Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 267 Algebraic Division of Tanks

With Wang Gensheng's immense strength, a grenade was thrown with great precision onto the turret of the Pershing tank.

With a deafening explosion, the sturdy, thick steel plate, more than ten centimeters thick, in front of the Pershing tank turret was instantly pierced by the metal jet.

Of course, the metal jet that penetrated more than ten centimeters of steel plate only left a hole about the size of an index finger in the tank turret.

The real key point is what happens after the metal jet penetrates the turret. After penetrating the turret, the metal jet hits the ammunition inside the tank turret again, so a secondary explosion naturally occurs.

Dozens of tank shells were detonated, and the Pershing tank's oddly shaped turret was blown off.

Fortunately, Wang Gensheng has great arm strength. While most people can only throw anti-tank grenades a dozen meters away, Wang Gensheng can easily throw them forty or fifty meters away.

Therefore, the shockwave generated by the internal explosion of the shells did not harm Wang Gensheng. Of course, more importantly, the internal explosion of the shells really did not harm the outside.

This is mainly because tanks are made of sturdy and heavy steel.

Therefore, although the detonation of dozens of shells is very powerful, it is not enough to directly blow up a tank. On the contrary, because the connection between the tank turret and the hull is the weakest part, under normal circumstances, the detonation of ammunition inside the tank will be dissipated by blowing up the tank turret.

As a result, the nearly ten-ton tank turret was blown more than ten meters high and then fell to the side, coincidentally killing a US soldier.

Of course, in this massive explosion, the five crew members inside the tank were certainly dead.

However, this was only the first generation of tanks. The third generation of tanks was different. Third-generation tanks, such as the M1 series, stored ammunition at the rear of the turret and were also designed with blast doors to prevent ammunition from exploding and injuring the crew inside the tank.

As for what constitutes a first-generation tank, a second-generation tank, a third-generation tank, and what a fourth-generation tank should look like!
So how were tanks divided? You have to understand that during World War I, tanks were divided into infantry tanks and cavalry tanks.
Tanks that move at speeds similar to infantry are called infantry tanks, while those that move faster, similar to cavalry, are called cavalry tanks.

However, during World War II, when there were many tanks, their classification was based on heavy, medium, and light tanks.

Tanks weighing less than 20 tons are called light tanks, those weighing between 20 and 40 tons are called medium tanks, and those weighing more than 40 tons are called heavy tanks.

After World War II, tanks began to be divided into main battle tanks and auxiliary tanks.

At this point, the main battle tank began to experience a generational gap. What does it mean to experience a generational gap? Tanks had a prototype during World War I, but by World War II, tanks had begun to be standardized.

For example, if you call it a tank, then you have a powerful firepower, strong armor protection, good mobility, and an armored tracked vehicle with a rotating turret. That's what you call a tank.
There are also many wheeled armored vehicles that you can only call assault vehicles or infantry fighting vehicles; you can't call them wheeled tanks. The definition of a tank is that it must be a tracked armored vehicle with a rotating turret. Now tanks are divided into main battle tanks and auxiliary tanks, or armored vehicles, etc., so the concept of "tanks" has started to disappear. But what was the first generation of tanks?
From the end of World War II until around the 1960s, specifically the period around 1965, we call this twenty-year period the first generation of tanks.

The first generation of tanks was characterized by its large-caliber cannon and high-horsepower diesel engine.
Tanks in the past used small gasoline engines; the two gasoline engines were very small.
The first generation of tanks was characterized by its high-horsepower diesel engine and large-caliber cannon. In the past, tanks generally used 37mm, 76mm, or 76mm cannons, with the most being 90mm cannons. However, the first generation of tanks greatly increased the caliber of their cannons, becoming 100mm or even 105mm caliber cannons.

Then, around 1965, during the 1980s, technology made rapid progress, and it was then called the second generation of tanks. The technological breakthrough of the second generation of tanks was the use of a large number of advanced auxiliary technologies, such as advanced optical instruments, smoothbore cannons, automatic sensing and other fire control systems. These are the technical characteristics of the second generation of tanks.

Then, in the 1980s, the third generation of tanks began to appear. That is, from the 1980s to the present, tanks that are called the third generation have started to appear. So what are the technical characteristics of the third generation of tanks?
This third-generation tank incorporates advanced technologies such as single-board computers, computer networks, and information systems. For example, it utilizes a computer-based active protection system. If an enemy anti-tank missile attacks, the active protection computer on the tank will detect it and immediately launch an interceptor. This is the active protection system of the tank.

Combined with previously advanced mechanical technology, it was thus called the third-generation turret main battle tank.

Of course, before Wang Gensheng traveled through time, sixth-generation fighter jets were already undergoing test flights, while fourth-generation main battle tanks had not yet appeared. So how could they be called fourth-generation main battle tanks?

Naturally, it needs new-concept weaponry, new-concept defense systems, and new-concept mobility systems to qualify as a fourth-generation tank.

For example, artillery is a new concept, such as laser cannons, electromagnetic cannons, electrothermal-chemical cannons, and even pulse cannons!
What are new concept defense systems? For example, electromagnetic armor, smart armor, non-Lynton Newton liquid armor, carbon fiber armor, shape memory alloy armor, etc.

So what is this new concept of hybrid system? The original tank drive system was simply the engine to the transmission and then to the wheels.

A hybrid system is an engine with a generator that directly drives an electric motor. So you don't need a gearbox! This can greatly reduce the space required and lower the height of the engine. At the same time, the power density and response speed of the electric motor are much higher than those of the engine, so the explosive power is naturally stronger. All of these are new concepts.

Therefore, the emergence of fourth-generation tanks must utilize new concept technologies, new concept artillery, new concept armor systems, and new concept power systems before they can be called fourth-generation tanks.

Although before Wang Gensheng traveled through time, many small countries, such as the welding country and the Japanese, claimed that they had developed a fourth-generation main battle tank.

However, from a macro perspective, in terms of armor, no country has yet developed a truly groundbreaking fourth-generation tank.

Many advanced tanks today are improved versions of third-generation tanks. For example, the M1A2 tank has undergone urban modifications to adapt to urban warfare.

Everyone calls it a fourth-generation tank, including the Armata and the T-95. These only have changes to the turret; what new technology is there in the cannon? No! What new technology is there in the tank's armor? No!
Even its power system was an old-fashioned diesel engine. So, in a broader sense, before Wang Gensheng's time travel, true fourth-generation tanks had not yet appeared. Most of the tanks that appeared were improved versions of third-generation tanks, which were not worthy of the title of fourth-generation tanks at all!

(End of this chapter)