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TOP TEN TANKS
- from Discovery Review
How The Tanks Were Ranked
Over the past century, dozens of tanks have been designed and built to blast their way across the battlefield. Based upon expert opinion, audience polls and a technical comparison, the producers constructed a five-point matrix to rank the all-time top 10 tanks. Each tank was assigned a score in the following categories: firepower, armor (protection), mobility, production and fear factor. The tanks' marks in each category were then added together to produce an overall score.
Picture: A "glam shot" of a Sherman released by the War Production Board in 1944. (AP)
10. M-4 Sherman (US)
First produced in 1942. Top speed: 24 mph. Range: 100 miles. The tank's radial nine-cylinder engine gives a power-to-weight ratio of 15.8 horsepower per ton. Armor thickness: 62 millimeters. Primary armament: 75-mm high-velocity gun.
The Sherman scored low on firepower and armor. Its Ford eight-cylinder engine was efficient and reliable, so the tank scored slightly better for mobility. But it is ease of manufacture that won the M-4 its place among the top 10 tanks: a staggering 48,000 of them were produced over just three years. Thus, the Sherman received a top production rating. |
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Picture: A Merkava deploys smoke during a 1999 exercise in the Golan Heights. (AP)
9. Merkava (Israel)
First produced in 1977. Top speed: 34 mph. Range: 310 miles. The Teledyne turbo-charged diesel engine gives a power-to-weight ratio of 14.28 horsepower per ton. Armor thickness: classified. Primary armament: 120-mm gun.
The Merkava's armor cannot be faulted, and it scored the maximum possible in the protection category. But the sheer amount of armor damages its speed and weight-to-power ratio, which gives this Israeli war weapon a below-average score in mobility. The Merkava is complex and expensive, thus it also receives a very low production rating. However, the tank has proved effective in battle, gaining solid firepower and fear factor scores, which ensure it a spot in ninth place. |
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Picture: One of Saddam Hussein's T-55's that fell prey to Coalition gunfire during the First Gulf War. (Peter Turnley/Corbis)
8. T-54/55 (USSR)
First produced in 1948. Top speed 30 mph. Range: 250 miles. The tank's V-12 water-cooled diesel engine gives a power-to-weight ratio of 14.44 horsepower per ton. Armor thickness: 203 millimeters. Primary armament: 100-mm D10T gun.
The T-54/55 scored average marks for firepower, mobility and protection. In all 95,000 T-54/55s were made, so it scored top marks for production. However, it ranked just below average for fear factor |
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Picture: A Challenger tank plows through the desert during a 2001 exercise in Oman. (AP)
7. Challenger (UK)
First produced in 1982. Top speed: 37 mph. Range: 340 miles. The Condor V-12 engine gives Challenger a power-to-weight ratio of 19.2 horsepower per ton. Armor thickness: classified. Primary armament: 120-mm rifled gun.
The Challenger scores very good marks for its world-class armor, and the maximum on firepower |
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Picture: A line of Panzer IV's move through a French city during the German occupation of Vichy France in late 1942. (National Archives/Corbis)
6. Mk IV Panzer (Ger)
First produced in 1937. Top speed: 24.8 mph. Range: 130 miles. The Maybach V-12 gasoline engine gives a power-to-weight ratio of 10.6 horsepower per ton. Armor thickness: 50 millimeters. Primary armament: 75-mm gun.
The Mk IV scores an average ranking for mobility, and gets good points for armor and firepower. But the Mk IV Panzer really disappoints in the ease-of-manufacture category. The Mk IV is a complex, heavily engineered machine, and like all German tanks, it was not easy to mass-produce. Its fear factor score is very high: in the early days of World War II this tank was unstoppable. |
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Post time 26-1-2011 03:58 PM
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