What Does the Future Hold for Tanks?
Stealth, lasers, and robots will dominate the battlefield.
By Kyle Mizokami
Jan 4, 2017
49
The tank has dominated battlefields for the last 100 years. Heavily armed and heavily armored, tanks have repeatedly proven themselves the arm of decision on the battlefield, even in the face of repeated challenges from other weapons such as bazookas, anti-tank guns, and even guided missiles. But as the threat evolves so must the tank, which raises the question: What will the tanks of the future look like?
Writing for Army Technology, Dr. Gareth Evans points out several key technologies that could become standard issue on future main battle tanks. Technologies that give tanks a good defense without covering them in heavy armor, for instance, the idea being that making tanks harder to detect and more difficult to hit means tanks can shed heavy plates of steel. This can be accomplished by giving them stealth technology and reducing their infra-red signature, which makes them harder to find. Active protection systems, which can shoot down incoming rockets and missiles, makes them harder to hit. Once they shed heavy armor, tanks become lighter, more maneuverable, and easier to ship across the world.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a24608/what-does-the-future-hold-for-tanks/
