Watch: DARPA Is Changing the Tank As We Know It

Watch: DARPA Is Changing the Tank As We Know It

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We all know tanks, more or less. At least, we all know what they are for: Advancing headlong into the enemy’s territory and winning the battle. That’s why tanks are so heavily armoured – so that they can ram into the battle and withstand any opposition. That was the concept since World War I, and so it remained for decades. But DARPA is not an agency to accept traditional concepts, and this innovative agency is trying to change more than the tanks themselves – rather the whole concept of them.

DARPA wants a new, smarter, tank-like vehicle that does something different. DARPA wants a tank that can find the enemy, and then route around it.

So why the change of tone? As powerful as tanks are, they have major flaws. Armor makes them heavy, which limits how and where they can fight. It might not be a problem if there’s time to put tanks in the battle area in advance, and to scout in advance the terrain where the fight will happen, but on a moment’s notice – tanks may prove to be of no actual use.

Now DARPA wants to build tanks that can go anywhere a helicopter can go. That means they need to be lighter.

The heavy weight of the tank is due mostly to its armor. But take the armor away and you’re left with, well, a box on wheels that serves no real protection against direct hits. One way to compensate for light armor is to simply avoid the enemy, as demonstrated by these concept videos.

DARPA awarded contracts to several companies for developing parts of the Ground X-Vehicle Technology program. Besides a light weight and the ability to drive over all terrain, they want to make sure the vehicles are hard for enemies to see, on the visual, infrared, and electromagnetic spectrums, as well as have “semi-autonomous driver assistance and automation of key crew functions.”