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A TRACKPADS COLLECTIONARMOR ARCHIVE
VEHICLE TYPE

Tank

Tracked armored combat vehicles whose principal role centers on direct fire, protected maneuver, and tank warfare.

327 existing profiles classified here
Austria-Hungary / Early concepts

Burstyn Motorgeschütz

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

The Burstyn Motorgeschütz was an Austro-Hungarian proposal for an armored, tracked, gun-armed cross-country vehicle.

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Australia / United Kingdom submission / Early concepts

de Mole Armoured Vehicle

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

Lancelot de Mole's armoured-vehicle proposal was an Australian contribution to the early search for cross-country tracked transport.

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France / World War I

Boirault Machine

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

The Boirault machines were French experiments in crossing the obstacles of the First World War battlefield.

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France / World War I

Frot-Laffly armoured roller

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

The Frot-Laffly armoured roller was a French attempt to adapt a civilian rolling machine for the battlefield. Accounts describe a single armored prototype intended to pass through obstacles and support infantry, rather than a tracked tank that entered production.

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Russian Empire / World War I

Tsar Tank / Lebedenko / Netopyr

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

The Tsar Tank, also known as the Lebedenko or Netopyr project, was a Russian Empire experiment in crossing battlefield obstacles with very large wheels. Its familiar outline combines two huge forward wheels with a much smaller rear support. It was not a tracked vehicle.

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Russian Empire / World War I

Vezdekhod

Tank · Tank precursor / concept

Vezdekhod was Alexander A. Porokhovshchikov’s attempt to develop a motor vehicle capable of moving beyond the roads available to ordinary wheeled transport.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Mother / Big Willie / HMLS Centipede

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

Mother was the British rhomboid prototype that connected the early Lincoln experiments with the production Mark I. The names Big Willie and HMLS Centipede also occur in the available evidence. The names are aliases of the same prototype rather than separate vehicles.

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France / World War I

Saint-Chamond

Tank · Tank / family

The Saint-Chamond was a French production tank built around a long hull, a forward-firing 75 mm gun, machine guns, and petrol-electric transmission.

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France / World War I

Schneider CA1

Tank · Tank / family

The Schneider CA1 was an early French assault tank intended to carry protected firepower through wire and across defended ground in support of infantry.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark I

Tank · Heavy tank

The Mark I followed the experimental work associated with Little Willie and Mother.

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France / World War I

Renault FT

Tank · Light tank

The Renault FT was a French light tank with a two-man crew, an engine compartment at the rear, and a fully rotating one-man turret.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark II

Tank · Tank / family

The Tank, Mark II was a British heavy rhomboid vehicle derived from the Mark I and built primarily for training.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark III

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tank, Mark III was a small British heavy-tank training family associated with the transition to the Mark IV.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark VI

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tank, Mark VI was a proposed British heavy tank represented by a wooden mock-up. It did not enter production or operational service. The full-size model illustrates a proposed layout, not a completed armored vehicle that underwent powered trials.

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France / World War I

Char 2C / FCM 2C

Tank · Heavy tank

The Char 2C was a French heavy tank conceived during the First World War but completed as a small postwar fleet.

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France / World War I

FCM 1A

Tank · Heavy tank

The FCM 1A was a French heavy-tank prototype developed by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée during the First World War.

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Italy / World War I

Fiat 2000

Tank · Heavy tank

The Fiat 2000 was an Italian heavy-tank project that produced two large experimental vehicles rather than a wartime operational fleet.

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United States / World War I

Ford 3-ton M1918

Tank · Tank / family

The Ford 3-ton M1918 was an American attempt to produce a very small tracked military vehicle using familiar automotive components and large-scale manufacturing methods.

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Germany / World War I

Großkampfwagen / K-Wagen

Tank · Heavy tank

The Großkampfwagen, usually shortened to K-Wagen, was a German attempt to create a very large armored breakthrough vehicle during the First World War.

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United States / World War I

Holt Gas-Electric Tank

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Holt Gas-Electric Tank was an American experimental armored vehicle developed through cooperation between Holt and General Electric.

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United States / World War I

M1917 6-ton light tank

Tank · Light tank

The M1917 was the American-built adaptation of the French Renault FT and the foundation of the United States' first mass-production tank program.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Mark IV

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tank, Mark IV was the principal British heavy-tank production development of 1917.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Medium Mark B

Tank · Medium tank

The Medium Mark B was a British attempt to combine the obstacle-crossing characteristics of the heavy rhomboidal tanks with a smaller machine-gun vehicle intended for a different battlefield role.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark V

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tank, Mark V was a major 1918 development of the British heavy tank. It retained the rhomboidal tracks and side-sponson weapons of its predecessors, but its Ricardo engine and Wilson epicyclic steering represented a more consequential change than the familiar…

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United Kingdom / World War I

Tank, Mark VII

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tank, Mark VII was a British attempt to apply hydraulic transmission to a heavy tank during the First World War.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Medium Mark C Hornet

Tank · Medium tank

The Medium Mark C, usually called Hornet, was a British medium tank developed toward the end of the First World War.

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United Kingdom / World War I

Medium Mark D

Tank · Medium tank

The Medium Mark D was an experimental British attempt to combine sustained speed, trench-crossing ability, and protected firepower.

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United States / World War I

Skeleton Tank / Spider Tank

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Skeleton Tank, also called the Spider Tank, was an American experimental vehicle built in 1918 by the firm identified in the cited sources as the Pioneer Tractor Company of Winona, Minnesota.

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Germany / World War I

Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien was a late-1918 German assault-tank project intended to move beyond the large crew and heavy arrangement of the A7V.

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Italy / Interwar

Fiat 3000

Tank · Light tank

The Fiat 3000 translated the Renault FT’s compact, turreted light-tank concept into an Italian vehicle with different automotive arrangements and running gear.

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Sweden / Interwar

Strv m/21

Tank · Light tank

Sweden’s Strv m/21 fleet developed from German LK II material acquired after the First World War.

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France / Interwar

Renault NC / NC27 / NC31

Tank · Light tank

The Renault NC program sought to improve the Renault FT concept through new running gear, better mobility and changes in protection and automotive equipment.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Vickers Medium Mark I

Tank · Medium tank

The Vickers Medium Mark I represented a move away from the long rhomboid heavy tanks associated with the First World War.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

A1E1 Independent

Tank · Heavy tank

The A1E1 Independent was a single Vickers-built British heavy-tank prototype intended to combine a central gun with all-round machine-gun defense.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Vickers Medium Mark II

Tank · Medium tank

The Vickers Medium Mark II was a development of the earlier Mark I and became an important vehicle in British interwar mechanization.

