As the "shoulder handle" in land war, tanks are very mobile and aggressive. Although many people say that tanks are no longer suitable for modern warfare, it is certain that tanks are still an indispensable and powerful weapon in land warfare until today. If you have been paying attention to tanks, you must know that the barrel of a tank is only available for a few minutes, so how many shells will a tank carry when performing a task?
First of all, it should be explained that the shells carried by tanks are restricted by many factors. It can't be said that the number of shells carried by a tank must be powerful, and the tactical assault time of the tank is not necessarily the same, so the number of shells will be considered according to the endurance, fire continuity and the physical limit of the occupants.
The number of tank shells carried in different periods is different. For example, during World War I, the number of tank shells was scarce, but during World War II, tanks needed to perform assault missions for a long time. At that time, the caliber of tank barrels was generally 75 mm and 85 mm, while heavy tanks like 88 mm appeared less in actual assault missions, which greatly changed the mode of carrying tank shells.
Because surprise attack was emphasized during World War II, the weight inside should be reduced as much as possible to increase the number of shells carried. For example, during World War II, the famous "Tiger" tank carried as many as 90 shells in surprise missions, while the relatively small "Leopard" tank could also carry more than 75 shells. It can be seen that tanks during World War II were quite capable of carrying bombs.
After World War II, tanks also paid more attention to armor thickness and defense capability. However, the caliber of barrel, the length of shell and the charge of shell have also changed greatly, and the tank shell is larger in the background of modern war.
More importantly, there are more and more black technology electronic devices in modern tanks, and there are more and more special equipment inside, which also leads to the continuous compression of the internal space of tanks, so the artillery shells of tanks need to continuously improve their accuracy, power and penetration ability, but the following shortcomings are also very obvious, and the number of artillery shells carried by tanks is also decreasing.
For example, the US Army's M 1A2 main battle tank has a bomb load of 40 rounds 120mm. M60A3 tank has a bomb load of 65 rounds 103mm. The bomb load of Russian T-90 main battle tank is 43 rounds 125mm, and that of T-80 tank is 36 rounds 125mm. The German Leopard tank has a bomb load of 42 rounds102mm, the British Challenger tank has a bomb load of 50 rounds120mm, and the Israeli Merkava tank has a bomb load of 85 rounds120mm.
As can be seen from the above data, except for Israel's Merkava tank, the number of shells it carries is almost no more than 70. However, this data does not mean that Israel's Merkava will definitely be more powerful than the American M 1A2 main battle tank. After all, American artillery can kill the enemy with one shell, and Israel's Merkava may need 2-3 shells. However, the number of shells carried does not mean that the tank must have an advantage in attack level. However, it should be noted here that in the context of modern warfare, it is actually more surprise and cover, so the number of shells is secondary. After all, there are too many weapons that can fight tanks in modern wars, and tanks may not be able to play an absolute advantage in modern wars. Therefore, the number of shells carried is basically to enhance the advantages of tanks, but about 40 rounds is also in line with the rhythm of modern warfare. If the number of shells is too small, the tank will be passive.
In addition to artillery shells, tanks also have two kinds of machine bullets, about 4000-6000 rounds. But in actual combat, this machine gun will not be used as frequently as it was in World War II. However, some machine guns will still provide powerful fire support for the tank itself or comrades when necessary. In fact, modern tanks have gradually become offensive weapons from a dominant position. As long as their protection ability can be improved, no one can shake the position of tanks in land war.