With their strong armor and modern weapons tanks can be deadly on a battlefield Battle-Ready Tanks Tanks or Armored Combat Vehicles ACVs are fighting vehicles protected by heavy armor They can drive easily through the most difficult landscapes Even terrible weather cannot stop them Modern tanks have technology that helps soldiers find their way or locate their enemies in fog or sandstorms 6
BEASTS OF THE BATTLEFIELD Technology Race Designing and building tanks with the best technology is a never-ending race A country may make armor that will protect a tank from the deadliest artillery But it is never long before another country develops weapons and ammunition such as bullets and shells that can damage that armor The Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci drew a plan for a battle tank in 1487 This was more than 400 years before the first tank was ever driven This is a model of the tank that Leonardo da Vinci designed It was made of wood covered in metal plates artillery large weapons that can shoot long distances 7
Armored Fighting Vehicles Tanks are built to carry out different jobs on the battlefield The first tanks were grouped as heavy medium or light The group they were in depended on their weight gun size amount of armor and their purpose in battle Later heavy and medium tanks became known as Main Battle Tanks MBTs main battle gun mounted on the turret shoots the heaviest ammunition hull the body of a tank that holds the engine computer crew members and tracks Heavy tanks are the biggest armored fighting vehicles with the most powerful guns and ammunition 8
BEASTS OF THE BATTLEFIELD Light Tanks Light tanks include armored cars and fighting vehicles used by soldiers fighting on foot Most light tanks have guns or cannons but their main roles are to scout out dangerous areas or to carry large numbers of soldiers turret a round armored weapon platform that holds the main gun or cannon and or machine guns It sits on top of a tank and rotates in a full circle caterpillar tracks metal linked treads turned by wheels Explosive Reactive Armor ERA is a special type of tank armor It is made of linked metal boxes filled with explosives When hit by heavy ammunition ERA explodes outward to protect the tank scout to search an area for information 9
