Main Battle Tanks
The symbol of battlefield strength has always been measured with the Main Battle Tank.

1 7TP The 7TP series was of a Polish design, based on the British Vickers-Armstrong 6-ton light tank (Mark E). When war with Germany was rolling about the horizon, the Polish government saw a need to replace their diminutive tanket... 1936

2 AMX-30 The AMX-30 stemmed from a post-World War 2 design that saw many nations in Europe attempting to refit and update their armor inventories. With a three-way organized effort between West Germany, France and Italy to design and ... 1966

3 AMX-32 The AMX-32 was a further development of the commercially successful French-made AMX-30 main battle tank. Along with improvements made to the main armament, crew protection and internal components, the system was intended to b... 1979

4 Centurion (A41) Though considered a pivotal tank design of the Cold War, the Centurion main battle tank actually had its design roots in the latter stages of World War 2. The tank was conceived of as a new cruiser tank system in response to ... 1945

5 Challenger 1 (FV4030/4) The Challenger series was an off-shoot of the main battle tank designed to an Iranian export order that was to be designated as the "Shir 2". When the Shah of Iran was overthrown by a fundamentalist regime in 1979, the initia... 1983

6 Challenger 2 (FV4034) The Challenger 2 represents the British answer to next generation main battle tank technology. The formidable system combines crew survivability, firepower and performance into a complete system worthy of attention by any ene... 1994

7 Chieftain The British Chieftain main battle tank appeared in the 1960s and quickly established itself as the most powerful tank on the market, that is, until the arrival of the West German Leopard 1 series. A replacement for the aging ... 1963

8 CM-11 Brave Tiger (M48H) The CM-11 is a Taiwanese creation that evolves the American-made M48 Patton series of main battle tanks even further. The CM-11 (known as the "Brave Tiger") melds the turret of the M48 Patton series to the newer hulls of the ... 1990

9 Cruiser Tank Comet (A34) The Comet Cruiser tank was arguably Britain's most powerful tank platform in the Second World War. Arriving in late (November) 1944, tank crews had to be retrained in the finer points of this exceptional weapons system, thus ... 1944

10 Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Centaur (A27L) The Centaur series of main battle tanks was a product of Leyland Motors and developed alongside the competing Cromwell series of tank and built to the same specifications. The Centaur grew into a very similar design when comp... 1942

11 Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Cromwell (A27M) The Cromwell (officially known as Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M)) was one of two design proposals submitted to fulfill the British Army specification A27. The specification centered on a direct replacement for the ar... 1943

12 Cruiser Tank Ram Like most of the Allied nations at the start of World War 2, Canada saw itself with an outdated armor corps made up of mostly World War 1-era equipment passed on to them by the United States. With Britain firmly entrenched wi... 1941

13 Cruiser Tank Sentinel AC (Australian Cruiser) The Sentinel tank was an indigenous Australian design of World War 2, appearing at a time when Australia lacked the tank-design know-how, manufacturing facilities to produce a design en mass and Japanese expansion into the Pa... 1942

14 DIO Zulfiqar The Iranian designed and built Zulfiqar main battle tank is said to be an upgraded version of the Soviet-built T-55 main battle tank. The difference being that the Zulfiqar features an updated powerplant, a computerized fire ... 1999

15 DRDO Arjun (Lion) The Arjun (named after the Indian mythological hero "Arjuna") represents the first indigenous Indian tank design. Having received priceless experience in the local license production of the Vijayanta (essentially the British ... 1996

16 Duro Dakovic M95 Degman The Croatian Duro Dakovic M95 Degman Main Battle Tank is a locally-produced weapon system that shares many similarities with its Russian counterpart, the T-72 Main Battle Tank, although the M95 features a vast amount of impro... 1995

17 FCM Char 2C The Char 2C was being planned and designed in the final year of the First World War. The system would become the largest tank of its kind to ever see operational service in any capacity and was ordered for mass production in ... 1921

18 Fiat M.15/42 The Italian Fiat M.15/42 medium tank was nothing more than a further development of the M.14/41 series with one of the more distinguishable features being the exclusion of the left side-hull crew hatch in the M.15/42. Though ... 1943

19 FV214 Conqueror The British-produced Conqueror was designed to be fielded in conjunction with the hugely successful Centurion Main Battle Tank (still in service in many parts of the world today) in post-war Europe. The system was classified ... 1955