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Germany / Interwar

Grosstraktor

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

Grosstraktor was a concealment name for a German experimental tank program, not an agricultural vehicle intended for ordinary farm work.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Vickers Medium Mark C

Tank · Medium tank

The Vickers Medium Mark C was a private export-oriented prototype of the 1920s. It is distinct from the First World War Medium Mark C Hornet: the similar name does not make them one family or a continuous production series.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Vickers Medium Mark III

Tank · Medium tank

The Vickers Medium Mark III developed from the A6 effort to replace Britain's existing interwar mediums with a more capable tank.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Carden-Loyd Mk VI Tankette

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Carden-Loyd Mk VI was a compact British tracked machine-gun carrier whose importance extended beyond the number built for Britain.

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United States / Interwar

Light Tank T1 series

Tank · Light tank

The Light Tank T1 series was an American effort to replace the First World War light-tank arrangement with a more capable domestic vehicle.

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Japan / Interwar

Type 87 Chi-I

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The vehicle commonly called Type 87 Chi-I is treated in the cited sources as Japan's Experimental Tank No. 1: a domestic prototype completed in 1927 rather than an operational tank type.

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Germany / Interwar

Leichttraktor

Tank · Light tank

The Leichttraktor was a clandestine German light-tank development program of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-18 / MS-1

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The T-18, also known as MS-1, gave the Soviet Union a domestically designed tank that could be manufactured in series.

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France / Interwar

Renault D1 / D2

Tank · Infantry tank

The Renault D1 and D2 form a useful combined research assignment, but they need distinguishable identities in the encyclopedia.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-12 / T-24

Tank · Medium tank

The T-12 and T-24 belong to an early Soviet attempt to move beyond the small infantry-support tank toward a more capable maneuver tank.

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Sweden / Interwar

Landsverk L-30 / Strv fm/31

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Landsverk L-30, designated Strv fm/31 in Swedish service, was a single experimental tank intended to combine tracked cross-country mobility with faster movement on wheels.

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Sweden / Interwar

Strv m/31 / Landsverk L-10

Tank · Light tank

The Strv m/31, known to its manufacturer as Landsverk L-10, represented an early Swedish attempt to obtain a modern tracked tank from a domestic factory.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-26

Tank · Light tank

The T-26 grew from the British Vickers 6-Ton into a large Soviet light-tank family.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-27 Tankette

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The T-27 was a small, two-man Soviet tankette derived from the Carden-Loyd concept.

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Poland / Interwar

TK-3 / TKS tankette family

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The TK-3 and TKS were compact Polish reconnaissance vehicles developed from the tankette concept rather than small equivalents of a fully turreted light tank.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Vickers-Carden-Loyd Amphibious Tank

Tank · Amphibious light tank

The Vickers-Carden-Loyd Amphibious Tank attempted to give a very small tracked armored vehicle the ability to cross water without relying entirely on bridges or external ferries.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

BT fast tank family

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The BT family placed high mobility at the center of a Soviet tank program derived from Christie's convertible-drive concept.

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Sweden / Interwar

Landsverk L-100 / L-120

Tank · Light tank

The Landsverk L-100 and L-120 were small Swedish light-tank projects whose history is much larger in the literature than the number of vehicles actually built.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-28

Tank · Medium tank

The T-28 was a Soviet medium tank designed to reinforce attacks against defended positions.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-35

Tank · Tank / family

The T-35 was a Soviet heavy breakthrough tank organized around five turrets. A central turret carried the 76.2 mm weapon; two other turrets carried 45 mm guns, and smaller positions added machine-gun fire.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-37A

Tank · Amphibious tank

The T-37A was a small Soviet amphibious tank intended for reconnaissance, liaison and movement across water obstacles.

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Czechoslovakia / Interwar

Tančík vz.33

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Tančík vz.33 was a small Czechoslovak armored vehicle developed by ČKD from experience with the Carden-Loyd tankette.

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Czechoslovakia / Interwar

LT vz.34

Tank · Light tank

The LT vz.34, developed by ČKD as the Praga P-II, was an early Czechoslovak light tank with a rotating turret and a three-man crew.

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Germany / Interwar

Neubaufahrzeug

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Neubaufahrzeug was a German multi-turret experiment combining two main guns with smaller machine-gun turrets.

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France / Interwar

Renault AMC 34

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Renault AMC 34 was a small-series French cavalry combat vehicle whose limited production sits between experimental cavalry mechanization and the later AMC35 program.

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Japan / Interwar

Type 94 TK

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Type 94 TK was a small Japanese tracked armored vehicle intended for supply movement, reconnaissance, security, and infantry-support tasks.

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Poland / Interwar

7TP

Tank · Light tank

The 7TP was a Polish light tank developed from the Vickers 6-Ton concept. Its diesel engine, revised hull arrangements, and eventual Bofors gun turret made it a distinct Polish development rather than an unchanged imported design.

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United States / Interwar

M1 Combat Car

Tank · Light tank

The M1 Combat Car was a fully tracked, turreted armored vehicle developed for the United States Cavalry during the interwar period.

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United States / Interwar

M2 Light Tank

Tank · Light tank

The M2 Light Tank family records the United States Infantry's movement from small machine-gun tanks toward a cannon-armed light tank immediately before the Second World War.

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France / Interwar

SOMUA S35

Tank · Tank / family

The SOMUA S35 was developed for the French cavalry's mechanized formations. Its purpose combined protection, a useful anti-tank gun, and greater mobility than the slow infantry-support tanks.

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Belgium / United Kingdom / Interwar

T-15 light tank

Tank · Light tank

The T-15 was a small reconnaissance tank supplied to Belgium through Vickers and adapted to Belgian requirements.

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Japan / Interwar

Type 95 Ha-Go

Tank · Light tank

The Type 95 Ha-Go was a Japanese light tank intended to provide a mobile armored vehicle for the Army's developing mechanized force.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Cruiser Tank Mk I / A9

Tank · Cruiser tank

The Cruiser Tank Mk I, commonly called A9, was an early British production cruiser intended to combine mobility and anti-tank firepower at a price compatible with interwar budgets.

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France / Interwar

FCM 36

Tank · Infantry tank

The FCM 36 was a French light infantry tank whose welded, sloping armor and diesel engine distinguished it from several contemporary French designs.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Light Tank Mk VI

Tank · Light tank

The Light Tank Mk VI was the final major development of the interwar Vickers light-tank line in British service.

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Soviet Union / Interwar

T-38

Tank · Tank / family

The T-38 was a Soviet amphibious reconnaissance tank developed from experience with the T-37A.

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Poland / Interwar

4TP / PZInż 140

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The 4TP, also known by the factory designation PZInż 140, was a Polish attempt to replace the limitations of the tankette with a small turreted reconnaissance tank.

