Future Main Battle Tank - Mobility Requirement Poses a New Dimension to the Tank Design

The Main Battle Tank (MBT) is a mobile weapon platform and its design is dictated by its strategic / tactical and battlefield mobility requirement in the battlefield. Strategic / tactical mobility of the current MBT is by rail or road transportation. The tank dimensions are arrived based on this requirement. The battlefield mobility requirement dictates the vehicle performance like speed, acceleration, obstacle crossing ability etc. But the likely operational requirement of the Future MBT is that it should be rapidly deployable with air transportation capability and high agility. This mobility requirement poses a new dimension to the battle tank design. The Future Main Battle Tank needs to be lighter, smaller, faster and yet it should offer maximum punch on the enemy. This paper describes the current design philosophy, future operational requirement, change in the Mobility concepts of the future MBT, choice and technologies of the propulsion system and suspension.