10. M-4 Sherman
We kick off the list with an all American tank - M-4 Sherman. This is a really tough and reliable tank. However, it is not the best tank at the time but it can be used for other functions such as spraying fire, building bridges, cleaning mine and so on. Plus, it is also easy to mass produce. At the WWII period, America had to make a choice on the type of tank whether to choose quantity or quality. For clarification, it is not possible to produce a quality tank and at the same time has the capability to produce a vast amount of tank. America decided to choose quantity. WWII was all about the battle of production. However, M4 Sherman revealed its deadly flaw. M4 Sherman consumes gasoline; therefore, when it got hit, explosion will be foreseen in just a matter of few seconds.
9. Merkava
This machine has proven its worth for Israel when this powerful elephant fought against high tech Soviet tanks in the Middle East. The Israeli has fought 6 wars against it Arab neighbors and always prevail. To Israel, the tank's crews are much more important than the tank itself. Therefore, the Israeli produced this technologically advanced tank to protect its crews. The powerful fire power is deadly and accurate and it is fast on dessert. There is only one thing which is a setback for the tank and that is the tank is so expensive to produce
8. T-54/55
If you can produce a tank with the balance of firepower, armor and mobility, you are producing a very great tank. The Soviet may have thought that they had found the best tank when they built this mechanical monster - T-54. The Soviet loved its design so much that over 95,000 of them were produce, a production record second to none. The certainly follow the ideology of Stalin, which is "quantity does has the quality of its own". If you have enough of the T54 tanks, you will certainly crush your enemy. However, the T-54 was proven not to be the best tank. In tank-on-tank combat, the T-54/55 was crushed by the Israeli and the Western counterpart. This T-54/55 is still in service. We can see that Cambodia has just purchased these tanks from Eastern Europe to protect our border. This tank suits us best, because we do not have a lot of money to purchase a powerful tanks from the Western countries. This tank was also used by the Vietnamese during its invasion into Cambodia, dethroning the Khmer Rouge. One of the key success for the Vietnamese army was T 54, as the Khmer Rouge had no anti-tank weapons to destroy these monsters.
7. The Challenger
This is a British tank. To some experts, the Challenger is the best main battle tank at the moment. In the 1991 Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, not even a single Challenger was destroyed, thanks to its modern armor. The Challenger can shoot at 3 different directions in just 3 seconds. This is a really difficult tank to produce that only 300 or so are produced.
6. Mk IV Panzer
Our next tank once made the whole world tremble with fear. It was built by the most evil tyrant of the 20th century: Adolf Hitler. Before the WWII, Hitler had a plan for a new kind of warfare, and tank is at the heart of his strategy. Never before have a military leader set the tank at the head of his army. When it was introduced, absolutely nothing on the battle can stop it and can knock out the defensive line in front of them. Mark IV Panzer has changed the face of land warfare forever. The panzer can move across central Europe of up to 30 miles/day and almost crushed Moscow in just a couple of months. Like all German tanks, Mark IV Panzer is not easy to mass produce.
5. Centurion
She was produced in 1945, a bit late to fight the German Panzer. However, she was used to crush enemy for the next 50 years.
The gun sight was very innovative, making it effective in getting the first shot on target and it is a matter of life and death on the battlefield. 2 Israeli's Centurions destroyed 60 Syrian T-62 tanks. This British bulldog is also easy to produce.
4. WWI Tank
When it was appeared on the WWI battlefield, fear was struck into the heart of the enemy. Never before had they seen such a machine moving toward them like this. It was the biggest and heaviest things ever on the battlefield at that time.
The soldier at that time did not even know what TANK is. Although the WWI tanks brought fear, this machine was really slow (4mph) and unforgiven for the crews. It was described as "hell in the machine". The armor was not strong too, because the tanks were produced with thin iron.
3. Tiger
The way soldiers react to the WWI tanks and this number 3 mighty tank is like the ways soldiers react to elephants in the battlefield. You simply cannot stop elephants from moving forward except run and hide from them. Coming in at number 3 of our top 10 list is: the mighty German Tiger tank.
The German Tiger weighs 20 tonnes heavier than other tanks because of its massive armor. A Tiger was hit 227 times and still cannot stop the Tiger. There was almost no damage. This tank seems to be indestructible. Besides its effective armor, the Tiger's firepower was also deadly. If it was really a perfect tank at that time, why didn't Hitler crush the Soviet and the allies? The answer is because there were not enough Tiger tanks on the battlefield. The Tiger was too difficult to construct, as only 1,500 Tigers were ever built compared to the overwhelming amount of tanks of the allies and the Soviet. The Tiger consumer just too much resource and the Germans simply cannot afford it.
2. M1 Abrams
This American tank is considered by almost all experts as the best battle tank in the world today.
In the 1991 Gulf War, 4,500 Iraqi tanks were up against 3,500 coalition tanks. This is the biggest tank battle of all the time, larger than the battle of Kurst between the Soviet and the German. The U.S claimed that 3,847 Iraqri tanks were destroyed, 2,000 of which were credited to the M1 Abrams. The Abrams has a massive armor that can protect its crew. It is also equipped with computer. Nonetheless, this tank is not easy to produce and is really expensive.
1. T-34
The emergence of our number one tank was the the turning point of the baddest and toughest war of all time: the WWII. When the Soviet seemed to be losing and the Nazi appeared as the victor, the inception of this tank change the course of the WWII. We are often confused that the best tank of the WWII is produced by the Germans, but it is not. In fact, it is built by the Soviet Union. Driving in at the Number 1 best tank of all the time: the Russian. T-34
T-34 is a major leap forward for the design of tanks. The Soviet equipped T-34 with slope armor which ricochet off (deflect) the incoming rounds, saving the tank from destruction. The slope armor revolutionize the tank since. T-34 can drive through anything (mud, ice or snow), whereas the German tanks can not. It was a good and simple machine and was so easy to mass produce that 1,300 T-34s were produced every month. The overwhelming amount of these Soviet war machines soon outnumbered the German Panzer. "The T-34 was a major factor in the Red Army's defeat of the Germans in WWII that there could be large forces in Europe still speaking German if it hadn't been for the T-34." T-34, the number 1 tank of all time.
(Courtesy: History Channel)
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