As a result of all these changes, Arjun’s weight ballooned from 40 tons to 62 tons, making what would have been a nimble tank one of the more sluggish tanks on the modern battlefield. Engineers also had to accommodate new technologies, including GPS navigation, laser warning receivers, and reactive armor. The main gun was upgraded from a 105-millimeter to 120-millimeter gun, while the armor was increased to deal with advances in anti-tank weapons. India’s defense establishment was not ready to build a modern main battle tank, and the Arjun was updated several times during the design process. Others, unfairly or not, are simply good tanks that have soldiered on for too long. Many of the “worst” tanks are badly designed or built, their flaws hidden for decades before finally being revealed in actual combat. Tank warfare is highly competitive, and bad tanks are quickly destroyed in wartime. The armies of the world operate a grand total of 73,000 tanks of all types.
🎖Don’t miss any of our best-in-class military and defense coverage. The result has been six weeks of intense, grinding warfare, the scale of which has not been seen in Europe since World War II, with tanks fighting on both sides. In late February, at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s command, more than 1,000 tanks marched on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The Russian invasion of Ukraine reintroduced Europe to something many thought had been relegated to the proverbial trash heap of history: large-scale, mechanized warfare.
Some tanks, however, are either poorly designed, poorly built, or should have headed to the scrap heap a long time ago. In a world where there’s no room for second place, most tanks are actually quite good. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put a new focus on mechanized land warfare. Photo credit: Laski Diffusion - Getty Images
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