The future of Tanks?

[Great Heathen Air Force]

In the future, the Tank! will be relegated to opening credits.

[Vikanias]

The future of the tank is obvious, make the turret spin fast enough so the tank can fly. Don’t care how long it takes I want flying tanks.

[Nevertopia]

tbh I like my mech idea of a designated power armor unit sniping tanks from long range with a railgun. But it seems like Tanks and infantry need to go together unless its in big open spaces where Tanks fight Tanks. Maybe Tanks arent so hard-countered by rocket launchers and Russia just hasn't figured out how to use infantry to support Tanks.

This thread was more for me to figure out how Tanks would perform in the future, or at the very least in my setting. With sci-fi kinetic shields, they're partially invincible to explosives and bullets so long as shields are up due to the rules of my setting. It takes Lasers to drop kinetic shields quickly and those things arent portable enough yet. Maybe some sort of Spartan Laser like in Halo? Thats probably the rocket launcher equivalent in my setting. And of course the "Railgun" Mech.

[Risottia]

The future of the tank is obvious, make the turret spin fast enough so the tank can fly. Don’t care how long it takes I want flying tanks.

There you go.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 159151.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... _(centered).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AC-130.JPEG
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 8683076150).jpg

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

In the future, the Tank! will be relegated to opening credits.

I got it, if nobody else did.

[Sweitchland]

The future of the tank is obvious, make the turret spin fast enough so the tank can fly. Don’t care how long it takes I want flying tanks.

Man has his priorities set straight.


Plus if you run an Abrams fast enough onto a ramp, I think it can be considered flying for a few seconds

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

tbh I like my mech idea of a designated power armor unit sniping tanks from long range with a railgun. But it seems like Tanks and infantry need to go together unless its in big open spaces where Tanks fight Tanks. Maybe Tanks arent so hard-countered by rocket launchers and Russia just hasn't figured out how to use infantry to support Tanks.

I'm just amused over the fact that in 1945 the USSR clearly understood the absolute need of infantry following tanks around with plenty of close range automatic firepower. Come the 1990's however instead of giving tank regiments and battalions more mech infantry they went and got the BMPT.

Probs because Russia can no longer afford to give tank formations the number of infantry and RPG gunners they need because Russia is in a demographic death spiral.

[Gallia-]

Probs because Russia can no longer afford to give tank formations the number of infantry and RPG gunners they need because Russia is in a demographic death spiral.

The 1945 solution was flattening every building with more than 3 floors with an impossible-to-imagine scale of artillery.

It's because the BMP-2's primary gunner sight BPK-2-42 has a maximum firing elevation of 30 degrees, which is approximately half that of something like M2 Bradley, and 2/3rd's the BMPT. Only the commander's antiaircraft sight 1PZ3 has high angle fire capability and it isn't stabilized. Further it can only be fired in semi-automatic (high speed) slewing mode and not automatic slew mode, so aiming precision is lower because the gun system thinks you're shooting at a jet plane instead of a person in a window. Worse, this can only be done by the commander, because as mentioned the gunner's sight is limited to +30 degrees. Conversely, BMPT has a fully stabilized gunner sight with high angle fire on automatic slewing by the gunner, simply because its turret is bigger and it is designed explicitly for high angle engagements. It's also a tank so it's better protected.

BMP-3 has similar limitations to BMP-2 since it's very close in design, but this isn't really a problem because the gunner's PPB-2 anti-aircraft sight is adequate using the big giant gun to blow up a dude with an RPG.

At the end of the day it's a crew work division problem, not one related to "demographic issues" or some bizarre alien thinking on part of the Russians. It's a way to get around that they can't make many AFVs as they used to, most of their AFVs can't very well fight in cities because of odd design quirks, and that they have tons of surplus T-72 hulls just hanging out.

If the BMP-2 had +60 degrees of fully stabilized gunfire from the gunner's seat, you can be almost assured that BMPT would either not exist, or would exist but only alongside an Achzarit-style heavy APC.

[Antipatros]

tbh I like my mech idea of a designated power armor unit sniping tanks from long range with a railgun. But it seems like Tanks and infantry need to go together unless its in big open spaces where Tanks fight Tanks. Maybe Tanks arent so hard-countered by rocket launchers and Russia just hasn't figured out how to use infantry to support Tanks.

I'm just amused over the fact that in 1945 the USSR clearly understood the absolute need of infantry following tanks around with plenty of close range automatic firepower. Come the 1990's however instead of giving tank regiments and battalions more mech infantry they went and got the BMPT.

Probs because Russia can no longer afford to give tank formations the number of infantry and RPG gunners they need because Russia is in a demographic death spiral.

Their motor-rifle units are fine on paper, I think. The proper tank units on the other hand are ridiculous, IMO.

Then again, I also think that the US ABCT is also light on rifles.

[The Two Jerseys]

The future of the tank is obvious, make the turret spin fast enough so the tank can fly. Don’t care how long it takes I want flying tanks.

There you go.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 159151.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... _(centered).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AC-130.JPEG
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 8683076150).jpg

You forgot the OG.

[Nevertopia]

tbh I like my mech idea of a designated power armor unit sniping tanks from long range with a railgun. But it seems like Tanks and infantry need to go together unless its in big open spaces where Tanks fight Tanks. Maybe Tanks arent so hard-countered by rocket launchers and Russia just hasn't figured out how to use infantry to support Tanks.

I'm just amused over the fact that in 1945 the USSR clearly understood the absolute need of infantry following tanks around with plenty of close range automatic firepower. Come the 1990's however instead of giving tank regiments and battalions more mech infantry they went and got the BMPT.

Probs because Russia can no longer afford to give tank formations the number of infantry and RPG gunners they need because Russia is in a demographic death spiral.

Well that's good.

[Neon Lunar Eclipse]

Armchair military experts have been writing the obituaries of tanks since World War II when single-soldier portable anti-tank weapons like the bazooka, panzerschreck, and panzerfaust came out. Three-quarters of a century later, tanks are still the backbone of every modern military. Tanks are here to stay.