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United Kingdom / Interwar

Cruiser Tank Mk II / A10

Tank · Cruiser tank

The A10, standardized as the Cruiser Tank Mk II, developed from the A9 but exchanged its two small forward machine-gun turrets for a more conventional protected hull front and thicker armor.

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Germany / Interwar

Panzerkampfwagen IV

Tank · Tank / family

The Panzerkampfwagen IV began as a support tank and became one of the principal German tanks of the Second World War.

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Czechoslovakia / Interwar

ST vz.39 / V-8-H

Tank · Medium tank

The ST vz.39 / V-8-H belongs to the group of late-1930s Czechoslovak tank designs whose development was overtaken by political events.

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Sweden / Interwar

Strv m/37

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Strv m/37 was Sweden’s tailored version of the Czechoslovak AH-IV tankette. The vehicle is described as a very light, two-man tracked fighting vehicle acquired to strengthen Swedish mechanization in the late 1930s.

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Japan / Interwar

Type 97 Te-Ke

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Type 97 Te-Ke was a small Japanese tracked vehicle intended for reconnaissance, liaison and light support.

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Czechoslovakia / Interwar

Škoda S-I-d / T-32 tankette

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Škoda S-I-d, known in Yugoslav service as the T-32, was a small fixed-casemate vehicle built around a 37 mm gun and a machine gun.

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Poland / Interwar

10TP

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The 10TP was Poland's attempt to turn the promise of a fast, Christie-influenced tank into a practical domestic fighting vehicle.

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Japan / Interwar

Type 97 Chi-Ha

Tank · Medium tank

The Type 97 Chi-Ha became an important Japanese medium tank through its combination of a diesel engine, compact dimensions and a turret-mounted gun.

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Italy / World War II

Carro Armato L6/40

Tank · Tankette / very light tank

The Carro Armato L6/40 was Italy’s effort to move beyond machine-gun tankettes toward a small, gun-armed vehicle suited to reconnaissance and supporting roles.

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Italy / World War II

Carro Armato M11/39

Tank · Medium tank

The M11/39 marked an important transition in Italian armored development. It was a production medium tank with a diesel engine and a cannon, but its 37 mm main gun sat in the hull while the small turret carried machine guns.

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United States / World War II

M2 Medium Tank

Tank · Medium tank

The M2 Medium Tank occupies an important but easily misunderstood position in American armored development.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-40 / T-30

Tank · Tank / family

The T-40 began as a small amphibious reconnaissance tank, intended to support communication, security and movement across water obstacles.

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New Zealand / World War II

Bob Semple tank

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Bob Semple tank was an attempt to create an armored fighting vehicle in New Zealand from machinery and industrial resources already available.

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Italy / World War II

Carro Armato M13/40

Tank · Medium tank

The Carro Armato M13/40 represented an important change in Italy's medium-tank line: the principal gun was mounted in a rotating turret rather than in the hull arrangement of the earlier M11/39.

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New Zealand / World War II

Schofield tank

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Schofield tank was a New Zealand wheel-and-track experiment developed under the pressures of wartime defense and uncertain access to imported equipment.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-34 family

Tank · Medium tank

The T-34 was a medium-tank family whose significance cannot be reduced to one gun, one turret or one production total.

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United Kingdom / World War II

Valentine infantry tank

Tank · Infantry tank

The Valentine was important less because it introduced a radical technical idea than because Britain could build it in useful numbers at a moment of extreme need.

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Hungary / World War II

40M/41M Turán family

Tank · Medium tank

The Turán family represented Hungary’s effort to field a domestically producible medium tank after reliance on lighter vehicles and foreign designs had become strategically restrictive.

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United States / World War II

M3 Lee / Grant

Tank · Medium tank

The M3 medium tank was an expedient solution to a serious Allied problem: the United States needed a 75 mm-armed medium tank before a suitable fully rotating 75 mm turret was ready for mass production.

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United States / World War II

M3/M5 Stuart light tank family

Tank · Light tank

The M3/M5 Stuart family grew from the United States Army’s prewar light-tank line at the moment when mobilization demanded vehicles immediately, not after a long clean-sheet development program.

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United States / World War II

M6 Heavy Tank

Tank · Heavy tank

The M6 was the United States Army’s first Second World War heavy-tank family to reach limited production, yet its operational history consists of testing, training, demonstration, and development rather than combat.

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Canada / World War II

Ram tank

Tank · Medium tank

The Ram was Canada’s principal indigenous wartime cruiser or medium-tank design, created when the country needed armored vehicles and an industrial base almost simultaneously.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-50

Tank · Tank / family

The T-50 was intended as a modern Soviet light infantry-support tank, not as the emergency expedient that the T-60 became.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-60

Tank · Tank / family

The T-60 was an emergency answer to the industrial catastrophe of 1941. It was not intended to equal the technically stronger T-50.

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United Kingdom / World War II

Cruiser Tank Mk VII Cavalier / A24

Tank · Cruiser tank

The Cavalier was born from Britain’s urgent effort to replace the Crusader with a heavier cruiser tank that could carry stronger armor and the 6-pounder gun without abandoning speed.

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United States / World War II

M4 Sherman

Tank · Medium tank

The M4 Sherman was created to replace the M3 medium tank's sponson-mounted main gun with a fully traversing turret while retaining an industrially practical automotive foundation.

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Germany / World War II

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I

Tank · Heavy tank

The Tiger I became the most visible German expression of the heavy-tank idea: a five-man fighting vehicle that combined thick, mostly vertical armor with the 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56 gun, good optics, and a three-man turret.

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Japan / World War II

Type 2 Ho-I

Tank · Tank / family

The Type 2 Ho-I was designed to give Japanese tank formations heavier high-explosive fire than their standard 47 mm and earlier 57 mm tank guns could deliver against fortifications and defended positions.

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Japan / World War II

Type 2 Ka-Mi

Tank · Amphibious light tank

The Type 2 Ka-Mi was a purpose-built Japanese amphibious tank rather than a standard light tank fitted with improvised flotation.

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Japan / World War II

Type 98 Ke-Ni

Tank · Light tank

The Type 98 Ke-Ni was Japan’s attempt to replace the Type 95 Ha-Go with a smaller, lower and more modern light tank.

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Italy / World War II

Carro Armato P26/40 / P40

Tank · Heavy tank

The Carro Armato P26/40 was Italy’s most substantial wartime production tank. Its official “P” or pesante classification reflected Italian categories, not a direct match to the heavy tanks of Germany or the Soviet Union.

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United Kingdom / World War II

Centurion

Tank · Infantry tank

Centurion began as the British A41 response to wartime experience with separate cruiser and infantry-tank traditions.

