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00:01In this high-tech age of precision-guided missiles, modern tanks appear to be relics of a dinosaur age of
00:07land warfare.
00:08But the thick armor of today's tanks conceals their very own space-age ballistic computers, laser rangefinders, and sophisticated electronics.
00:17This episode of Arsenal examines the main battle tanks of four of the world's most prominent tank developers, Britain, France,
00:25the United States, and Germany.
00:27Tracing their designs from the earliest roots to the latest in heavy metal.
01:04The ultimate test of tank technology is the battlefield.
01:09American tanks formed the sharp end of the sword in Operation Desert Storm.
01:13The U.S. Marine Corps was still using the older M60 tank, although with some modifications compared to earlier versions
01:21of this vehicle.
01:22To better protect the tank against Iraqi anti-tank missiles, some of the M60s had a new reactive armor layered
01:29on top of their existing steel armor.
01:33When struck by an enemy missile, this armor exploded out to weaken the impact of the enemy warhead.
01:42Army tank battalions in the Gulf were equipped with a new M1 Abrams tank, which had first entered service a
01:49decade before.
01:50The latest model, called the M1A1 heavy armor, enjoyed many advantages over the older M60.
01:57The Abrams night fighting equipment allowed American tankers to engage and destroy Iraqi tanks long before the Iraqi tankers could
02:06even see the Americans.
02:07The relentless speed of the attack, made possible by the Abrams' new turbine engine, made it impossible for the Iraqi
02:14commanders to react quickly enough to American maneuvers.
02:18And the new armor, bolstered by an added layer of dense uranium metal, proved very effective.
02:25The stunning victory of American tankers against the Iraqi army was a vindication of the new tank technology.
02:32But it was also a proving ground for the tankers, their training and their tactics.
02:53Across the hot, dusty training areas of the prairies of Texas, sleek tanks hunt out their quarry.
03:00Tankers of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division wage mock combat using one of NATO's newest and finest tanks.
03:07The M1 Abrams.
03:09The Abrams was the latest in a long lineage of American heavy metal.
03:24The first American tank units were formed in France in 1917, commanded by a little known colonel, George Patton.
03:32Their tanks were the hardy French Reynaud FT.
03:37The Reynaud was the first modern tank, fitted with a rotating turret like all succeeding tanks.
03:43It was very unlike the more ponderous land ships of the British Army, though the American Army had a battalion
03:49of these as well.
03:50The Reynauds and their American-built copies were necessary, as American industry had little success manufacturing its own tanks before
03:59the end of the war.
03:59In the 1920s, American inventors tackled the challenge of tank design with considerable enthusiasm, though not always with great success.
04:09The early tanks, such as this Cunningham-like tank, were little changed from their World War I ancestors.
04:15They were not very fast, not well protected, and not well armed.
04:20But then, neither were those of most European armies of the time.
04:27American tank design in the 1930s suffered from both a small army budget and the presumption that America would never
04:35again become involved in another European land war.
04:39Tanks seemed irrelevant to traditional army missions, patrolling the Mexican border, or policing actions in the distant Philippines.
04:49Some of the tank designs of the 1930s showed considerable imagination.
04:53One designer, Walter Christie, developed a series of fast tanks that could be driven cross-country on their tracks, or
05:01much faster on roads with their tracks removed.
05:03The U.S. Army bought a handful of Christie's and played with the concept for some years.
05:08But it was in Europe that Christie's designs had their greatest impact.
05:14The Soviet Union built a derivative of the Christie tank called the BT.
05:18This led to the T-34 tank, the finest tank at the beginning of World War II.
05:25And Britain used the Christie suspension on some of its tanks, such as the Crusader.
05:33As war clouds brewed in Europe, the U.S. Army paid greater attention to tank design.
05:38Its designs in the late 1930s were uninspiring compared to many European designs.
05:44When Europe went to war in 1939, the U.S. Army's tank force was about the same size as that
05:50of the smaller European powers, Italy, Poland, Romania.
05:55Urgently, work was begun.
06:00The U.S. Army entered World War II with two principal tank types.
06:04Light tanks, such as the M2A4 and M3, and medium tanks, such as the M3.
06:15The M3 medium tank used an unusual configuration, with its main 75-millimeter gun in the hull and a smaller
06:2337-millimeter gun in a separate turret.
06:25This peculiar arrangement was due to the fact that American industry could not yet cast turrets large enough to accommodate
06:33the powerful 75-millimeter gun.
06:40The idea for the M3 medium tank's gun arrangement came from the French Char B tank, one of the most
06:47powerful tanks in the world in 1940.
