This, pic related is the PT-76, a Soviet tank that weighs 14 tons, has a 76mm gun (with decent penetration actually, 50-60mm at 1 km for the AP rounds and 200mm-ish for the HEAT rounds), 10-30mm of armor depending on angle (so obliterated by literally anything) and is amphibious.
It's not going to do well against literally any western tank, nor any western IFV/APC, but that's not the point. It's a small amphibious tank with a decent gun. It can destroy any lightly armored vehicle it sees and hopefully do some damage to any heavily armored vehicle it encounters.
> 10 PT-76s faced 3 M48s.[21] On March 3, 1969, the Special Forces' Ben Het Camp was attacked by the PAVN 202nd Armored Regiment. The 202nd was given the task of destroying the camp's 175 mm self-propelled guns.[19][22] One of the PT-76s had detonated a land mine, which not only alerted the camp, but also lit up the other PT-76s attacking the firebase. Flares had been sent up, thus exposing adversary tanks, but sighting in on muzzle flashes, one PT-76 scored a direct hit on the turret of a M48, killing two crewmen and wounding two more. A second M48, using the same technique, destroyed a PT-76 with their second shot. At daybreak, the battlefield revealed the wreckage of two PT-76s and one BTR-50 armored personnel carrier.[19]
A direct hit on the turret of a Patton (idk 180ish mm? 45 ton tank?) leading to two deaths is pretty impressive for a tank that weighs 15 tons.
The requirements that the U.S army set out for the new MPF project (not a light tank technically but similar enough) explicitly mention that they want to use it to merk enemy vehicles and fortifications before the main force arrives so they have more freedom to maneuver.
the chinese use them as a less logistically demanding AFV for use in mountainous or amphibious operations
the US uses them for recon and cavalry action
the british used them as both
the difference in doctrine means that what counts as a light tank in one army wouldnt count in another
they are still used in this manner by the PLA, they have pressed new models into service
the british have long since abandoned theirs, with the scorpion tank being sold off and the scimitar being retired literally this year
the US has also long since abandoned the use of light tanks, the last one being the M41 walker bulldog (M551 was never officially a light tank but an airborne assault vehicle) with the recon role being taken over by the M3 bradley cav
so good at a very specific niche but not much else
their existence mostly revolves around whether or not the country in question is willing to use a dedicated tracked tank or just push an existing IFV into that role
more guns on the field in a defense scenario is better
especially when it has a self stabilizing platform with rangefinder, munitions options and other optics to pick from thats better than soldiers with a towable cannon
Well the US Army thinks they'll be good at blowing up stuff that infantry isn't very good at blowing up, while being far easier to air transport than a hulking great Abrams. People say "oh, well, it'll just get blown up" as if every single thing on the modern battlefield isn't at great risk of being blown up, all of the time. An M1A2 TUSK SUPRFCKR v3+ with an active protection system is far less at risk, but not every vehicle can be that, at least not at short notice.
>Tard wrangling 3rd world
I think you probably want a MBT for sitting around on a street, scaring the locals. >We can't spare/afford MBTs for you so here have this
And it's for the 82nd and later the 101st Divisions, afaik it's not replacing anything in other divisions.
>The US is still prete ding that the Booker "isn't a light tank".
more like decided it isnt
since in US classification the light tank is a recon vehicle like the M24 chaffee
the closest to a light tank is the M3 bradley, which is not considered a light tank despite filling the same role
the M10 does not share the same role as any historical US light tank but does share a role with the M8 scott, making it a gun motor carriage
>Israel won the light tank contract, the original order was like 150 but after they pilfered the budget coffers it was reduced to like 20 or 30
The M10 Booker isn't that expensive, if Pinoys can afford 150 Sabrahs they can afford like 40-50 Bookers.
Since you're allied with America, they'd throw in some extra to ensure you'd have the same number required for a company/batallion.
>I think we should do with the military what all these corpos do, that is give our people shitty assets and then blame and fire them because they somehow managed to fail at reaching the goals, but as long as we keep good public relatioms through some virtue signalling all wil be well, hey did you see drones are the new hotness? We need more of this shit even if we have no idea how it works.
