Page 83 - All About History - Issue 18-14

MACHINESOFWAR

Weighing several tons, armed with shell-slinging malaise of trench warfare. The British were the steamrolling the enemy under their weighty
cannonsandprotectedwiththickmetalplating, firsttofieldatankin1916(theMarkI),butthis tracks. Men could be crushed and shot, buildings
these tracked titans not only changed warfare machine – and its immediate successors – was andvehiclescouldbedemolishedanddespoiled
foreverbutstruckfearintotheheartsofmen,no renowned for mechanical unreliability, granting and enemy lines could be stormed with ease, with
matterwhattheirallegianceornationality. little real edge in combat aside from the fear factor thelatterseeingnewmilitarytacticsimplemented,
The tank was born out of the suicidal stalemate it struck when operational. such as Germany’s Blitzkrieg ‘lightning war’ that
of WWI, with the Allies desperate to create a ByWorldWarII,thetankhaddeveloped sawmuchofEuropetakenwithinaseriesofshort,
machineofwarcapableofbreakingthelimbo intoakeyunitinanyarmy,capableofliterally brutal, tank-led campaigns.

4. TURRET
3. WEAPON The most revolutionary
aspecttotheFTisitsturret,
TheFT’smainarmamentisaPuteaux
the first in history to allow
SA 1918 37mm gun, a single-shot, full 360-degree rotation with
breech-loading cannon operated by
armament concealment. This
just one soldier. Its maximum rate of makes the machine a far
fire is 15 rounds per minute.
more versatile killer in battle.

1. ENGINE
The Renault FT
is powered by
a four-cylinder,
4.5l water-cooled
gasoline engine.
This grants the
vehicleapower-to-
weight ratio of 5hp
pertonandatop
5. CREW speed of 8km/h
AstheFTisalight (5mph).
tank,itismanned
by just two soldiers,
adriveranda
commander. The
driver’s position is
low-down at the front, ARMOURED
while the commander
takesupthegunner
role in the turret. BEASTS
2. ARMOUR
TheFTsportsavarietyof KILL EFFICIENCY:
armour plating ranging in
thicknessfrom0.78to2.2cm COLLATERAL DAMAGE:
(0.31to0.87in).Thisprotects
thecrewfromgunfireand SHOCK FACTOR:
external explosions, but does ENGINEERING GENIUS:
little against direct shelling.

O Helicopter O Atomic bomb O Powered O Taser O UAV
The first mass- LedbyJRobert exoskeleton Anonlethalweapon While unmanned aerial
produced military Oppenheimer, the The current wave used to take down vehicles have been in
helicopter was the Manhattan Project of militarised and neutralise foes production for several
Sikorsky R-4. This produced the world’s exoskeletons began by electrical current- decades, their usage
innovative war machine firstatomicbomb. with the Hardiman unit induced neuromuscular today is greater than
was capable of flying The weapons were in 1965. Today these incapacitation, the everbefore,withover
at 105km/h (75mph) then dropped on machines allow soldiers taserhasbecomea 50 countries currently
andupto2,440m Hiroshima and to lift and carry far populartoolinmodern using these ‘drone’
(8,000ft) high. Nagasaki in Japan. more when in the field. law enforcement. machines in warfare.
1944 1945 1965 1974 2014