Introduction
Battle tanks or armoured vehicles were first introduced by the British at the start of the 20th century. They were developed as a response to the shortcomings of trench warfare. Fighting from trenches was highly inefficient as very few soldiers could evade the mud and heavy machine gun fire while running from trenches to trenches in open fields.
Military commanders felt the need for an armoured land boat that could cruise between trenches surviving all the threats. As a result, the first battle tank was formed by the British named Little Willie. It had a crew capacity of 5 and a speed of 3.5 mph. It weighed just 16 tons! (looking from the 21st century). The coming decades saw the development of tanks suited for different roles with different characteristics.
In this article, we will understand the structure and different parts of a battle tank. We will also look at the crew of a battle tank and their roles.
Structure of Battle Tanks
At the basic level, a tank consists of two parts namely:-
(a) Hull: It is the lower half of the tank which holds the caterpillar tracks, engine, fuel tank and turret above it. The main role of hull is to transport the turret to the desired location.
(b) Turret: It refers to the top half of the tank which contains the main gun, 1 or 2 machine guns (anti-aircraft guns in some cases as well). It is the main armament of the tank. It can move 360° to fire at enemies in different directions.
Parts of The Battle Tank
1. Main gun: It is the main characteristic of any battle tank and is also the most powerful of its weapons. Most modern tanks equip themselves with smoothbore guns of size 120mm, 125mm and 130mm as well. The picture above depicts the main gun and the thick cylinder in the middle is the fume extractor (meant for toxic gases which are released during firing).
The main gun of the tank has an auto stabilizer which helps in aiming at the enemy if the tank is at an uneven position. It means even if the tank is at a slightly different vertical angle in comparison to the target, the gun will precisely fire at the target because of the stabilizer.
2. Machine guns: All of the modern main battle tanks come with coaxial machine guns along with the main gun. The gunner or commander can use these guns in times of need. They are located on the top of the tank. The German Leopard 2 tank has a 7.62mm machine gun while the American M1 Abrams uses a 12mm HMG as the secondary gun. Arjun tank of India uses an NSG heavy machine gun as the secondary armament.
3. Hatch or cupola: It refers to the opening on the top of the tank. The crew uses it to enter the armoured vehicle. It can be opened while the tank is moving so that the machine guns can be used or to get a better view of the surroundings. There is also a separate hatch for the driver in the front part of the hull.
4. Caterpillar tracks: These tracks are located on the side of the tank and they provide mobility to the tank with the help of the engine. The purpose of using tracks instead of wheels in a tank is twofold – First, they provide a wider contact area to the tank. This prevents the tank from sinking in the ground or off-road due to its heavy weight. Secondly, they are not prone to wear and tear like the normal rubber wheels and hence provide resilience to the tank in actual battle.
A lesser-known fact about these tracks is that most people think that all the wheels of the tank receive power from the engine. However, the truth is that there is an engine sprocket in the rear end of each track. Only these sprockets receive power from the engine and rest all wheels are idle ones which just provide a wider contact area to the tank.
5. Periscope: It is basically equipment which lets a person see objects that are otherwise out of sight. It is located in the front part of the hull. It lets the driver get a vision of the front of the tank and guides him regarding the directions. However, militaries equip modern tanks with 360° cameras which provide an all-around view to the driver and commander.
6. Engine: the engine plays a significant role in the structure of the tank. It provides power and mobility to the tank. Nearly all tanks today have engines producing nearly 1200 to 1500 bhp of power. There are two main types of engines for the tanks which are turbine engines and piston engines. Arjun Mk 1A uses a piston engine. Piston engines are noisy in comparison to gas turbine engines but are suitable for cold climates and high altitudes.
The fuel for this engine is stored in the fuel tank which is located usually in the rear section of the tank. Most tanks have a capacity of 1200 – 1500 litres of fuel. Despite large fuel capacity, these engines are fuel guzzlers giving a mileage of 1km for 4 litres of fuel. Thus, these tanks provide a range of 400 -500 km without refuelling and a top speed of 70 kmph on road and 35 kmph off-road.
Also Read, Tanks Of the Indian Army: 1947 to Present
Protection Mechanisms Of The Battle Tank
1. Primary armour: Tank fleet is also called armoured fleet for this single reason that they are covered with thick armour made of composite material to increase strength. The Arjun tank uses indigenous Kanchan armour made of composite material. Coils of rolled metal are also sandwiched between layers of armour to add further protection.
2. Smoke grenades or smoke dischargers: When tanks are battling in the open, they are prone to enemy tank attacks. To protect the tank and place it at a tactful location, smoke dischargers or smoke grenades are used. They provide a smoke cover to the tank obscuring it from enemy sight and providing time to get the tank to a strategic position. The 81mm smoke grenades used by the Indian army provide the smoke cover for a duration of 40 seconds to save the tank.
3. Protection of fire rounds: There is an inherent risk of an internal explosion in the tank in case there is overheating of fire rounds. It poses a serious risk to the life of crew members. In order to prevent this risk, all modern tanks come with blow-off panels and containerised ammunition so that explosion in one round will not affect other rounds and the crew. Along with this, there are fire suppression systems, electronic sensors to detect anti-tank missiles and other protective systems to provide additional security to the tank.
Also Read, FRCV: Future Tanks Of India?
How Tanks Are Driven?
The driver of a tank is more or less in a horizontal position inside a tank. He has a clear view of the front of the tank. There are only two pedals in a tank which are of accelerator and break respectively. The transmission of modern tanks like the M1 Abrams is automatic. However, conventional tanks like T-72, T-90 and Arjun use a manual transmission. The driver can increase or decrease the speed of the tank according to the situation ahead of him.
To turn a tank left or right, the speed of the individual tracks is changed. The driver has 2 sticks in front of him which are used to reduce the speed of individual tracks. For example, if the driver has to turn the tank to left, then he will pull the left stick to reduce the speed of the left track. This leads to a leftward shift in the tank’s direction. The same is done with the right stick if the tank is to be turned right.
How Crew Operate The Battle Tank?
Nearly all tanks have a crew capacity of 4 members. But, future tanks like the KF51 Panther of Germany and Abrams X of America will be having a crew capacity of 3 because of the unmanned turret of these tanks. All four crew members have different roles to play in the operation of the tank. Let us understand how they operate the tank one by one.
1. Commander: As the name suggests, the commander is the highest-ranking person inside the running fortress. His role is to coordinate all other crew members. He tells the gunner what to aim at, tells the loader which round to load and tells the driver where to go. He also communicates with other troops on the ground like the company and platoon. Additionally, he is also responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the tank. He sanctions all the expenses of the vehicle and caters for the FOL (Fuel, Oil and Lubricants) of the machine.
2. Gunner: The objective of the gunner is to target enemy tanks and their bunkers and fire at them using the main gun of the tank. He gets the stabilized view and fires at the command of the commander of the tank. Gunner and commander form a team and work in tandem to complete the task.
3. Loader: The main task of the loader is to load the required round in the main gun of the tank. He receives instructions from the tank commander. The commander, loader and gunner are the three crew members who sit in the turret section of the tank and work cooperatively.
4. Driver: He sits in the front part of the hull of the tank. His main role is to drive the tank in the direction required by the commander of the tank. the periscope located in the front part of the hull of the tank assists the driver in terms of direction.
Conclusion
It will not be wrong to say that modern battle tanks are equivalent to fortresses on wheels. It is the supreme protection, ruthless firepower and “tread anywhere” kind of mobility which makes these machines the front runners in any war. Their tremendous capability makes them invincible and suitable to go offensive in the enemy territory and capture the area.