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Canada / World War II

Grizzly I cruiser tank

Tank · Cruiser tank

The Grizzly I was a Canadian-built adaptation of the M4A1 Sherman and a product of wartime industrial transition rather than a long-lived independent tank program.

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Soviet Union / World War II

IS / Iosif Stalin heavy tank family

Tank · Heavy tank

The Iosif Stalin family emerged from the Soviet effort to retain the battlefield advantages of a heavy tank while correcting the weight, reliability and tactical limitations exposed in the KV series.

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Soviet Union / World War II

IS-4

Tank · Heavy tank

The IS-4 grew from the Object 701 program, a late-war attempt to create a heavily protected Soviet tank that could surpass the existing IS family in armor and survivability.

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United States / World War II

M22 Locust

Tank · Airborne light tank

The M22 Locust began as the T9 airborne light-tank program, an effort to give airborne forces a vehicle that could be moved by the transport aircraft and gliders available during the Second World War.

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Argentina / World War II

Nahuel D.L. 43

Tank · Medium tank

The Nahuel D.L. 43 was Argentina’s wartime attempt to create a credible medium tank when normal foreign procurement was uncertain.

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Germany / World War II

Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus

Tank · Heavy tank

The Maus was Germany’s most extreme effort to create a super-heavy tank whose armor and armament would remain beyond contemporary battlefield standards.

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Sweden / World War II

Strv m/42

Tank · Medium tank

The Strv m/42 was Sweden’s principal domestically produced medium tank of the Second World War and the country’s first tank to carry a 7.5 cm gun in regular service.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-44

Tank · Medium tank

The T-44 was a Soviet medium tank developed in 1943–44 to overcome structural limits of the T-34 while preserving a similar weight and manufacturing purpose.

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Japan / World War II

Type 3 Ka-Chi

Tank · Medium tank

The Type 3 Ka-Chi was not a conventional medium tank adapted casually for wading; it was a purpose-built naval amphibious armored vehicle designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy at a moment when Japan was losing the operational initiative in the Pacific.

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Hungary / World War II

44M Tas

Tank · Heavy tank

The 44M Tas was a Hungarian heavy tank by the Royal Hungarian Army’s wartime armament-based classification system, but in weight, layout, and intended battlefield role it sat closer to the late-war medium tank category used by Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain, and…

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France / World War II

ARL 44

Tank · Heavy tank

The ARL 44 was a limited-production French heavy or transitional tank designed after the Liberation of France and produced in small numbers in the late 1940s.

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United Kingdom / World War II

Comet / A34

Tank · Cruiser tank

The Comet was a British cruiser tank designed to put a high-velocity anti-tank gun into a vehicle still close enough to the Cromwell lineage to be produced quickly.

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United Kingdom / World War II

Cruiser Tank Challenger / A30

Tank · Cruiser tank

The Cruiser Tank Challenger / A30 was a British Second World War cruiser tank designed around a specific battlefield need: the Cromwell was fast, but its 75 mm gun was inadequate against the heaviest German armor at normal combat ranges.

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Soviet Union / World War II

IS-3

Tank · Heavy tank

The IS-3 was a Soviet heavy tank designed during 1944-1945 as a better-protected successor to the IS-2.

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United States / World War II

M24 Chaffee

Tank · Light tank

The M24 Chaffee was the most successful American light tank design to reach combat in the Second World War.

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United States / World War II

M26 Pershing

Tank · Medium tank

The M26 Pershing was the first U.S. operational tank to combine a 90 mm gun, a lower silhouette than the M4 series, torsion-bar suspension, a cast turret, and a markedly heavier armor scheme in a wartime combat vehicle.

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Germany / World War II

Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B / Tiger II

Tank · Heavy tank

The Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, usually called Tiger II and often translated by Allied troops as King Tiger or Royal Tiger, was a late-war German heavy tank built around the high-velocity 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun.

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Japan / World War II

Type 3 Chi-Nu

Tank · Medium tank

The Type 3 Chi-Nu was a late-war Imperial Japanese Army medium tank that combined the improved Type 1 Chi-He/Type 97 lineage chassis with a new, large hexagonal turret carrying the Type 3 75 mm tank gun.

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Japan / World War II

Type 4 Chi-To

Tank · Medium tank

One-paragraph description: The Type 4 Chi-To was Japan's late-war attempt to field a medium tank with heavier armor, a five-man crew, radio provision, and a high-velocity 75 mm gun powerful enough to challenge Allied medium tanks at useful battlefield ranges.

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France / World War II

AMX-50

Tank · Medium tank

Description. The AMX-50 was France’s ambitious postwar attempt to regain a first-rank tank-design capability through a fast, heavily armed vehicle using an oscillating turret and a Maybach-derived power plant.

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Soviet Union / World War II

T-54 / T-55

Tank · Main battle tank

Why it mattered: the family became the Cold War's most widely distributed Soviet tank line and one of the most-produced tank families in history.

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Japan / World War II

Type 5 Chi-Ri

Tank · Medium tank

The Type 5 Chi-Ri was a late-war Japanese medium tank prototype created after the Type 3 Chi-Nu and Type 4 Chi-To programs exposed the limits of Japan's earlier infantry-support tank designs.

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France / Cold War

AMX-13

Tank · Light tank

The AMX-13 was a French light tank family begun in 1946 and brought into service in the early 1950s.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

PT-76

Tank · Amphibious light tank

The PT-76 was a Soviet amphibious light tank whose defining feature was not conventional tank protection but independent water mobility.

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United States / Cold War

M103 heavy tank

Tank · Heavy tank

The M103 was a Cold War U.S. heavy tank intended to defeat Soviet heavy tanks such as the IS-3 and T-10 at long range.

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United States / Cold War

M46 Patton

Tank · Medium tank

The M46 Patton was the first operational U.S. tank to carry the Patton name and the immediate postwar modernization of the M26 Pershing.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

T-10

Tank · Heavy tank

The T-10 was a Soviet heavy tank family developed to solve a postwar problem that the Red Army had not yet abandoned: how to provide a heavily protected breakthrough tank with enough mobility to accompany modern armored formations.

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United Kingdom / Cold War

FV214 Conqueror

Tank · Tank / family

The FV214 Conqueror was a British heavy gun tank designed to give armored regiments a weapon capable of defeating Soviet heavy armor at ranges beyond those expected of the earlier 17-pounder and 20-pounder Centurions.

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United Kingdom / Cold War

Caernarvon FV221

Tank · Tank / family

The Caernarvon FV221 was not a main-line British service tank in the sense that Centurion or Conqueror were.

