Demise of the MBT?

 A New Kind of Warfare!

The battlefield is a developing place in tactics and technology, ever since Cain killed his brother Able out of jealousy and ever since then most wars stem from bitterness and hatred of each other and at the cost of human life soldiers and civilians?

Enemies come and go, so do causes, but also criminal cartels, dictatorships and maniacs wanting to rule the world. The origins of the Main battle tank stem from World War I (1914-18) and was invented by the British with everyone following to this present day, but not all nations use this type of vehicle opting more for the personnel carrier or armored recon vehicles.

These first tanks were clumsy, but one has to start somewhere and by World War-11 very little had changed, since it was believed that the last war would be the one to end all? The Soviet Union developed a light machine known as the T-34 to outrun the Nazi-German heavy tanks, which were better in pack operations but not isolated in the open steppe!

It was after 1945 that what we understand in shape and design of these vehicles came to the fore, the U.S. Sherman and successive designs up to the present Abrahams, Israel Merkava, Russian t-90 and their electronic countermeasures or deflection equipment. 

But the last few wars in Iraq proved that the days of this type of armor were really coming to and end, missile guided and drones can be very effective now in most weather conditions and the role of helicopters and lighter vehicles equally.

Rockwell/North-America A-10 Bronco. Part-Two.

The need to be Fulfilled.

With the capture of much Axis powers hardware this former German design was now updated met a new era of work in the rushed Vietnam war scenario. The aircraft proved to be an invaluable tool against both Soviet Russian and Chinese aircraft and other roles were found for it in search and rescue by both the U.S. Marine corps and USAAF/Navy.

West-Germany, Thailand and several other countries bought into the type from the 1960's to the mid 1980's, but since then this role has been replaced by unmanned drones which are cheaper and safer to use? In fact this has become the fate of the many Nazi-German aircraft, clever and advanced in 1944/45 but they have now seen their days over the last fifty years.