06:55The M3 medium tank and its smaller companion, the M3 light tank, saw their combat debut in the hands of
07:02the British, provided through Lend-Lease.
07:04American tanks.
07:06American tanks developed a reputation for automotive excellence and durability, even though their armor protection and firepower often fell short
07:13compared to German tanks.
07:19A new tank was on the drawing boards, the M4, better known as the Sherman.
07:23The Sherman tank was the mainstay of the U.S. tank force in World War II.
07:32The Sherman was a good tank in 1942 and 1943 when it first entered service, but the U.S. Army
07:39was not prepared for how rapidly German tank development was progressing.
07:48The main tank battles were fought on the Eastern Front between Germany and the Soviet Union.
07:54New German tanks like the Panther and the Tiger were developed to deal with the Soviet tanks like the T
08:00-34 with its Christie suspension.
08:03The new German tanks were twice as heavy as the Sherman, and their powerful guns could easily punch through the
08:09Sherman's thinner armor.
08:15By the time that the U.S. Army faced its greatest challenge after the Normandy invasion in 1944, its Sherman
08:22tanks were outgunned by the better armed Panther and Tiger.
08:25Even the improved version with its 76 millimeter gun could barely penetrate the German tanks thicker armor.
08:32Fortunately, the German tank force was weakened considerably by Allied air power.
08:38Large scale tank battles of the type seen on the Eastern Front were a rarity on the Western Front.
08:43The Sherman, because of its reliability, proved adequate to do the job.
08:51The most powerful American armored vehicle of World War II was the T-28 Super Heavy tank.
08:57It was not designed to fight other tanks, but to duel with heavy fortifications of the type expected on the
09:04German Siegfried Line.
09:05It was so heavy that it had to have four sets of tracks instead of the usual two.
09:11Its thick armor was nearly impervious to any conventional land artillery.
09:15But in a war of maneuver, its weight was a major drawback, and none ever saw combat.
09:27The shortcomings of the Sherman led to the development of a new tank to replace it, the M-26 Pershing.
09:34The Pershing was not as heavy as the T-28.
09:37Rather, it was about the same size as the deadly German Panther tank, and armed with a 90 millimeter gun.
09:43During the Korean War, the Pershing and the Sherman were used in tank battles with Soviet supplied T-34 tanks,
09:51manned by the North Korean and Chinese armies.
09:58The appearance of Soviet heavy tanks, such as the Joseph Stalin III tank, prompted the U.S. Army to design
10:05even heavier tanks.
10:07But like the T-28, these also faded into obscurity.
10:17Another idea was a super lightweight tank hunter, such as the tiny Antos tank destroyer.
10:23Antos, a Greek word meaning the thing, was designed as a cheap substitute for tanks.
10:29It was armed with six recoilless rifles, giving it enormous firepower for such a small vehicle.
10:35But it lacked the combat endurance of more conventional tanks, and only a small number were used by the Marine
10:41Corps.
10:45American tank evolution remained concentrated on medium tanks, which eventually came to be called main battle tanks, absorbing the role
10:53of light, medium, and heavy tanks.
10:56The Pershing was followed by evolutionary improvements, the M-47 and M-48 Patton tanks.
11:03These formed the core of the U.S. Army's tank divisions during the Cold War.
11:09The final evolutionary development of the M-26 Pershing tank was the M-60, appearing in 1960, nearly 25 years
11:17after its predecessor.
11:19The M-60 tank has evolved for 20 years into the M-60A-1, A-2, and finally, today's M
11:27-60A-3 version.
11:32The M-60A-3 is fairly typical of the modern main battle tank.
11:37Let's take a look at the crew of a modern tank and their functions.
11:42The crew of an M-60 tank is four men, the tank commander, the gunner, the loader, and the driver.
11:49The tank commander is the senior member of the crew.
11:57The tank commander is responsible basically for everyone in the tank, the safety, and ensure the gunner, and you lay
12:03the gunner on his target.
12:05When the tank commander or a crew member identifies the target, the tank commander just goes ahead and issues his
12:11fire command, and you all work together to get the target destroyed.
12:15The tank commander sits in the right rear portion of the tank turret.
12:19He operates the .50 caliber machine gun mounted in a small sub-turret, or cupola, located on top of the
12:26main turret.
12:27Inside the turret, he has a complex set of controls to carry out his tasks.
12:37This piece of equipment right here is a tank commander override, and he can move the tank turret right, left,
12:43elevate the gun, depress the gun, fire the gun, and do some lead if he's firing at a moving target.