20 General Dynamics M1 Abrams The M1 Abrams was designed by Chrysler Defense and produced under the General Dynamics brand. The tank was introduced in 1979, entered service in 1980 and is still undergoing production. The system has been featured in the 19... 1981

21 GIAT Leclerc The introduction of the Leclerc main battle tank into French Army ranks brought the much outdated armored units on par with global forces. The system featured state-of-the-art systems allowing for excellent off-road performan... 1992

22 HIT Al Khalid / Type 90-II / MBT 2000 The Al-Khalid is essentially a hybrid tank design with systems, armament and subsystems originating from a variety of global sources though the tank system itself, as a whole, is a locally-produced product native to Pakistan.... 2000

23 IS-3/JS-3 (Josef Stalin) The IS-3 ("IS" for "Iosef Stalin" or "Josef Stalin") was an attempt to build upon the already formidable IS-2. Improvements over the IS-2 model included a redesigned rounded turret and a new heavily-sloped front armor configu... 1945

24 Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Leopard 1 A classic post-war German tank design, the Leopard 1 would feature some resemblance to German tank design and engineering from World War 2, with the jagged skirting and turret-forward placement. The Leopard 1 entered servi... 1965

25 Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Leopard 2 The Leopard 2 design stemmed from the cancellation of the collaborative MBT-70 design effort that included the United States of America. The result was a major upgrade to German frontline defense that replaced the aging Leopa... 1979

26 KV-2 (Klimenti Voroshilov) The KV-2 series of heavy tank was a mammoth follow-up to the successful KV-I. The idea behind this successor was a utilization of the KV-1 chassis with a marriage to a more potent main gun in the form of the M1938 122mm calib... 1940

27 M103 With the Cold War in full bloom, design of heavy tanks for the United States Army increased in an effort to mimic the success of the World War Two / Korean War-era M26 Pershing Heavy Tank (detailed elsewhere on this site). Th... 1954

28 M26 Pershing The M-26 was developed near the end of World War II and named after World War One General John J Pershing of the American Expeditionary Force. The M26 Pershing had a slow and arduous beginning, when the need for a heavy tank ... 1945

29 M46 Patton The M46 Patton is classified as a medium tank and can further be classified as a 'stop-gap' measurement to the next generation of US tank engineering. The M46 Patton was basically a modernized M-26 Pershing Heavy Tank from Wo... 1949

30 M47 Patton (Patton 1) The M47 Patton tank saw a short life in frontline service, being replaced promptly by the M48 Pattons as early as 1953 (the M47s entered service in 1951. Because of their short life, they did not see any combat service in the... 1951

31 M48 Patton The M48 Patton Main Battle Tank was effectively the first tank engineering design in post-war America. The M46 and M47 Patton versions were merely developments of the World War Two M26 Pershing, which in itself, was a develop... 1952

32 Magach (M48 / M60) Israel needed tanks to defend her borders from the Arab states and the M-48 tank was the choice based on reliability and available stock. Israel ordered 1950 era M-48 tanks from stock piles in Germany as part of the reparati... 1968

33 Medium Tank Mk A Whippet The Mark A was developed from the “Little Willie” design for use in World War I and called the "Whippet" by the designer. The tank was designed to exploit breaches in the battle line created by heaver tanks like the Mark 1. ... 1918

34 Medium Tank, M3 (Lee / Grant) The M3 medium tank series appeared at a time when Allied armor (in respects to both armor protection and armament) was generally inferior to their German counterparts in Europe and North Africa. The M3 evolved from the M2 med... 1942

35 Medium Tank, M4 / M4 (Sherman) The M4 Sherman series of medium tanks proved an invaluable asset to Allied operations North Africa, Europe and the Pacific theaters of war in World War 2. The Sherman proved a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-maintain and - pe... 1942

36 Medium Tank, M4A3E2 (Sherman Jumbo) The M4A3E2 or (76) Sherman Jumbo was designated an assault tank and not a tank destroyer as commonly reported in other sources. It provided applique armor to front and sides of the hull, a standard 75mm main gun and HE (High ... 1944

37 Merkava (Chariot) The Merkava series of main battle tank represents the backbone of Israeli armor elements. The system was the result of extensive experience in the field of armored warfare done exclusively with foreign equipment, mostly US pr... 1979