>terrorists in the Southern Philippines start shit up and take over one large city in 2017 >Pinoy military are grossly inexperienced in urban warfare, have zero/shit gear and needed help from America/Australia in the form of electronic warfare aircraft and drone support >their Vietnam-era junk were barely effective against a well entrenched enemy and had zero firepower to puncture reinforced concrete buildings >they barely have any modern artillery pieces and have zero attack helicopters so they had to resort using conventional bombs, JDAMs and Mavericks to blow up enemy positions >they eventually succeed after like 8-9 months >after the war their military started to hand out contracts to their favored suppliers >Israel won the light tank contract, the original order was like 150 but after they pilfered the budget coffers it was reduced to like 20 or 30 >the Israelis offered them the ASCOD II like in this pic but with a 120mm turret, they also offered a similar current variant with a 105mm turret but it's like a mini-Merkava that can carry a single squad >Pinoys insisted on a generic 105mm platform with an autoloader despite Israeli insistence on having a dedicated loader, we get it Pinoy soldiers don't lift >they also have insisted on a wheeled variant, with a Pandur II chassis instead of buying a Centauro II - from the same company that builds their Guaranis >Americans had the M10 Booker debuting just a few months after they officially accepted their light tank into service >Israelis don't even use the Sabrah, they rather roll into battle against HAMAS with M113s
They are likely the future of tank warfare as heavily armored vehicles are being made increasingly pointless by light infantry and cheap missiles/rockets that can pen just about everything
Drawing fire to expose enemy positions
Shooting vehicles that aren't tanks?
Blowing the lids off of technicals.
bringing firepower to locations normal MBTs have a hard time going.
This, pic related is the PT-76, a Soviet tank that weighs 14 tons, has a 76mm gun (with decent penetration actually, 50-60mm at 1 km for the AP rounds and 200mm-ish for the HEAT rounds), 10-30mm of armor depending on angle (so obliterated by literally anything) and is amphibious.
It's not going to do well against literally any western tank, nor any western IFV/APC, but that's not the point. It's a small amphibious tank with a decent gun. It can destroy any lightly armored vehicle it sees and hopefully do some damage to any heavily armored vehicle it encounters.
> 10 PT-76s faced 3 M48s.[21] On March 3, 1969, the Special Forces' Ben Het Camp was attacked by the PAVN 202nd Armored Regiment. The 202nd was given the task of destroying the camp's 175 mm self-propelled guns.[19][22] One of the PT-76s had detonated a land mine, which not only alerted the camp, but also lit up the other PT-76s attacking the firebase. Flares had been sent up, thus exposing adversary tanks, but sighting in on muzzle flashes, one PT-76 scored a direct hit on the turret of a M48, killing two crewmen and wounding two more. A second M48, using the same technique, destroyed a PT-76 with their second shot. At daybreak, the battlefield revealed the wreckage of two PT-76s and one BTR-50 armored personnel carrier.[19]
A direct hit on the turret of a Patton (idk 180ish mm? 45 ton tank?) leading to two deaths is pretty impressive for a tank that weighs 15 tons.
Hindus did well with them against Pakistan too in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Garibpur
They are making a movie out of it.
I hate these things, but the wheels look like tasty hardcandy.
recce, colonial policing, operations in remote regions
Fuel economy, obv
Good for dying in flames, duh.
The requirements that the U.S army set out for the new MPF project (not a light tank technically but similar enough) explicitly mention that they want to use it to merk enemy vehicles and fortifications before the main force arrives so they have more freedom to maneuver.
light tanks are as good as MBTs until the moment they get hit by something
In fairness that's true of many MBTs as well.
the chinese use them as a less logistically demanding AFV for use in mountainous or amphibious operations
the US uses them for recon and cavalry action
the british used them as both
the difference in doctrine means that what counts as a light tank in one army wouldnt count in another
they are still used in this manner by the PLA, they have pressed new models into service
the british have long since abandoned theirs, with the scorpion tank being sold off and the scimitar being retired literally this year
the US has also long since abandoned the use of light tanks, the last one being the M41 walker bulldog (M551 was never officially a light tank but an airborne assault vehicle) with the recon role being taken over by the M3 bradley cav
so good at a very specific niche but not much else
their existence mostly revolves around whether or not the country in question is willing to use a dedicated tracked tank or just push an existing IFV into that role
they're cute
Moving faster than a MBT and shooting things
Cute wani I'll be adding it to my collection
Please save and enjoy it, my friend.
more guns on the field in a defense scenario is better
especially when it has a self stabilizing platform with rangefinder, munitions options and other optics to pick from thats better than soldiers with a towable cannon
>Operations in SHIT terrain
>Tard wrangling 3rd world
>We can't spare/afford MBTs for you so here have this
>Muh fuel
Well the US Army thinks they'll be good at blowing up stuff that infantry isn't very good at blowing up, while being far easier to air transport than a hulking great Abrams. People say "oh, well, it'll just get blown up" as if every single thing on the modern battlefield isn't at great risk of being blown up, all of the time. An M1A2 TUSK SUPRFCKR v3+ with an active protection system is far less at risk, but not every vehicle can be that, at least not at short notice.
>Tard wrangling 3rd world
I think you probably want a MBT for sitting around on a street, scaring the locals.