12:52This piece of equipment is the night sight. It's an extension from the gunner's night sight, so we can see
12:58exactly what the gunner's seeing at night or during the day,
13:02because sometimes this sight works a lot better than your daylight sight.
13:06This piece of equipment right here is a laser range finder, and what it does is it sends a laser
13:10out, reflects off the target, comes back, and it will give you your range.
13:16This piece of equipment here is your .50 caliber night sight. It's a passive elbow. This is your .50 caliber
13:22day sight.
13:23The passive elbow will gather the ambient light source, and it gathers it, and it makes it that much more
13:30brighter,
13:30whereas the thermal sight is based on temperature contrast.
13:34A human being has much more heat than a tree, and at night, the system will basically take that and
13:44reflect it on almost like a television screen in there,
13:47and it's all done with electronics, and it's very well-defined, and that's why the Army's gone now and said
13:54that this will be your primary sight from now on, even during the day.
14:03The next crewman in seniority is the gunner. The gunner sits in front of the commander and operates the main
14:10105-millimeter gun on the tank commander's instructions.
14:14He controls the elevation and traverse of the main gun and operates its many other features, including the stabilization system
14:22and laser range finder.
14:25The stabilization system automatically compensates for rough terrain and motion, keeping the tank gun aimed precisely at a given point,
14:34even during movement.
14:37Another innovation of the M60A3 is the laser range finder. In spite of the power of modern tank guns, the
14:45projectile drops several feet during the course of its flight due to gravity.
14:48By accurately determining the range to the target, the tank's ballistic computer can calculate how many degrees the gun must
14:56be elevated to compensate for gravity.
15:02The third tanker in the turret is the loader, responsible for loading the main gun.
15:10The loader must combine strength and agility. Each of these rounds of ammunition weighs over 50 pounds. They must carefully
15:19be loaded into the breach of the gun, even when the tank is bouncing and crashing across rough terrain.
15:27Isolated from the turret crew in the front of the hull is the driver.
15:32Driving a modern tank is surprisingly simple, but care must be taken as an M60 weighs over 60 tons and
15:39can reach speeds over 30 miles per hour.
15:47The essence of tank tactics is teamwork.
15:51Every member of the crew must perform flawlessly for the tank to survive on the modern battlefield.
15:57The U.S. Army expects that its tank crews will be able to get off three rounds of accurately aimed
16:03fire in the first 15 seconds of combat.
16:06The U.S. Army.
16:07The U.S. Army.
16:10The U.S. Army.
16:13The U.S. Army.
16:24The U.S. Army.
16:25The U.S. Army.
16:27The U.S. Army.
16:29The U.S. Army.
16:31The U.S. Army.
16:32The U.S. Army.
16:33The U.S. Army.
16:34The U.S. Army.
16:35Bye-bye.
16:36Stop!
16:41Blazing.
16:43Fire.
16:44On the way.
17:13Fire.
17:14Identify.
17:15Up.
17:15Blazing.
17:17Fire.
17:18On the way.
17:20Fire.
17:21Finish-up.
17:25Relay.
17:26Up.
17:28Blazing.
17:29Fire.
17:30On the way.
17:34By the early 1970s, the M60 tank was being outclassed by newer Soviet tanks.
17:40A new tank entered development, the M1 Abrams.
17:43The lessons of the 1973 Mideast War suggested that more attention had to be paid to the threat of guided
17:50anti-tank missiles.
17:51The Abrams design placed protection of the crew as its primary goal.
18:07Chobham armor, first developed in Britain, provided a major advance in defeating the missile threat.
18:13If the tank is penetrated by enemy fire, the greatest risk is posed by the tank's own ammunition.
18:19In the Abrams, the ammunition is positioned in a special compartment at the rear of the turret,
18:25separated from the crew compartment by special blast doors.
18:28If the ammunition is ignited by an enemy projectile, the explosion is vented upwards, away from the crew, through blowout
18:36panels.
18:37This once-secret test footage is a remarkable demonstration of this feature.
18:43In spite of the conflagration in the rear of the turret, the blast doors protect the crew from the fire.
18:50The other key aspect of the M1's design is its weapon system.
18:55The main gun itself is only one element of the overall weapon package.
19:00Tanks appear to be crude, cast-iron monsters.
19:03But their insides are crammed with high-tech, solid-state electronics designed to operate in the gritty environment of the
19:11modern battlefield.
19:14Previous generations of tanks had to halt to fire.
19:17The M1 and other modern tanks can fire on the move.
19:21The turret stabilization system keeps the gun aimed at the same point,
19:25no matter how much the tank is jostled around by the rough terrain.