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United Kingdom / Cold War

Charioteer

Tank · Tank / family

Charioteer was a rapid British conversion, not a clean-sheet tank. It used available Cromwell hulls and replaced the original Cromwell turret and 75 mm gun with a new, lightly protected turret carrying the 84 mm Ordnance QF 20-pounder.

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United States / Cold War

M47 Patton

Tank · Medium tank

The M47 Patton was a stopgap American medium tank whose influence exceeded its short U.S. service life.

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United States / Cold War

M48 Patton

Tank · Main battle tank

The M48 Patton was a U.S. post-Korean War medium tank that quickly became the bridge between the Pershing/M46/M47 lineage and the later M60.

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Switzerland / Cold War

Panzer 58

Tank · Medium tank

The Panzer 58 was not a mass-service battle tank in the way the Centurion, M47/M48, T-54/55, or later Leopard 2 were.

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China / Cold War

WZ-111 heavy tank

Tank · Heavy tank

The WZ-111 was a Chinese attempt to develop a modern heavy tank after the formation of the PRC and during the era when China was absorbing, copying, and adapting Soviet armored-vehicle technology.

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France / Cold War

Lorraine 40t

Tank · Medium tank

The Lorraine 40t was a French prototype medium tank, indexed in the available accounts as a Cold War prototype/cancelled family.

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United States / Cold War

M41 Walker Bulldog

Tank · Medium tank

The M41 was a compact but heavily armed Cold War light tank designed for reconnaissance, screening, security, and situations where a lighter tank was preferred over a medium tank.

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United States / Cold War

T92 light tank

Tank · Light tank

The T92 light tank was one of the most technically adventurous U.S. armored-vehicle prototypes of the 1950s.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

Object 430

Tank · Main battle tank

Object 430 was a Soviet prototype medium tank developed at the Kharkiv transport machine-building plant design bureau under the Morozov design lineage to produce a qualitative successor to the T-54.

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Sweden / Cold War

Stridsvagn 74

Tank · Main battle tank

Stridsvagn 74 was not a clean-sheet Swedish main battle tank. It was a disciplined conversion program that reused the Strv m/42 hull and chassis while replacing the underpowered wartime turret-and-gun installation with a new angular turret carrying a much more…

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United States / Cold War

T95 medium tank program

Tank · Medium tank

The T95 was a cancelled American experimental tank program intended to supersede the M48 and explore a lighter vehicle capable of filling both medium- and heavy-tank roles.

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West Germany / Cold War

Leopard 1

Tank · Tank / family

The Leopard 1 emerged from the late-1950s Standardpanzer effort and entered Bundeswehr service in September 1965.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

Object 277

Tank · Main battle tank

Object 277 was a late Soviet experimental heavy tank designed to replace or surpass the T-10 rather than to create a fundamentally new main battle tank.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

Object 770

Tank · Heavy tank

Object 770 was not a production tank family in the normal sense; it was a prototype heavy tank and one of the last serious Soviet attempts to build a purpose-designed, heavily protected, gun-armed breakthrough vehicle after the T-10.

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China / Cold War

Type 59 / WZ-120

Tank · Tank / family

The Type 59 / WZ-120 was a Chinese-built derivative of the Soviet T-54A, accepted into Chinese service in 1959 and closely linked to the construction of Factory 617 at Baotou.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

IT-1 missile tank

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The IT-1, officially associated with Object 150, was a Soviet missile tank/tank-destroyer built on a T-62-derived hull and fitted with a low-profile turret that housed a retractable single-rail launcher, autoloading missile stowage, a radio-command guidance system…

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United States / Cold War

M60

Tank · Main battle tank

The M60 was a Cold War main battle tank born from the M48 Patton lineage but standardized as a new vehicle with the 105 mm M68 gun, diesel AVDS-1790 powerpack, improved range, and revised armor/hull features.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

Object 279

Tank · Heavy tank

Object 279 was a Soviet prototype heavy tank, not a production tank. The vehicle is described as a unique, less certain Cold War prototype under family/prototype ID USSR-OBJ279, with one completed vehicle and the role “prototype heavy tank.” the cited accounts dates…

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United Kingdom / Cold War

Chieftain

Tank · Main battle tank

Chieftain was the British Army's principal main battle tank during much of the Cold War.

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Switzerland / Cold War

Panzer 61

Tank · Main battle tank

The Panzer 61 was the first Swiss domestic main battle tank to enter full production.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

T-62

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-62 was a Soviet medium tank / early main battle tank derived from the T-54/T-55 lineage and the Object 165/166 design sequence.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

T-64

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-64 was a Soviet main battle tank family developed in Kharkiv as a high-end replacement for the T-54/T-55/T-62 lineage.

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China / Cold War

Type 62 / WZ-131

Tank · Medium tank

What it was. The Type 62 / WZ-131 was the People's Liberation Army's purpose-built light tank answer to a problem that the Type 59 medium tank could not solve cleanly: how to bring a turreted, tracked gun tank into southern Chinese, Vietnamese, Himalayan, and other…

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China / Cold War

Type 63 / WZ-211

Tank · Amphibious light tank

The Type 63 / WZ-211 was a Chinese amphibious light tank developed after China obtained and assessed Soviet PT-76 amphibious tanks in the 1950s.

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France / Cold War

AMX-30

Tank · Tank / family

The AMX-30 was the French answer to the NATO-era problem of replacing first-generation postwar tanks with a vehicle able to fight on a nuclear and missile-saturated battlefield.

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United States / Cold War

M551 Sheridan

Tank · Airborne light tank

The M551 Sheridan was a compact, four-crew, aluminum-hulled, steel-turreted airborne light tank formally designated as an Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle.

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Spain / France / Cold War

AMX-30E

Tank · Main battle tank

The AMX-30E was the Spanish license-production branch of the French AMX-30 main battle tank family.

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Sweden / Cold War

Ikv 91

Tank · Light tank

The Ikv 91 was Sweden's late-Cold-War solution to a specific infantry-support problem: obsolete Swedish assault-gun companies still needed a mobile direct-fire weapon that could support infantry, move through difficult northern terrain, cross water obstacles, and…

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Israel / United States / Cold War

Magach

Tank · Tank / family

The Magach family was the Israel Defense Forces’ large Patton-based armor fleet: M48 and M60 tanks reworked through successive Israeli upgrade standards.

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Switzerland / Cold War

Panzer 68

Tank · Main battle tank

The Panzer 68 was a Swiss main battle tank designed and manufactured by the federal construction works at Thun as a successor to the Panzer 61.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

Object 167

Tank · Main battle tank

Object 167 occupies an important but easily misunderstood place in Soviet tank development.

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Japan / Cold War

Type 61

Tank · Main battle tank

The Type 61 was Japan's first postwar domestic tank and the first main battle tank fielded by the JGSDF.

