List of main battle tanks by generation

British Centurion main battle tank
T-55 main battle tank

Main battle tanks are often classified as belonging to a particular generation, although the actual definition and membership in these generations are not defined. Soviet military planners organize tanks with the first generation of tanks up to 1950, and four generations of tanks[1] (with the first main battle tank being the third-generation T-64), while American strategists organize main battle tanks into three generations.[Note 1][2] The military of the People's Republic of China also recognizes three generations of its own tanks.

In 1973, Rolf Hilmes saw three tank generations and three "intermediate generations", which consisted mainly of upgraded vehicles.[3] The first generation of main battle tanks was based on or influenced by designs of World War II, most notably the Soviet T-34.[4] The second generation was equipped with NBC protection (only sometimes), night-vision devices, a stabilized main gun and at least a mechanical fire-control system.[4] The third generation is in Western parlance determined by the usage of thermal imagers, digital fire-control systems and special (composite) armour[4] (Soviet doctrine, however, de-emphasizes thermal vision and electronic fire control, preferring large-caliber gun and engines of high power).

However, Hilmes acknowledged that tanks cannot be definitively grouped by generations, as each tank-producing country develops and introduces its tanks in tune with its own ideas and needs. He also states that breakdown of postwar tanks by generations is based on timeframe and technical factors, as a basis for further discussion.

  1. ^ Sewell, Stephen 'Cookie' (1998). "Why Three tanks?" (PDF). Armor. 108 (4). US Army Armor Center, Fort Knox, KY: 46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-28. The Soviets saw tank generations in this manner: 1920–1945, first generation; 1946–1960, second generation; 1961–1980, third generation; and 1981–present, fourth generation. Since the last really new tank design, the T-80, came out in 1976, they feel that they have not produced a true Fourth Generation Tank Design. In comparison, they count the M1, Challenger, and Leopard 2 as Fourth Generation and the LeClerc as Fifth Generation.
  2. ^ Lamontagne 2003, pp. 7–8.
  3. ^ Hilmes, Rolf (1983). Kampfpanzer der Die Entwickelungen der Nachkriegszeit (in German). Verlag Soldat und Technik. ISBN 3-524-89001-6, p. 7.
  4. ^ a b c Hilmes 1983, p. 8.


Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).