19:33The M1 is really effective with the stabilization system, which is built in,
19:38whereas on the old tanks, it took a lot of short halts where you stop and move and stop and
19:42move.
19:43Of course, with the M1, you can continue to ride anywhere from 30 to 35 miles per hour and fire
19:47and get a first-round hit.
19:50The first version of the Abrams, the M1, is armed with a 105-millimeter gun.
19:56The newer M1A1 version has a more potent 120-millimeter gun.
20:02The Abrams Advanced Electronic Gun Fire Control System gives it incredible accuracy at ranges over one mile.
20:10A muzzle reference system measures barrel warp caused by the heat of repeated firings.
20:17A wind sensor checks for crosswinds that would cause a projectile to go astray.
20:22A laser rangefinder accurately measures the distance to the target to within inches to ensure precise aiming.
20:31The data from the tank's advanced sensors are rapidly absorbed by a ballistic computer with little attention from the gunner.
20:39The Canadian Army trophy shoot was held every two years to test the abilities of NATO tank crewmen.
20:47In 1987, the M1 demonstrated the effectiveness of its advanced fire control system
20:53by beating all previous records for rapidly engaging and destroying its targets.
21:01The advanced electronics are easier to use than the mechanical systems used in previous generations of tanks.
21:08Tank crews are now expected to hit their targets much more quickly
21:12and with greater accuracy than in the older generations of tanks.
21:18Tanks of the new generation also have an advanced sighting system fitted with a thermal imager.
21:24The thermal imager senses the minute temperature differences between man-made objects like tanks
21:30and the natural background.
21:32This enables them to locate and identify enemy tanks at night or in the daytime
21:37when they're hidden by smoke or camouflage.
21:46Although the Abrams is America's most famous tank,
21:49light tanks have been developed for the export market.
21:52One of the more successful has been the Cadillac gauge Stingray.
21:55The Stingray is armed with a 105-millimeter gun,
21:59but it is more lightly armored than the Abrams.
22:02The Stingray combines light weight with impressive firepower.
22:14Since the birth of the tank in World War I,
22:17technological innovation has been a hallmark of French tanks.
22:22Let's take a look at why the French armored force
22:24has been at the forefront of armored technology.
22:33Technological innovations in land warfare,
22:35the machine gun and rapid-fire artillery,
22:38led to the unspeakable horror of trench warfare in World War I.
22:50Some far-sighted military officers realized that the best antidotes to these innovations
22:55were other technological innovations.
22:58Armor was needed to protect the soldier from enemy firepower.
23:02Mobility was needed to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare.
23:07And guns were needed to overpower enemy defenses.
23:17Both Britain and France came up with the idea of an armored trench crossing vehicle
23:22at about the same time.
23:23These are France's first tanks, the Schneider.
23:27However, Britain's land battleships entered combat first
23:31at the Battle at Cambrai in 1916.
23:34The premature use of British tanks
23:36warned the Germans of their potential.
23:49The first French tanks, the Schneiders, entered combat several months
23:54after the first British tanks.
23:55By the time of the 1917 battle on the Chemin des Dames,
23:59the German artillery was ready for them.
24:02The results of the first French tank attacks were tragic.
24:10General Etienne had foreseen this problem
24:13and was developing a new concept in tanks with the Renault Automobile Company.
24:17Instead of small numbers of large, lumbering tanks
24:20like the Schneiders, Saint-Germain, or the British tanks,
24:24he advocated large numbers of very small tanks,
24:27the Renault FT.
24:32The FT pioneered the classic layout of all modern tanks.
24:36Its most significant innovation was the use of a fully traversing turret.
24:41The driver sat in the front of the vehicle,
24:44the commander in the turret,
24:46and the engine was in the rear.
24:47The Renault FT entered combat in 1918,
24:51and several thousand were manufactured.
24:54It was a highly successful design
24:56and instrumental in the French victories of 1918.
25:00The Renault FT became the most widely used tank of the 1920s,
25:05also forming the basis of the early tank forces
25:08of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China.
25:16In the 1920s, France continued to experiment with innovative tanks,
25:21including massive breakthrough tanks,
25:23such as this 70-ton monster.
25:25The Char 2C not only had a main gun turret in the front,
25:29but a small turret in the rear.
25:31There were even experiments with amphibious tanks,
25:34but it was the FT that still made up most of the French force
25:38through the early 1930s,
25:40as there was little money for new tanks.
25:43With the rise to power of Nazi Germany in the 1930s,
25:48the French army was forced to rearm to confront the threat.