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United Kingdom / Cold War

Vickers MBT

Tank · Main battle tank

The Vickers MBT was an export-oriented British main battle tank family. Vickers designed it around a practical proposition: combine a proven Western 105 mm gun, a conventional four-crew layout, modest steel armor, and relatively inexpensive manufacture into a…

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India / United Kingdom / Cold War

Vijayanta

Tank · Main battle tank

Vijayanta was India's first large-scale main battle tank built under license and one of the earliest major armored-vehicle programs to tie Indian Army requirements to domestic heavy-vehicle manufacture.

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West Germany / United States / Cold War

KPz-70

Tank · Main battle tank

The KPz-70 was not an operational tank family. It was a prototype main battle tank family created inside the U.S.–West German MBT-70 program, with West Germany calling its branch Kampfpanzer 70 and the United States calling the joint vehicle Main Battle Tank 70.

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United States / West Germany / Cold War

MBT-70 / KPz-70

Tank · Main battle tank

The MBT-70 / KPz-70 was a built, tested, full-scale prototype main battle tank family rather than an operational tank.

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Soviet Union / Cold War

T-72

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-72 was the Soviet Union's high-volume main battle tank counterpart to the more expensive and more technically ambitious T-64 and T-80 lines.

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Israel / Cold War

Tiran

Tank · Tank / family

The Tiran family was Israel’s practical answer to an armor problem created by victory: after the Six-Day War, Israel possessed large numbers of captured Egyptian and Syrian T-54/T-55 tanks, many repairable but incompatible with Israeli radios, crew routines…

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Soviet Union / Cold War

T-80

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-80 family was a late Cold War Soviet main battle tank family built around a compact autoloaded 125 mm gun system and a distinctive gas-turbine engine.

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Brazil / Cold War

Bernardini X1A2 / X1 series

Tank · Main battle tank

The Bernardini X1/X1A2 family was not a clean-sheet main battle tank. It was a Brazilian Cold War modernization pathway that began with M3/M3A1 Stuart light tanks and progressively moved toward a locally designed tracked combat vehicle.

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West Germany / Cold War

Leopard 2

Tank · Main battle tank

The Leopard 2 was West Germany's answer to the late-Cold-War requirement for a heavily armed, highly mobile, survivable main battle tank able to fight Warsaw Pact armor while remaining maintainable within NATO logistics.

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North Korea / Cold War

M1981 Shin'heung / PT-85

Tank · Main battle tank

The M1981 Shin'heung / PT-85 was North Korea's answer to a specific mobility problem: how to give armored fire support to forces that might need to cross rivers, marshy terrain, estuaries, and beaches without waiting for heavy bridging or main battle tanks.

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Israel / Cold War

Merkava

Tank · Main battle tank

The Merkava was Israel’s answer to a strategic problem: the Israel Defense Forces needed a tank optimized for local terrain, high crew survival, rapid maintenance, and national supply autonomy rather than a generic export-pattern MBT.

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Sweden / Cold War

UDES tank studies

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The Swedish UDES studies were a family of direct-fire combat vehicle investigations rather than a production tank program in the ordinary sense.

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West Germany / Cold War

VT1 / Versuchsträger turretless tank studies

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The VT1 / Versuchsträger family consisted of at least two full-scale West German experimental armored vehicles, VT1-1 and VT1-2, built to investigate a twin-gun, turretless casemate solution for a future Leopard 1 successor.

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United States / Cold War

XM803

Tank · Main battle tank

The XM803 was not a production tank and did not see operational service. It was a prototype U.S. main battle tank effort, best understood as an “austere” American continuation of the MBT-70 after the U.S.-West German project collapsed.

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United Kingdom / Iran / Cold War

Shir 1 / Shir 2

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

What it was. Shir 1 and Shir 2 were linked British export designs in the FV4030/Project 4030 line.

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Romania / Cold War

TR-77-580 / TR-580

Tank · Tank / family

The TR-77-580 / TR-580 was Romania’s attempt to convert a Soviet-inspired armored inheritance into an indigenous tank-production system.

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Japan / Cold War

Type 74

Tank · Main battle tank

The Type 74 was a four-crew Japanese main battle tank developed under the Japan Defense Agency’s postwar armored-vehicle program and manufactured principally by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with the 105 mm gun produced domestically by Japan Steel Works under the…

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France / Cold War

AMX-32

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The AMX-32 was France’s attempt to turn the AMX-30 concept into a more attractive late-Cold War export tank.

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South Africa / United Kingdom / Cold War

Olifant

Tank · Tank / family

The Olifant was not a clean-sheet tank. It was a South African deep rebuild of the British Centurion, a vehicle whose original design dated to the end of the Second World War but which became one of the most important Western tank families of the Cold War.

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Japan / Cold War

Type 90

Tank · Main battle tank

The Type 90 was the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s first fully third-generation main battle tank, designed to replace and supplement the Type 74 against the late-Cold-War armored threat environment.

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United States / Cold War

HSTV-L

Tank · Tank / family

HSTV-L stood for High Survivability Test Vehicle - Lightweight. It was not a fielded tank, not a procurement item, and not a family with production variants.

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Italy / Cold War

OF-40

Tank · Main battle tank

What it was. The OF-40 was a late-Cold War Italian export MBT built around a conventional four-crew layout, a welded steel hull and turret, a 105 mm OTO Melara rifled gun compatible with the NATO/L7 ammunition family, a German MTU diesel engine, a ZF transmission…

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United Kingdom / Cold War

Challenger 1

Tank · Main battle tank

Challenger 1 was a late-Cold-War British main battle tank developed from the Chieftain/Shir lineage rather than from a clean-sheet NATO standard design.

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Brazil / Cold War

MB-3 Tamoyo

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The MB-3 Tamoyo was a prototype-only Brazilian tank family developed by Bernardini with support from Brazilian Army technical institutions, especially CTEx.

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United Kingdom / Cold War

MBT-80

Tank · Main battle tank

MBT-80 was the British Army's intended successor to the Chieftain main battle tank after several international and domestic replacement paths failed or became unattractive.

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India / Soviet Union / Cold War

T-72M1 Ajeya

Tank · Tank / family

The Ajeya was not a clean-sheet Indian tank. It was an Indian T-72M/T-72M1 family: Soviet in origin, Indian in production, overhaul, integration, and long-term tactical importance.

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Romania / Cold War

TR-85

Tank · Main battle tank

The TR-85 was Romania’s late-Cold-War main battle tank family, developed from the TR-77-580 and ultimately rooted in the T-55 ecosystem rather than being a clean-sheet Western-style tank.