>We can't spare/afford MBTs for you so here have this
And it's for the 82nd and later the 101st Divisions, afaik it's not replacing anything in other divisions.
Still sad you can't airdrop it be nice to have everything they got plus watching them drift from the sky just tickles my brain.
82d and 101st are highest priority for fielding, but every light division is supposed to get a battalion of Bookers
Blowing up recons and APCs
Wars World thanks you for your service, and Sami would like a few hours of your time in private to congratulate you personally, Commanding Officer.
>and Sami would like a few hours of your time in private to congratulate you personally
Why didn't the Pinoys just buy the burger Booker?
I'm sure America will sell it to them
That ASCOD 2 s too tall for a "light" tank
>Why didn't the Pinoys just buy the burger Booker
The US is still prete ding that the Booker "isn't a light tank".
>The US is still prete ding that the Booker "isn't a light tank".
more like decided it isnt
since in US classification the light tank is a recon vehicle like the M24 chaffee
the closest to a light tank is the M3 bradley, which is not considered a light tank despite filling the same role
the M10 does not share the same role as any historical US light tank but does share a role with the M8 scott, making it a gun motor carriage
Nigga, we don't have the budget for the same specs, we're poor as FUCK
>Israel won the light tank contract, the original order was like 150 but after they pilfered the budget coffers it was reduced to like 20 or 30
The M10 Booker isn't that expensive, if Pinoys can afford 150 Sabrahs they can afford like 40-50 Bookers.
Since you're allied with America, they'd throw in some extra to ensure you'd have the same number required for a company/batallion.
Scouting ahead of bigger tanks while not being as vulenarable to small arms?
Bradleys do that.
True but not every country has Bradleys, every country however can build their own light tanks
Drones can easily do recon. So what other roles do light tanks do that MBTs can't?
Fewer calories.
>Are light tanks good for anything?
Yes. Killing light infantry.
light tanks are stupid, just use drones.
They’re good at being absolutely adorable.
In my modest civilian opinion they are better than full mbts nowadays.
Drones will kill your mbts regardless
ATGMs will do the same (if you don't have active protection system)
At a certain point you must show some balls, acknowledge that conventional armor is useless and go for a light option that presents many advantage.
Biggest drawback is that they have no chance to survive a modern sabot or cannon rounds...but the main killer of tanks aren't other tanks nowadays.
>Drones will kill your mbts regardless
pants-on-head
MQ-9 with a Hellfire is a drone that kills mbts. not everyone is poor and just has a DJI phantom and a fraag grenade
>implying you can put an MQ-9 into a combat zone against an enemy with SAMs
>I think we should do with the military what all these corpos do, that is give our people shitty assets and then blame and fire them because they somehow managed to fail at reaching the goals, but as long as we keep good public relatioms through some virtue signalling all wil be well, hey did you see drones are the new hotness? We need more of this shit even if we have no idea how it works.
Many such cases.
>Are light tanks good for anything?
being heckin cute
>terrorists in the Southern Philippines start shit up and take over one large city in 2017
>Pinoy military are grossly inexperienced in urban warfare, have zero/shit gear and needed help from America/Australia in the form of electronic warfare aircraft and drone support
>their Vietnam-era junk were barely effective against a well entrenched enemy and had zero firepower to puncture reinforced concrete buildings
>they barely have any modern artillery pieces and have zero attack helicopters so they had to resort using conventional bombs, JDAMs and Mavericks to blow up enemy positions
>they eventually succeed after like 8-9 months
>after the war their military started to hand out contracts to their favored suppliers
>Israel won the light tank contract, the original order was like 150 but after they pilfered the budget coffers it was reduced to like 20 or 30
>the Israelis offered them the ASCOD II like in this pic but with a 120mm turret, they also offered a similar current variant with a 105mm turret but it's like a mini-Merkava that can carry a single squad
>Pinoys insisted on a generic 105mm platform with an autoloader despite Israeli insistence on having a dedicated loader, we get it Pinoy soldiers don't lift
>they also have insisted on a wheeled variant, with a Pandur II chassis instead of buying a Centauro II - from the same company that builds their Guaranis
>Americans had the M10 Booker debuting just a few months after they officially accepted their light tank into service
>Israelis don't even use the Sabrah, they rather roll into battle against HAMAS with M113s
#thirdiethings
They are likely the future of tank warfare as heavily armored vehicles are being made increasingly pointless by light infantry and cheap missiles/rockets that can pen just about everything
Not collapsing the bridge under them.
No, everyone should just give me their light tanks because no one has any use for them.
Probably doesn't count but I love these things.
Why does one of the periscopes have "CIA?" written on it?