25:52French commanders saw the need
25:53for two distinctly different types of tanks,
25:56a more modern version of the small Renault FT infantry tank
26:00and a new, more powerful battle tank.
26:03The new infantry tanks were designed
26:06to accompany the foot soldiers at a snail's pace.
26:08The emphasis was on armor over mobility or firepower.
26:13These were to be the most numerous type of tank
26:16built inexpensively in the thousands.
26:19The new Char B battle tank
26:22was the most powerful tank of the 1930s,
26:25far outstripping the tanks of Germany,
26:27Russia, or the United States.
26:29It was armed with an impressive array of weapons,
26:33a 75-millimeter gun mounted in the front hull
26:36and a 47-millimeter anti-tank gun mounted in the turret.
26:42The 75-millimeter gun was designed to destroy enemy fortifications
26:46such as the bunkers on Germany's Siegfried Line.
26:49The 47-millimeter cannon in the turret
26:52was powerful enough to destroy any other tank of its day.
27:00A third major new tank type emerged in the French army
27:03in the late 1930s, the Samois cavalry tank.
27:07This tank replaced the horsepower of traditional cavalry
27:10with the armor and motor power of the mechanized vehicle.
27:14In many ways, it was the best of the French tanks of the period.
27:18It was more maneuverable than the cumbersome Char B,
27:21and it was far better armed and more mobile
27:24than the inexpensive little infantry tanks.
27:29When France and Germany went to war in 1940,
27:33the French army seemed to hold the advantage.
27:36France had more tanks,
27:37and their technological qualities were much superior,
27:40better armor, better guns.
27:43But France was defeated in a campaign that shocked the world.
27:46The French weakness was doctrine, not technology.
27:51The German army developed a method of mobile warfare,
27:54sometimes called blitzkrieg,
27:56which made best use of the strong points of tanks.
27:59The French doctrine, called methodical battle,
28:02could not cope with the German tactics.
28:09French tank design remained influential even after the defeat.
28:13The American M3 Lee tank was patterned after the Char B1
28:18with its main gun in the hull
28:20and an anti-tank gun in the turret.
28:23The layout and configuration of the Samoa S-35
28:27helped inspire the M4 Sherman tank,
28:30the mainstay of the United States tank force during World War II.
28:35The 1940 defeat did not signal the end of the French armored force.
28:40The young commander of the 4th Armored Division, Charles de Gaulle,
28:44reestablished the Free French Forces in Britain.
28:47The new French armored force was equipped with American armor,
28:51the M4 Sherman tank,
28:53the M10 tank destroyer,
28:55the M8 Greyhound scout car.
29:10In the years immediately after the war,
29:12the French army relied on American armored vehicles
29:15until French industries could be rebuilt.
29:18The M47 patent tank
29:21was the mainstay of the French tank force
29:23through much of the 1950s.
29:27In the 1950s,
29:29French designers attempted to reestablish their reputation
29:32as innovators in armored vehicle design.
29:35The most impressive and successful light tank of the 1950s
29:39was the AMX-13.
29:41The designers mated the powerful gun used
29:44on the wartime 45-ton German Panther tank
29:46on a much lighter 15-ton tank.
29:49To keep the tank small,
29:51the designers fitted it with an automatic loader for the gun.
29:55The AMX-13 was the first tank to use such a system
29:59and they're only now becoming common on other tanks.
30:06The first successful French battle tank of the post-war years
30:09was the AMX-30.
30:11The AMX-30 design pioneered the smoothbore tank gun.
30:17Conventional tank guns are rifled,
30:19imparting a spin to the projectile
30:21as it's fired down the tube.
30:22This presented a problem with new anti-tank munitions
30:26such as shaped charge rounds.
30:29The French designers were the first
30:31to surmount technical problems with smoothbore guns,
30:34resulting in the 105-millimeter gun on the AMX-30.
30:38In recent years, smoothbore guns have become standard
30:42on main battle tanks around the world,
30:44including the German Leopard 2
30:46and the American M1A1 Abrams.
30:50The AMX-30 still serves with the French tank force
30:54in an improved version, the AMX-30B2,
30:58which incorporates many new features,
31:00including a highly effective thermal imaging night sight.
31:04The thermal sight allows the gunner
31:06to rapidly locate enemy tanks in complete darkness
31:09or even when the target is obscured by smoke.
31:13Here we see what the tank gunner in the AMX-30B2 sees
31:17when he engages targets at night.
31:20All right, blue, afoot.
31:22All right, blue, afoot.
31:58The AMX-30 has proven to be a versatile vehicle
32:01suitable for other roles.
32:03A self-propelled artillery version
32:05has been built on the chassis,
32:06called the GCT-155-millimeter.