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China / Cold War

Type 80 / Type 88

Tank · Main battle tank

The Type 80 / Type 88 was a Chinese second-generation main battle tank family created to move the People’s Liberation Army beyond incremental Type 59 and Type 69 upgrades.

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South Korea / Cold War

K1 88-Tank

Tank · Tank / family

The K1 88-Tank was the Republic of Korea's decisive break from a purely imported or upgraded tank fleet.

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Yugoslavia / Cold War

M-84

Tank · Main battle tank

The M-84 was a Yugoslav main battle tank based on the Soviet T-72 but adapted by Yugoslav industry for domestic service and export. Đuro Đaković’s official description emphasizes the T-72 basis, automatic gun loading, low silhouette, fire-control improvements…

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France / Cold War

AMX-40

Tank · Main battle tank

The AMX-40 was France's most ambitious pre-Leclerc export MBT proposal. It followed the AMX-32 and drew on the AMX-30 family's automotive and layout traditions, but it moved the export concept into the 120 mm smoothbore era.

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Taiwan / United States / Cold War

CM-11 Brave Tiger

Tank · Main battle tank

The Brave Tiger was a Taiwanese main battle tank upgrade program built around U.S. Patton-family components and local systems integration.

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Taiwan / United States / Cold War

CM-12

Tank · Main battle tank

The CM-12 was a Taiwanese Patton-family main battle tank upgrade, built around existing M48-series hulls and a turret/fire-control package closely related to the Brave Tiger.

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Switzerland / West Germany / Cold War

Panzer 87 Leopard 2

Tank · Tank / family

The Panzer 87 Leopard 2 was Switzerland's late-Cold-War solution to a modernization problem that domestic tank design could no longer solve economically.

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Iraq / Cold War

T-55 Enigma

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-55 Enigma was an Iraqi appliqué-armored conversion of the T-55-family main battle tank, probably undertaken in very small numbers between the late Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War.

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Romania / Cold War

TR-125

Tank · Main battle tank

The TR-125 was a Romanian prototype main battle tank of the late Cold War, most often described as a national reverse-engineering and redesign effort based on the Soviet T-72 family.

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Brazil / Cold War

EE-T1 / EE-T2 Osório

Tank · Main battle tank

The Osório was a Brazilian prototype main battle tank designed by Engesa, formally associated with the EE-T1 105 mm version and the EE-T2 120 mm export/Saudi-trial version.

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United States / Cold War

Stingray light tank

Tank · Light tank

The Stingray light tank was a deliberately pragmatic design: a conventional four-man, rear-engine, torsion-bar tracked vehicle weighing roughly twenty-one metric tons, armed with a low-recoil-force version of the 105 mm L7 gun and protected by welded Cadaloy steel…

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China / Cold War

Type 85

Tank · Tank / family

The Type 85 was not simply another incremental Type 59 derivative. It represented China's move from rounded cast turrets and limited modernization packages toward a welded, angular turret with composite armour, computerized fire control, and, in later versions, a…

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Soviet Union / Russia / Cold War

Object 187

Tank · Tank / family

Object 187 was the more ambitious, less production-friendly alternative to the vehicle that became T-90.

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Germany / Cold War

Leopard 1 post-Cold-War upgrade family

Tank · Main battle tank

The Leopard 1 post-Cold-War upgrade family was not a clean-sheet tank. It was the extended second life of West Germany’s first postwar main battle tank, centered on the Leopard 1A5 and on operator-specific rebuilds that kept the 105 mm L7-armed Leopard viable after…

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Croatia / Cold War

M-95 Degman / M-84D

Tank · Main battle tank

The M-95 Degman / M-84D is not a single clean production tank designation. It is a closely related Croatian development and modernization cluster rooted in the Yugoslav M-84 main battle tank, itself a T-72 derivative.

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United States / Cold War

M8 Armored Gun System

Tank · Tank / family

The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS) was a lightweight tracked direct-fire vehicle selected by the U.S. Army after the Cold War to replace the remaining M551 Sheridan capability in airborne and light forces.

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Russia / Cold War

Object 640 Black Eagle

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

Object 640 Black Eagle was not a production tank. It was a Russian prototype or demonstrator associated with Omsktransmash and the KBTM design bureau, developed from the T-80 industrial and technical base after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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South Africa / Cold War

Olifant Mk 1B / Mk 2

Tank · Tank / family

The Olifant was not a clean-sheet South African tank. It was a deep rebuild of British Centurion tanks and recovery vehicles acquired from the United Kingdom and later supported through additional hulls and parts channels.

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Ukraine / Cold War

T-64/T-84 Ukrainian modernized family

Tank · Tank / family

The T-64/T-84 Ukrainian modernized family is not a single tank model. It is a post-Soviet family grouping that joins Ukraine's work on the inherited T-64 fleet with the T-80UD-derived T-84/Oplot line designed and built around Kharkiv.

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Russia / multiple operators / Cold War

T-72 post-Soviet upgrade family

Tank · Tank / family

The T-72 post-Soviet upgrade family is not a clean-sheet tank. It is a long-running, state-supported effort to keep the huge T-72 chassis pool militarily relevant after the Soviet collapse.

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Slovakia / Cold War

T-72M2 Moderna

Tank · Tank / family

The Moderna was not a clean-sheet tank. It was a late Cold War / post-Cold-War modernization path for the Czechoslovak-built T-72M1, carried forward in Slovakia after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

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China / Pakistan / Ukraine / Cold War

VT1A / Type 90-II export family

Tank · Main battle tank

The VT1A / Type 90-II export family was a Chinese export-first main battle tank line that bridged older Type 80/85 engineering and the later VT-series export market.

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Iran / Cold War

Zulfiqar family

Tank · Main battle tank

What it was. Zulfiqar was a family of Iranian main battle tanks developed after the Iran-Iraq War to reduce dependence on foreign armored-vehicle supply chains.

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United States / Modern

M1 Abrams after 1991

Tank · Tank / family

The XM1 competition, M1, IPM1, baseline M1A1 production, and the Desert Storm-era family remain in the Cold War parent.

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Russia; late-Soviet design lineage / Modern

T-90 family

Tank · Main battle tank

What it was: The T-90 was Russia's first major post-Soviet main battle tank designation, although its roots were late Soviet.

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Italy / Modern

C1 Ariete / Ariete C2

Tank · Main battle tank

The C1 Ariete was Italy's post-Cold-War domestic main battle tank: a conventional four-person, rear-engine, turreted MBT with a NATO-standard 120 mm smoothbore gun, welded steel/composite armor, a digital fire-control system for its time, and automotive components…

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Germany / Modern

Leopard 2 modern family

Tank · Main battle tank

What the tank was. The Leopard 2 modern family is a third-generation Western main battle tank lineage continually upgraded after the Cold War. Earlier A0-A4 variants are covered only as context or when an A4 hull became the basis for a later modernization.

