What makes a good MBT?

Ramm · #1 June 30th, 2008, 08:32 AM

For me a good MBT has,

The advantages of being cheap and packing enough punch to kill any other tank.

The disadvantages are it can be slow/inaccurate/paper armour/complete lack SDF smoke, no TI. Baisicly a tank that you would make penal soldiers drive.

But the tasty cost and power justify this as my fav.

Wdll · #2 June 30th, 2008, 08:42 AM

IMO you can surpass any disadvantages of a MBT in your arsenal as long as it has enough armour. If it is not very good on that, then why waste your money on them when you can buy cheaper tanks or IFVs or even infantry.

Marek_Tucan · #3 June 30th, 2008, 09:21 AM

Depends on mission and use - and potentional adversary. M60A3TTS may be a deadly MBT around the Gulf War despite it having weak armor and already relatively weak gun, but it has TI so can generally use smoke cover to blast enemies with impunity unless it faces some other Western MBT with TI.

hoplitis · #4 June 30th, 2008, 09:40 AM

What makes a good MBT?
History!

Ramm · #5 July 1st, 2008, 08:49 AM

hoplitis, sorry for being dense but what do you mean?

hoplitis · #6 July 1st, 2008, 09:33 AM

Eventually a good MBT is judged on how it performs in real battle.

Randy · #7 July 1st, 2008, 03:18 PM

I think these are qualities to look for in developing a good MBT: affordability, maintenance costs, speed, armor protection, armament, range, and deployability. The Panther was a good tank, but had a complicated running gear. The T34 was cheap to build and maintain. The Sherman was easy to build but could not stand up to German armor. I think you have to have the right balance of the above in order to get what you need. The Israeli Merkava is heavy, but does not need to be deployed by air to get to its anticipated battle areas. The M1A1 is not really rapidly deployable due to its weight.

Ramm · #8 July 5th, 2008, 05:04 PM

O.K. of all the 255,000 registered users only these few brave soles will tell us what they think a "good" MBT is?

Sniper23 · #9 July 5th, 2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Ramm said:
O.K. of all the 255,000 registered users only these few brave soles will tell us what they think a "good" MBT is?

I'll be one of those brave soles

I think a good MBT has to have great firepower,Speeds a must,small size is good,armour has to be good but cost affective,maintenance must be quick and simple,range is a must, as for weight that is the last thing on my mind[though it has to be light enough to transport by plane], and crew protection is a must have.

I think that makes a good MBT

Wdll · #10 July 5th, 2008, 06:05 PM

a MBT that can be transported by plane? What's the point?