32:09This vehicle substitutes a high-powered
32:12155-millimeter artillery piece
32:14for the normal tank gun.
32:16The GCT's new gun can hit targets
32:19over 20 miles away.
32:29During the Gulf crisis of 1991,
32:32the AMX-30 figured prominently in the fighting.
32:35The AMX-30 formed the basis of many tank units in the Gulf,
32:39including Saudi Arabian and Qatari tank units.
32:43During the January Iraqi offensive
32:45against the Saudi town of Khafji,
32:47Qatari units played a critical role
32:49in repulsing their attacks.
32:51The rapid and bloody riposte of this attack
32:54was the last offensive action
32:56by the Iraqi forces during the war.
33:02In western Saudi Arabia,
33:04French troops of the Dagé force
33:06prepared to assist the multinational coalition
33:09in the liberation of Kuwait.
33:11Among the armored units in Saudi Arabia
33:13was the 4th Dragoon Regiment,
33:15equipped with the AMX-30B2 tank.
33:19Here, the 4th Regiment conducts
33:22desert training maneuvers
33:23a few days before
33:24the desert storm offensive against Iraq.
33:55The French role in the desert storm offensive
33:57was to serve as the left flank
33:59of the multinational forces
34:01rapidly sweeping north into Iraq.
34:04The French forces protected
34:06other coalition units
34:07from Iraqi units
34:08located further to the north and west.
34:12The French objective
34:13was to capture the key airfields
34:16such as al-Salman
34:16and the eventual blocking
34:18of Iraqi routes of escape.
34:20The French mission
34:21was entirely successful.
34:24The 4th Regiment
34:26encountered Iraqi tank units
34:27on the outskirts
34:28of al-Salman Air Base
34:30and a short but violent battle ensued.
34:40While the AMX-30
34:42proved to be more than capable
34:44of dealing with its Iraqi adversaries,
34:46by the 1990s,
34:47its design was a bit long in the tooth.
34:50Its armor was not up to the standard
34:52of the new American,
34:53British, and German tanks.
34:55But a new design
34:56was already underway,
34:57the AMX Leclerc.
35:05The AMX Leclerc
35:07is the latest and greatest
35:08of French tanks,
35:09entering service in 1991,
35:11nearly a decade
35:12after its recent counterparts,
35:14the Abrams and the German Leopard 2.
35:21Its designers investigated
35:23a number of novel turret
35:25and gun configurations,
35:26finally settling
35:27on a conventional turret,
35:28but with many advances
35:30in the gunfire control system
35:32and a computerized system
35:33for command and control.
35:38To incorporate advances
35:40in armor technology,
35:41the Leclerc
35:42is designed to use
35:43modular armor packages,
35:44which can be replaced
35:46by updated packages
35:47when new technology
35:48is developed.
35:53When the conceptual design
35:54was completed,
35:55the fabrication
35:56of testbed vehicles began.
35:58These are automotive
36:00testbed prototypes
36:01used to examine
36:02the engine and suspension.
36:04The turret is not fitted,
36:05and instead,
36:06special instrumentation
36:07is used in its place
36:09to monitor the performance
36:10of the vehicle.
36:11Once problems are resolved,
36:13the production model
36:14begins to take shape.
36:45The Air Force
36:47Battle tanks are becoming increasingly computerized to assist their crew in combat.
36:52The Leclerc was the first tank to be built around a centralized digital electronics architecture.
36:58Its crews no longer communicate solely by voice over radio,
37:02but also exchange critical information through advanced data systems.
37:07With the assistance of advanced sensors digitally obscured in this once-sensitive test footage,
37:13a digital onboard computer allows the Leclerc to communicate automatically
37:18with other tanks in the unit and its headquarters.
37:21Each tank can send or receive digital data.
37:24For example, to receive its battle orders or other information,
37:28the Leclerc continuously sends data on its location to upper echelons,
37:32making it possible for the headquarters to plan and conduct the battle
37:36while getting the best use of each tank's capabilities.
37:44The Leclerc has tremendous firepower and fighting capability.
37:48Its powerful 120-millimeter gun is bolstered by a sophisticated autoloading system,
37:55allowing rapid firing even under hostile conditions.
37:59France pioneered the autoloader,
38:01and the Leclerc was the first Western European main battle tank to include this feature.
38:07The autoloader allows the Leclerc to engage an enemy continuously in all conditions,
38:13without demanding the attention of a crewman for reloading.
38:16The autoloader is not affected by the movement of the tank,
38:19and so it can be used without having to halt the vehicle.
