The results of the bidding for the new light tank of the US Army's "Mobile Fire Protection" (MPF) were announced on June 28. General Dynamics Land Systems' solution (hereinafter referred to as General MPF) finally passed the evaluation and was selected by the U.S. Army as the next-generation light tank for the infantry division.
Subsequently, the US military signed a relevant contract with General Dynamics Land Systems. The Army will order 96 general MPF tanks from General Dynamics. The contract price is approximately US$1.14 billion. The average price of each tank is US$11.875 million. In 2025, General Motors will deliver 42 tanks in advance for the Army to form a battalion-sized tank force.
According to the U.S. military plan, the U.S. military will purchase a total of 504 light tanks produced by General Motors in the future. Each light tank division similar to the Stryker brigade in the U.S. military will be equipped with a light tank battalion.
When seeing this news, the first thing many people think of is our 5 light tank . When it was revealed that the Type 15 tank was under development, there was a lot of opposition in the country. The reasons put forward by these opponents were surprisingly consistent: "What is the use of light tanks? The U.S. Army, the number one in the world, does not equip light tanks anymore. We Why waste money on this project?”
These people must have felt slapped in the face when the news came out today. Many domestic netizens also said that it was always us who crossed the river by touching the eagle sauce, but now the situation has changed and it has become the hawk that touches us across the river.
But this statement is actually not very accurate. The needs of China and the United States for light tanks are not exactly the same, so it is not appropriate to simply use the saying that whoever touches the river crosses the river.
If you want to talk about why the United States suddenly became interested in light tanks, the story must start with the Gulf War . After the U.S. military easily won the Gulf War, it suddenly felt that heavy armor strength was not so important. Iraq 's huge armored forces were unable to fight back under the coalition's air strikes, and no matter how thick the armor was, they couldn't withstand it. After the U.S. Army completes its air strikes, it only needs to send its troops to the city to complete the occupation, and there will be almost no resistance in the middle.
After this battle, the US military began to study how to reduce the weight of heavy equipment, so the Stryker Brigade came into being. In the US military plan, the brigade is mainly equipped with 8-wheeled Stryker armored vehicles. Each company is equipped with 14 vehicles, with a total of 108 infantrymen who can dismount and fight. The command and communication system can cover every squad. In order to ensure good attack and anti-armor capabilities without heavy equipment, these vehicle-mounted infantry are also equipped with a large number of "Javelin" anti-tank missiles . The most important thing is that all equipment of the Stryker brigade can be airlifted by US military C-130 transport aircraft.
Such a unit has strong information capabilities, good firepower, and can fly on C130 transport aircraft. Such a unit is perfect for the US military.
However, in the subsequent war, when the Stryker Brigade was actually sent to the battlefield, the US military discovered that it had been careless. The brigade was effective during offensive operations, but its weaknesses gradually became apparent in subsequent security battles. There are two main points:
1. The armor is light and can be easily destroyed by the militants' individual anti-tank weapons in security battles;
2. The firepower is weak. Compared with the 120mm smoothbore gun of the M1 tank, it is a deterrent. Obviously insufficient strength.
Then why not equip the Stryker brigade with M1A2 tanks? No, the main advantage of the Stryker Brigade is that it is light and can be carried around the world by C130 transport aircraft. If paired with an M1A2 tank, it would be too heavy, and the C130 transport plane would not be able to carry it at all.
Under this situation, the US military's demand for light tanks has become urgent. The requirements for fire protection are not high. The most important thing is that it can board the C130 transport aircraft. The new light tank plan of the United States comes into being under this situation. And born.
China’s needs are different from those of the United States. Our country is vast and many times, one piece of equipment cannot meet the needs of all environments.Take the southern region with dense water networks as an example. In the 1990s, we used armored forces to conduct a lot of experiments in this environment. The final conclusion was that in order to adapt to the southern environment, the weight of the tank had to be controlled. Within 36 tons.
Although the Type 62 light tank we equipped at the time met this condition, after all, the tank was too old. Except for weight, all performance had lagged behind this era. Under such an environment, our army put forward the demand for a new light tank, and the development of the 5 type was put on the agenda.
In 2018, the Type 15 tank was equipped with the People's Liberation Army. The data released at that time was astonishing. The total combat weight was only 35 tons, and the maximum driving speed was 70 kilometers per hour. In terms of weapons, its new discarding sabot fin armor-piercing projectile can easily penetrate the frontal armor of the US military's foreign trade version of the M1A2 main battle tank . After installing the plateau troops, the Indian army on the opposite side suddenly found that its armored strength was at a disadvantage. To describe it in the words of netizens, the 5 light tank is the strongest king on the plateau. Indian tanks that can climb up cannot defeat me, and tanks that can defeat me cannot climb onto the plateau.
As for whether the light tanks of China or the United States are better or worse, it actually doesn’t matter. The one that suits you is the best.