38 Mitsubishi Type 74 The Type 74 Main Battle Tanks were developed to replace the outdated Type 61's in service with Japanese Defense Forces. The firm of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries produces the Type 74, which features the British-designed L7 105m... 1975

39 Olifant (Elephant) The Olifant is a further development of the successful British Centurion tank design. When the UN imposed a trade embargo on military good sales into South African, the African nation searched from within to find a suitable c... 1983

40 Oto Melara C-1 Ariete A conventional, if unspectacular, main battle tank in service with the Italian Army. The C-1 Ariete Main Battle Tank belongs to the same family of vehicles produced by the consortium of IVECO and Oto Melara that includes the ... 1984

41 Oto Melara OF-40 The OF-40 main battle tank is produced jointly by the Oto Melara firm and FIAT. The weapon system is a bit under-gunned by current standards which dictate a frontline MBT to utilize at least a 120mm main weapon. FIAT produced... 1981

42 PT-91 Twardy The PT-91 Twardy (Hand) is a further development of the Soviet T-72 series of main battle tank, though produced in Poland under license from the T-72M1 series. The system features a powerful 125mm main gun, an autoloading amm... 1994

43 Rheinmetall Landsysteme TAM / VCTan The TAM ("Tanque Argentine Mediano") tank was developed by the German firm of Rheinmetall (formerly Thyssen Henschel) after several companies submitted contracts. The Argentine need was for a modern main battle tank of medium... 1977

44 ROTEM K1 (88 Tank) The South Korean military has used tanks developed and produced in the United States from the time of the Korean War. In the 1970’s the Korean Government was concerned with its aging American family of tanks made up of the ... 1986

45 ROTEM K2 (Black Panther) The ROK (Republic of Korea - i.e. "South Korea") Military has four branch divisions - the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. The largest contingent is the Army with an average of about 550,000 draftees in service at any give... 2011

46 Sd.Kfz. 141 Panzerkampfwagen III (Pz.Kpf.W III) / Panzer 3 Development of Hitler's Panzers was key to his early overwhelming victories in the East and West. The Panzer I light tank became Germany's first tank development after World War 1 and, though it was limited as a "true" tank i... 1939

47 SdKfz 161 Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV) The PzKpfw IV was a German Army Medium Tank that would go on to see production last throughout the entire span of World War Two. More than a handful for the Allies that faced it, the system appeared in a variety of forms thro... 1936

48 SdKfz 171 Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (PzKpfw V) The Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther" series of heavy tanks formed the backbone of the German Army through much of the pivotal war years. The system offered up decent performance but, more importantly, was armed with a powerful ma... 1942

49 SdKfz 181 Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (PzKpfw VI) The PzKpfw VI Tiger began as a Henschel design of several other heavy tanks meeting specified German requirements based on speed, armor protection and a powerful main gun. Pitted against a Porsche offering, both prototype tan... 1942

50 Stridsvagn 103 (S-Tank) The Scandinavian Strv 103 'S-Tank' was an extreme departure from conventional main battle tank design in post-war Europe, or the world for that matter. Tank doctrine in World War Two reserved this type of design for Assault G... 1966

51 Sturmpanzerwagen A7V The comical-looking Sturmpanzerwagen A7V series was the first German attempt at an armored fighting vehicle - a tank - and appeared in World War 1 to limited success. Early on, the Germans had approached the idea of developin... 1917

52 T-10 / IS-10 (Iosif Stalin / Josef Stalin) The T-10 can be considered the pinnacle "Josef Stalin" tank design as it is the tank that superceded previous forms and became the final product of the series. It sported an all new main gun, redesigned body and turret and pu... 1953

53 T-34 The Soviet-produced T-34 was a medium tank that attained legendary status in the Second World War. Itself a product of much engineering and design of earlier models - the BT-IS, A-20, A-30 and the T-32 all coming before it - ... 1940

54 T-34/76 The T-34/76 was nothing more than the German designation used for the base T-34 medium tank in use by the Soviet Union during World War 2. For a full history of the T-34, visit the T-34 entry.... 1940