38:23The Leclerc is also aided by a sophisticated fire control system and an electric turret drive,
38:29which allows very precise stabilization and rapid, accurate firepower.
38:42The calm of an early December morning along the inter-German border is disturbed by the growl of tank diesels.
38:49A German Panzer Battalion churns the fresh snow in a sleepy pine forest.
38:55From the woods appears a platoon of one of NATO's most modern battle tanks,
39:00the vaunted Leopard 2.
39:05With the harvest gathered and the fields bare,
39:08the modern German army, the Bundeswehr, exercises its armored shield.
39:17Tanks were the spearhead of the German Blitzkrieg in World War II.
39:21The legendary Tiger and Panther were among the most powerful tanks
39:26to roam the European battlefields during the final years of the war.
39:29Today, they stand as silent reminders of the great armored clashes such as Kursk, Normandy, and the Battle of the
39:38Bulge.
39:39Their place has been taken in the modern Bundeswehr by tanks of the Leopard family,
39:44the Leopard 1 and the Leopard 2.
39:47The Leopard 1 was the first German tank built after the Second World War.
39:52It entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1965.
39:56Compared to its wartime antecedents, even the monstrous Royal Tiger, it's much better armed.
40:03The Leopard 1's main weapon is the standard NATO rifled 105-millimeter gun.
40:10It is capable of hitting enemy tanks at ranges of over a mile and a half.
40:14The Leopard 1 is considerably more mobile than the tanks of World War II, with road speeds up to 35
40:21miles per hour.
40:23This highly regarded design is the most widely distributed tank type in NATO service, with over 4,000 produced.
40:32The Leopard 1 also forms the basis for the Gephardt, an anti-aircraft vehicle armed with a radar-directed twin
40:4035-millimeter cannon system.
40:43In the 1970s, the German army began development of a new generation tank called the Leopard 2.
40:50Though sharing a common name with its predecessor, the Leopard 2 is in fact a whole new design.
40:57Like the M1 Abrams and British Challenger, the Leopard 2 is protected by a thick hide of advanced armor.
41:03Its frontal area is nearly impervious to the deadly threat of anti-tank guided missiles.
41:13A 120-millimeter smoothbore gun forms the sharp teeth of the Leopard 2.
41:19This gun spits out a 20-pound metal dark projectile at speeds of over a mile per second.
41:25This same gun was later adopted on the American M1A1 Abrams tank.
41:30Precision is ensured by a laser rangefinder.
41:33To keep the gun pointed accurately during high-speed travel, it's stabilized by a high-performance system.
41:40The effectiveness of this sophisticated network of gun and sensors has been demonstrated time and time again by success at
41:48the Canadian Army Trophy Shoot.
41:50This competition pits NATO's best tank crews against a challenging array of targets.
41:56Dutch and German Leopard 2 units have often emerged on top.
42:04The Leopard 2's rough exterior appearance belies its internal complexity.
42:10The turret is manned by three crewmen.
42:12The loader is responsible for handling the tank's ammunition.
42:26The gunner aims the 120-millimeter gun and operates the sophisticated computer-aided fire controls.
42:33The commander acquires targets and directs the rest of the crew in their duties.
42:44In spite of the technical improvements of modern tanks, the life of a tank crewman is arduous.
42:49There is ammunition to be loaded.
42:52And there are a host of other chores to keep a sophisticated machine like the Leopard 2 in good operating
42:58condition.
42:59Tanks are expensive to operate in peace time.
43:02A tank will wear out a set of tracks every 2,000 miles, and they cost over $50,000 for
43:08a new set.
43:11Electronic simulators can help reduce the cost of training of tank crews by as much as 60%.
43:16The Leopard series uses a simulator to train new drivers.
43:20Driving a 65-ton tank at 40 miles per hour requires special skills.
43:26The simulator is linked to a scale terrain model, and the computer provides the trainee with a realistic image of
43:33the countryside.
43:36Future systems will use computer-generated images.
43:39Once the driver completes basic training on the simulator, he transfers to special training tanks for hands-on experience.
43:46Special training tanks reduce the wear and tear on actual combat tanks and are less expensive to operate.
43:56The new generation of main battle tanks is the fastest on record.
44:01High combat speeds make the vehicles difficult to hit during fighting.
44:05The Leopard 2's 1,500-horsepower diesel engine gives the tank very high cross-country speeds up to 45 miles
44:13per hour.
44:13Its torsion bar suspension dampens the jostling of rough terrain.
44:18Modern tanks are too heavy to be made amphibious, so rivers are a major obstruction to tank movement.