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Poland / Modern

PT-91 Twardy

Tank · Main battle tank

The PT-91 Twardy was not a clean-sheet main battle tank. It was a pragmatic Polish modernization of the T-72M1, intended to keep Poland's large Soviet-pattern armored fleet militarily useful while the country faced post-Cold-War budget stress, political realignment…

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Romania / Modern

TR-85M1 Bizonul

Tank · Main battle tank

The TR-85M1 Bizonul was not a clean-sheet post-1990 tank. It was Romania’s most comprehensive attempt to extend the combat utility of the TR-85, a national main battle tank line that had grown from the TR-77-580/TR-580 and the broader T-55 design tradition.

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China / Modern

ZTZ-96 / Type 96 family

Tank · Main battle tank

The Type 96 family represents a pragmatic Chinese answer to a familiar modernization problem: how to replace thousands of obsolete first-generation and second-generation tanks without waiting for the most sophisticated domestic MBT to become affordable in large numbers.

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United Kingdom / Modern

Challenger 2

Tank · Main battle tank

Challenger 2 was the United Kingdom’s second-generation Challenger-line main battle tank and the British Army’s principal heavy direct-fire platform after the Challenger 1 era.

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Ukraine / Modern

T-55AGM / T-55 modern Ukrainian upgrade

Tank · Tank / family

The T-55AGM mattered because it represented a particular moment in armored-vehicle history: the early-2000s export modernization market, when large fleets of Cold War tanks remained in storage or second-line service, but many operators could not afford new main…

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Georgia / Israel / Modern

T-72 SIM-1 / regional T-72 upgrades

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-72 SIM-1 was a Georgian modernization of inherited and imported T-72-series main battle tanks, associated in contemporary sources with Israel’s Elbit Systems and a broader Georgian effort to rebuild military capability after the Rose Revolution.

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Pakistan / China / Ukraine / Modern

Al-Khalid / MBT-2000 family

Tank · Main battle tank

The Al-Khalid family is Pakistan's indigenous-production MBT line derived from the Sino-Pakistani MBT-2000 / Type 90-II lineage. It entered Pakistan Army service around 2001 and remains active, with HIT listing Al-Khalid-I production and Al-Khalid as a featured product.

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China / Modern

ZTZ-99 / Type 99 family

Tank · Main battle tank

The ZTZ-99 / Type 99 family is the People’s Republic of China’s prestige main battle tank line: a relatively heavy, three-man, autoloaded, 125 mm-gunned family intended for elite PLA Ground Force formations rather than export.

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Czech Republic / Modern

T-72M4 CZ

Tank · Tank / family

The T-72M4 CZ was not a new tank design. It was a deep Czech modernization of T-72M/T-72M1 vehicles inherited from the Czechoslovak and Warsaw Pact armored tradition.

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Pakistan / Modern

Al-Zarrar

Tank · Tank / family

Al-Zarrar was not a clean-sheet Pakistani tank. It was a deep modernization of Pakistan’s large Type 59/T-59 fleet, intended to preserve armored mass while raising older Chinese-origin tanks closer to modern battlefield requirements.

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Argentina / Israel / Modern

TAM 2C / 2CA2

Tank · Main battle tank

The TAM 2C / 2CA2 is not a new tank family in the structural sense; it is a modernization line for Argentina's TAM, a 30-ton class medium tank/light MBT originally designed with West German assistance in the 1970s.

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China / Modern

VT-4 / MBT-3000

Tank · Main battle tank

The MBT-3000/VT-4 is NORINCO's modern export main battle tank family. Within this family, MBT-3000 is the development and marketing identity that leads into the VT-4 export-production identity.

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South Korea / Modern

K2 Black Panther

Tank · Main battle tank

The K2 Black Panther is South Korea’s flagship post-Cold-War main battle tank: a high-mobility, autoloaded, digitally integrated MBT designed around the Republic of Korea Army’s need to fight in constrained, mountainous, urban, and highly networked conditions.

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Russia / Modern

T-14 Armata

Tank · Main battle tank

The T-14 Armata was presented as a Russian “new generation” main battle tank: a vehicle designed around a three-person armored crew capsule, an unmanned turret, automatic loading, an advanced 125 mm gun, sensor and fire-control integration, explosive/dynamic…

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Iran / Modern

Karrar

Tank · Main battle tank

Karrar was publicly unveiled in March 2017 as Iran's advanced domestic main battle tank.

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France / Germany / Modern

EMBT / MGCS demonstrator family

Tank · Experimental / concept tank

The EMBT / MGCS demonstrator family is a Franco-German technology path developed around KNDS, the group formed from Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter.

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China / Modern

Type 15 / VT5 light tank family

Tank · Light tank

The Type 15 / VT5 family represents China's modern answer to the tactical problem that heavy main battle tanks are not always the best armored answer in mountain, plateau, jungle, waterlogged, or under-bridged regions.

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South Korea / Modern

K3 / Korean next-generation tank concept

Tank · Main battle tank

The K3 / Korean next-generation tank concept is a future main battle tank design path associated with Hyundai Rotem, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality.

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United Kingdom / Modern

Challenger 3

Tank · Main battle tank

Challenger 3 is the United Kingdom's answer to an unusually difficult modernization problem: how to preserve a sovereign heavy-armour capability without buying an entirely new MBT fleet and without leaving the British Army tied to a unique rifled-gun ammunition…

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Germany / Modern

Panther KF51

Tank · Tank / family

The Panther KF51 was Rheinmetall's answer to a specific post-2022 problem: Western armies wanted more lethality, more sensor fusion, better top-attack and drone-era survivability, and a credible path beyond existing Leopard 2 and Leclerc upgrade cycles before the…

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Israel / Philippines / Modern

Sabrah light tank

Tank · Light tank

The Sabrah light tank is a modern, export-oriented direct-fire armored vehicle centered on a 105 mm turret and a digital mission-equipment package.

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Türkiye / Modern

Altay / New Altay

Tank · Main battle tank

Altay / New Altay is a Turkish main battle tank family and industrial program. It combines a conventional NATO-caliber 120 mm L55 smoothbore gun, a four-person crew, modern fire-control and sensor systems, modular passive and reactive armor, and an active protection…

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France / Modern

Leclerc Evolution

Tank · Tank / family

Leclerc Evolution shows how KNDS France is trying to preserve the Leclerc industrial and design line while MGCS remains years away.

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Germany / Modern

Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0

Tank · Main battle tank

The Leopard 2 A-RC 3.0 is a 2024 KNDS Deutschland main battle tank demonstrator and deep-modernization proposal for the Leopard 2 family.

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