Top Ten Tanks of the All time

According to the History Channels 'Super Weapons' Top ten tanks of the world theses are them.

10.American M4 Sherman (This was completely full of flaws but was easy to produce so that is why it is number 10)

9. Israile Merkava

8. Soviet T-54/55

7. British Challenger

6. German Panzer Mk IV

5. British Centurion

4. British WW1 Mk I tank

3. German Panzer Mk VI Tiger (apparently this was a dream for the Germans and a disaster fro the allies . Plus this made me go off, 'The tiger was the most technologically adavanced tank in the world during WW2 and
she was mechanically perfect WHAT!! where are they getting there information from? THey did not ever mention the flaws of the tiger)

2. American M1 Abram (apparently the Best tank on the Battle field today absolutely PERFECT. The only tanks capable of knocking it out are the tanks that the allies of america have (leopard, Challenger,)

1. Soviet T-34 (Which model? they didnt say. It was Robust, awesome, flawless, and very ugly. Apparently a tactic imployed all the time by the T-34 crews was to Ram Tigers What?, and it is FANTASTIC.)

I think that these guys need to get there information right before claiming it as facts.


Didn't make the 'Cut'

German Leopard tank
French Lacqueck
American M3 Grant
British Churchill tank


I am tied of watching documentaries where they persist in comparing Equipment and men from different eras' of history for eg. What if a German PZ MK VI went up against the American M1 Abram? They are from compeletely different times with different technology and crew training as well as situations of tank deployment and battle situations.

 

I really don't watch THC that much anymore. They don't do any checks on the accuracy of the information that is presented in thier shows that they buy. It is mainly for entertainment. And in many of the shows there are blatant flaws,biases and innaccuracies that many viewers have noticed. One of our fellow members (no longer with us ) here basically believed what was said in one show because the producer or director said so LOL .

 

Obviously the former member was misinformed. It's the internet that is the source that is to be believed over all others.


tom

 

LOL I tend to take all sources with a grain of salt. Especially the Internet. Followed by "Documentaries". I will never claim that a Internet source is 100% accurate .

 

thats "leclerc" not lacqueck or whatever

 

I didn't catch that Hawkerace LOl. Figures that someone from KEEBecK would catch that . LOL

 

If you are learning your history from television, then you are not learning any history.

 

Thankyou I wasn't sure on the spelling, so I thought I would give it a go

I never believe documentaries unless I back up what they are saying with books and other sources. Although they are good to watch some of the videos they have, even if they do put scene's from movies in them.

 

No surprise that the T-34 made #1 really. This marvel (with all of her flaws) had more impact on a nation then any other ( I would presume )...........


As for the history channel, I only watch it now when referred to ancient battles and even then I take it with a grain of salt.

 

Nonsense! M1's have been taken out in Iraq by RPG's and IED's. The best tank in service today is without doubt the Challenger 2, the only ones that have been taken out in combat were hit by other Chally 2's, the new armour they are fitted with is pretty much impervious to anything on the battlefield. The only problem it has is reliability. Even the targetting systems on the Challenger are (according to a chap I met who is a C2 commander and recently went across on an exchange to a US armoured unit) better than those on the M1. Incidentally this isn't patriotism or anything similar, just joy that our government got something right!

 

I hope you don't mean me, or somebody needs to learn some Canadian Geography ;|

 

Here's a partial list of those I would include (in no particular order yet):

French FT 17
Panzer III
M4 Sherman
T 34
The "Patton" series (M47 to M60)
T 54/55
Centurian

 

Military Channel :: Top Ten

This show is on The Military Channel also. They do quite a few "Top Tens." I view these shows as entertainment but I agree with them that the T-34 made #1 with the criteria they set on how they're judged.
Fear factor, innovation and so forth.

 

Hi tomcat,
You are correct, one cannot compare two tanks from two eras. However I believe you can compare to all other tanks in that era giving a particular grade and then compare final averages with those to make a list like this. then again, it's all for fun anyhow.

I like the inclusion of the British MK 1 from WWI. By WWI standards it was excellent.

 

Very good point you made there T.A.

TV Docs are good and interesting but are no substitute for a good book.

 

I'd take issue with that. They probably are the best tank for the Britts. However there are weapons out there that will kill a Challenger or an M2 or Leopard or a T-90. Nothing is impervious.

Some would say that's a big problem. Just like some say the fuel consumption of an M1 is. How much of a problem it is depends on what you are asking the vehicle to do and the support available.

The question is are they beter in an abosulte sence or better because of some factor that may be less relevant. For instance originally the thermals on the M-60A5 were "better" than those on the M1. This was due to the room available. However those same space conctraints made the M1 a smaller lower profile target. Another example is that they were looking at a new gun for one of the M1 variants at one point in time. The new gun was a little more leathal and more accurate when the vehicle was stationary but less accurate on the move. Since US doctrine relies heavily on fireing on the move the new gun wasn't adopted even though it was "better" in a number of ways.

Another way of looking at it is the Merkava is I think indeputedly the best tank for Israel. It is probably not the best tank for either Britain or the US or for that matter Germany or Russia. So is it the best tank?

 

True, probably badly phrased by me I guess. What I mean to say is that there are very few weapons it is ever likely to be attacked by that can destroy it. At the very least, it is fairly safe from RPG fire unlike the Abrams.

Depends what you expect them to do, with the modifications made for desert warfare their reliability issues have been pretty much dealt with, the troops seem to love them so it can't be that big a problem.

Well, C2's can identify, lase and destroy targets faster and with a better hit rate than the Abrams from what I'm told, apparently largely due to the way the commander and gunner are able to work thanks to the targeting systems.

Well, by that logic the T34 is the best tank for an African nation that can't afford anything else, doesn't make it particularly good in this day and age. All I'm saying is that from what I have been told the C2 is better than anything else out there in terms of firepower, mobility and survivability, which to my mind are the three key factors in determining how good a tank is.

 

I think we are all some what more in favor of the equipment from our own country

 

Are you impying that some here have a Nationalistic Bias when it comes to some subjects? LOL.

 

yes that is what i am
Implying

Its hard to not do this and it is ok if it is not taken to far