War One. From the fields of Western Europe to the Russian steppe, tanks were integral to how armies fought the Second World War. From that day forward, the tank became an important piece of weaponry which every major power in the world developed and deployed over the following century. While many of these new military creations broke down, roughly one third made it across No-Man’s-Land and sent the Germans troops running. On September 15 th 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, 49 British tanks rumbled slowly across the battlefield toward the German lines.
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