44:24To circumvent this problem, the Leopard tanks are designed to snorkel underwater.
44:29The crew seals the vehicle and then employs a special tube device to provide air to the engine and crew.
45:00If you travel along European highways in the autumn months, among the normal traffic along the route,
45:06you're likely to encounter hulking green battle tanks.
45:09With the harvest in, the tanks begin emerging for their seasonal war games.
45:15NATO wages its war games through the winter months.
45:18The Blue Army and the Orange Army engage in mock combat, practicing for a war they hope will never come.
45:26Northern Germany was long home for the British Army of the Rhine, now relocated back to Britain.
45:32The mailed fist of the British forces for the past two decades has been their impressive pair of battle tanks,
45:39the Chieftain and Challenger.
45:42Britain was the pioneer of tanks.
45:44The British Army introduced tanks to the battlefield in 1916 and has played an important role in their development ever
45:51since.
45:52The Chieftain is the older of the current pair of tanks and was introduced into service in 1966.
45:59At the time of its initial deployment, the Chieftain was the most heavily armed and most heavily armored of all
46:06NATO main battle tanks.
46:07Most NATO tanks of the 1960s and 70s were armed with a British-designed 105-millimeter gun.
46:15In contrast, the Chieftain was armed with a more potent 120-millimeter gun.
46:20The Chieftain's design placed great stress on armored protection.
46:25The tank's turret was carefully contoured to take best advantage of its thick steel armor.
46:36In the 1970s, a team of engineers at a British Army research center near Chobham, England, developed a radically new
46:43type of tank armor.
46:45The new armor was codenamed Burlington, but it's become better known as Chobham armor after the location of the research
46:53establishment which developed it.
46:54The new Challenger is the first British tank to incorporate this highly effective protection.
47:00The exact configuration of this armor remains a closely guarded secret, but it's believed to consist of complex layers of
47:08metal and advanced surrender.
47:10It makes tanks nearly invulnerable to frontal attack from deadly anti-tank guided missiles.
47:18Besides this enhanced protection, the Challenger is considerably more mobile than its predecessor, the Chieftain.
47:23It's powered by a 1,200 horsepower Perkins Condor diesel engine, which gives it speeds of up to 35 miles
47:31per hour.
47:32The advanced hydropneumatic suspension gives the tank a smooth ride, even over obstructions in rough terrain.
47:39One of the most important advances in tank design over the past decade has been in gunfire controls, which permit
47:46the tank to fire on the move.
47:48The heavily armored turret weighs 20 tons, yet it must be moved with extreme precision to hit targets a mile
47:55or more away.
47:57These tests on a turntable provide the clearest example of this critical feature.
48:03Currently entering service is a more advanced version of the Challenger, the Challenger 2, with even more sophisticated fire controls.
48:11The Challenger is supported by an armored repair and recovery version.
48:16This version is capable of recovering a bogged down or battle damaged tank, and its hydraulic crane can be used
48:22when carrying out engine repairs.
48:28Britain has always played a prominent role in supplying tanks to armies overseas.
48:32But there are often restrictions on the export of the latest tank design due to highly secret technologies.
48:40Also, many armies in the developing world cannot afford the highly complex and expensive tanks adopted by NATO and desire
48:48a less elaborate tank.
48:49So, besides manufacturing the Challenger for the British Army, Vickers Defense Systems has also designed tanks specifically for export.
48:57The Vickers Mark 7 is an example of British-German industrial cooperation with a Vickers-designed turret and Leopard 2
49:06hull supplied from Germany.
49:08The Vickers Mark 7 has advanced solid-state fire controls capable of hitting moving targets at long ranges.
49:16The Vickers Mark 3 is the latest evolution of the Vickers main battle tank.
49:22Earlier versions serve in the armies of India, Kuwait, Kenya, and Nigeria.
49:28Some armies desire a lighter and more mobile tank with less armor protection, but a high level of firepower.
49:34This has led to an interesting British-American venture, the VFM-5 light tank, with a Vickers turret and an
49:42FMC hull.
49:44Although weighing under 30 tons, it's armed with a 105-millimeter gun.
49:50Britain's strong traditions in modern tank design have provided NATO with critical technological breakthroughs,
49:56such as the very effective Chabam armor, a tradition likely to endure for years to come.
50:28The battle tank is an awesome combination of firepower and weapons,
50:32power, armored protection, and cross-country mobility.
50:35The tank remains the central element in all major armies, from the hot desert sands of Arabia
50:41to the snow-covered plains of Central Europe.
50:43For the foreseeable future, the main battle tank will provide the heavy metal firepower for all modern armies.
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