55 T-34/85 The T-34/85 is designated as an 'up-gunned' version of the familiar and successful base T-34 tank build by the Soviet Union and fielded during the Second World War. The T-34/85 featured a more powerful main gun - of 85mm cali... 1944

56 T-54 The T-54 series of Soviet main battle tanks came about with development after World War 2, ending with the system becoming operationally available by 1949. It can be said that no other Cold War or post-Cold War tank has seen ... 1949

57 T-55 The T-55 Medium Tank is probably the most internationally prolific piece of tracked armor as it can be found in dozens of military inventories across the globe. It has seen military frontline service from the invasion of Hung... 1958

58 T-62 The T-62 tank represented an update to the T-54/55 series of Soviet-produced main battle tanks. Conventional systems include a 115mm main gun, self-defense machine guns from aircraft (12.7mm machine gun) and enemy infantry an... 1961

59 T-64 The T-64 main battle tank looks very similar to the T-72 that followed it. The design was intended to provide Soviet forces with a new type of tank to field in number though reliability issues with mechanical components limit... 1970

60 T-72 The Soviet-era T-72 Main Battle Tank is closely related to the T-64. The T-72 features a low-profile and is arguable one of the most recognizable of the Soviet-post war designs ever made. The weapon system as a whole is also ... 1974

61 T-80 Featuring a modified turret and ceramic armor, the T-80 Main Battle Tank holds the distinction of being the first Russian tank to be powered by gas turbines. It maintains the low profile of earlier Soviet tank designs and can... 1979

62 T-90 The T-90 Main Battle Tank was designed as a direct descendent of the earlier T-72 Main Battle Tank, maintaining many of those original features and systems. Many view the T-72 as the best of the entire T-series of tanks, maki... 1999

63 Tank Mk I (Centipede / Big Willie / Mother) The Mk I was a ground breaking medium-class tank system of the First World War that combined well-thought out design and effective battlefield use in conjunction with ground and air forces. The Mk I system would become an ins... 1916

64 Tank Mk IV Male / Female The Tank Mk IV was a further development of a British heavy tank design that started with the Mk I series. The system was built upon the lessons learned of that system and included benefits garnered from the development of th... 1917

65 Tank Mk V Like its predecessors before it (the Mk I, Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV systems), the Mk V was an evolved design based on battlefield needs and experience. It was the first heavy tank in this family to feature a powerplant specifical... 1918

66 Type 59 The NORINCO-produced Type 59 was actually based on the purchase and subsequent local licensed production of the Soviet T-54 main battle tank (just redesignated as the Type 59 in Chinese service). The system, at least external... 1959

67 Type 61 After the close of hostilities in World War 2, the Japanese Empire was rightfully stripped of all war-making capabilities that included their heavy arms industries. Though Japanese tanks in World War 2 proved any but effectiv... 1961

68 Type 69 The NORINCO-produced Type 69 is a further indigenous development based on previous Soviet hardware purchases. The Type 69 is crewed by four personnel and comes in a type I and type II model flavor with the main difference bei... 1969

69 Type 80 The NORINCO Type 80 is based on the Type 69 main battle tank albeit with an entirely new hull design making the Type 80 an entirely new breed of tank in the series. As no automatic loading system is present in the turret, a c... 1980

70 Type 85-II The NORINCO-produced Type-85-II is a further development of the Type 80 main battle tank but offers up a host of improvements over its predecessor. Borrowing from design lessons learned from previous purchases of Soviet-era e... 1985

71 Type 90 The Japanese-produced Type 90 Main Battle Tank is in service with the Japanese Self-Defense Force and features the German-designed Rheinmetall 120mm smooth-bore main gun (produced in Japan by Japan Steel Works under license) ... 1992

72 Type 97 Chi-Ha The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a production of the Mitsubishi company and designed to replace the aging Type 89B series for the Imperial Japanese Army. The design of the Type 97 Chi-Ha system was practical - if not down right fundame... 1937

73 Type 99 (Type 98G) The Type 99 is a considerable and formidable addition to the armor line up of the People's Liberation Army of China. The Type 99 first appeared in service in 1998 and paraded in public in 1999. Though it is in relatively smal... 1998

74 Vickers MBT The Vickers Main Battle Tank series was created with export customers in mind. It was soon discovered that foreign operators of the Centurion would find it's successor - the Chieftain - too expensive to procure and effectivel... 1965