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In just a few years of the Second World War, tank design in the major powers advanced enormously. The Soviet Union entered the 1940s with BT-series tanks, multi-turreted T-28s, and other prewar designs, but by 1945 it was already testing the first prototypes of what would become the T-54. With its combination of a powerful 100-mm gun, strong armor protection, and good mobility, the new tank clearly outclassed most wartime medium tanks.
The British ground tech tree recently gained its first Indian-designed tank in War Thunder — the Arjun Mk.1. Its silhouette is immediately reminiscent of other MBTs, just with slightly different proportions. That resemblance isn’t entirely coincidental: during development, India collaborated with the German firm Krauss-Maffei, the company behind the iconic Leopard 2. The German inspiration is especially noticeable in the turret, so that’s where we’ll start.
During the Second World War, the Soviet Army gained enormous experience in tank warfare. Tanks had to fight from ambushes, destroy fortified firing positions, defend key areas, and assault enemy lines. After the war, particular attention was paid to reducing the silhouette of armored vehicles. A lower tank was easier to conceal, harder to detect, and more difficult to hit.
China's lineup of domestic planes that were inspired by the aircraft of the Soviet Su-27 series, has gained another fighter. And this time it's not a carrier-based one like the J-15T. What we have here is the land-based multirole J-16 — a big, powerful, heavy, and very well armed multirole strike fighter.
British battleship names typically referenced monarchs and historical figures, various corners of the empire, mythological characters, and naval traditions. In 1911, the lead ship of a new class — an evolution of the Orion — was laid down at Portsmouth. She was named King George V in honor of the recently crowned king.
The British Army has always needed military vehicles capable of operating in remote regions. During World War II, that role fell to AEC armored cars and light tanks, but by the early 1960s the existing fleet was in dire need of replacement. At the same time, the defense budget left designers with very little breathing room.
By the mid-1930s, Europe was once again caught up in an arms race. Before long, it spread to other parts of the world as well. The United States could not remain on the sidelines either. Events in Europe and Asia were making it increasingly clear that geographic isolation alone was no guarantee of security.
We’ve already seen plenty of strange military mashups in War Thunder. You’d think experiments like these would’ve been left somewhere in the distant past. But no! European engineers decided to combine two modern MBTs: the German Leopard 2A7 and the French Leclerc S2. And that’s how the EMBT was born. So what came out of this Franco-German tank-building set? Let’s find out.