Ok, off the top of my head; That thing can't possibly compete in armor against a modern day MBT. No chance, well, I just can't see how something partly plastic is going to outdo a few cm of steel. Also just curious but if something that's partly plastic is exposed to high temperatures wouldn't that make it much more vulnerable?

It's hight...I like how the T-72, for example, is low to the ground but this tank is VERY low, maybe a bit too low?

I personaly think they could turn this into a great infantry fighting vehicle. Put a 30mm cannon or something creative on it. That combined with it's speed and all would work I think.

As for an airdropped tank...you don't need to have it made out of plastic. The Russian BMD is what i'm talking about. Well, it's not a tank, it's an APC - but it's still the only piece of armor that drops from the sky that I can refer to. The BMD carries troops, can be paradropped, has a 30mm cannon, and is also amphibious. And it's not plastic.

Regards,
Maestro

[edit on 2-4-2007 by maestro46]

Hi all, sorry to revive this thread, but I when I attempted to source the video on the first page in another discussion, I found that it doesn't seem to be working anymore. Does anyone know where I might find it elsewhere?

yep i saw a story on this tank roughly 5 years ago. it is a composite plastic, easily repaired, fast and extremely strong...never underestimate composites. anyways was meant to be flown into battle easily, low to the ground for cover, very fast off the start as well. one of the main points of this tank was that the driver being low, under turret and wearing a helmet connecting him virtually to sats in orbit giving him a game view over looking the battle field...thats all i can remember lol was actually looking for something on this exact artical tonight

yea i could'nt say which is better, im sure they had a purpose in mind maybe urban warfare or railgun apps? but this tank could be lifted in on heli's. been reading lately about electromagnetic armor plating...anyone seen or heard of it? have any info on it? seems to be old technology reworked...

Am I the only person that reads ch1446's posts?

He made a metric ton of valid points and everyone completelly ignored them... why is our military industrial complex still focusing on developing platforms that are proving less and less workable in real modern battlefield conditions?

The tank of the future is going to be something like the Ripsaw with a chaingun turret and vertical launch system for "frisbee of death" skeet type Smart EFP's.

BTW people it's TURRET not turrent... everyone types turrent over and over does everyone who uses this word verbally speak very nasally and add an N somehow it's pronounced TUH RET NO N!!

and for the people who say Oh well I don't trust plastic steel is better... I weep for the future! Seriously guys? Obviously materials science advances of the 1950's haven't caught up to the collective consciousness yet.

Like roguetechie, I too, weep for the future. Especially if tank designers go down this route, as the Americans are so clearly bent on doing.

Have I got this right?

In order to make a smaller tank, you make it out of plastic, remove 2 or 3 crew members and stuff it full of electronics?

If that is the case, WOW!

All those electronic emissions. Makes me wish I was on the end of MLRS with anti-tank sub munitions.

---

---

Reminds me of the German Jagdpanzer.

Originally posted by QuantumDeath Let me guess. Another machine meant for the killing of more innocents? The destroying of an Iraqi mans Taxi cab? I can't wait for the day when the human race decides to wage war with other civilizations. Maybe they will put us in our place. I am not all impressed by war machines.

Why post your thoughts on a Weapons Thread then? I do not understand your logic.

Your grasp and understanding of human nature is only surpassed by your geographical embarassment.

Work it out, mate!

---

---

There shall always be a place for a heavily armoured vehicle, it might chance radically but the tank as concept shall not go away.

I'm a Retired Army Tank crewman and M1A1 Master gunner. I heard about a tank like this back in the late 80s shortly before Desert Shield/Storm. This was a tank with an auto loader and two crewmen. The Crewmen were in the hull and drove the tank. Only one crewman is required to operate the tank so it can run continuously. The tank has a Cyber Crewperson named Vicky, Voice Integrated Computer and she can do all sorts of amazing things. She loads the gun, she can lock the gun on a LASER source that is striking the tank and even shoot back.

The Octagonal or diamond shape to the barrel of the cannon is a great design. It is imperceptable to the naked eye but, all typical gun tubes on tanks droop. Also too, when the sun heats the muzzle unevenly it changes the angle inside the muzzle slightly. This does not affect accuracy much at short range but at long ranges beyond 2,500 meters, it causes the gun to be way off. this Diamond shape to the barrel strengthens the gun tube a bit and prevents the gun tube droop and thermal bending.

One thing I remember distinctly about the tank is that when a crewman is done with his/her shift, he/she tells Vicky and she injects the crewman with a drug to make him or her sleep while the other crewman fights the tank. That crewman is injected with a drug to wake him/her up and make them alert.
I don't care for drug use, I like to remain as natural as I can be.

One draw back to the tank is that it doesn't fight well in degraded mode. For instance, the M1A1 Abrams has a space age computer system and sight and sensors and LASER that make it fast and accurate at incredibly long ranges. But, if it is hit with a projectile and that computer system is knocked out, the tank can still fight in a degraded mode, it goes from space age technology to WW2 technology to stone age WW1 technology and can still fight. The two person space age tank is pretty useless without Vicky.

The Tank never did materialize. I thought they just scrapped it.