This is particularly true on rural roads and over bridges but also travelling long distances on paved roadways. The difficulty is that this MBT has become increasingly difficult to move easily in response to operational demands. The current generation of main battle tank (MBT) has become to some military the ideal combination of mobility, firepower, and protection that cannot be compromised. It is a tactical lesson armies operating in the Asian-Pacific appear to have taken to heart as they acquire not only modern main battle tanks but develop and field other highly manoeuvrable and deployable direct fire gun systems. The fact is that the tanks attributes are multiplied when it is employed and properly supported in terrain and conditions where or when it is not anticipated. The success of Japan’s lightly armoured and armed tanks in overcoming the British Commonwealth defence of the Malaya peninsula in 1942 is a case in point. In fact, history has repeatedly shown that small numbers of tanks even with lesser capabilities have dominated battlefields. The impact of these attributes is not necessarily dependant on even some ‘perfect’e mix of these characteristics.

It is the combination of mobility, firepower, and protection that defines the tank.

Army tank modern