2023-10-08 12:33:54
The concept of a walking combat vehicle has always captured people’s imaginations. Just think of the AT-ATs of Star Wars or the robots of the popular game called War Robots, they are often depicted in movies and games as huge and almost invincible opponents. Despite this, in reality, tanks walking on legs never made it to military use. In this article, we look at why tracked tanks still rule the battlefield and why walking robots remain in the realm of fiction. In World War I, the British built the first tank, which soon changed everything on the battlefield. Tracked tanks offered an excellent opportunity to break stalemates between trenches, as they had large-caliber cannons and machine guns capable of pulverizing enemy troop positions while providing protection for the crews inside. In addition, tracked vehicles were able to pass through the muddiest areas without any problems. However, tanks also have their drawbacks. They don’t always cope well with obstacles, just think of the dragon’s tooth, which was one of the most used tank traps of the Second World War. Unlike crawlers, this would not be an obstacle for a machine that walks on legs. In areas full of obstacles where conventional tanks cannot be used – such as forests or mountain paths – it may seem logical to deploy walking tanks, but the matter is not so simple. The walking concept would be much more vulnerable than traditional tanks Even though there would be terrain conditions where a machine walking on legs would be easier to deploy compared to traditional tanks, if we look at it realistically, a walking tank would be much more vulnerable than the current tracked tanks. The complex leg mechanisms would be extremely sensitive to enemy damage, and hits to the legs might even cause the plane to overturn. Just like in a game called MechWarrior, it would be enough to shoot off one of the legs and the robot would become practically incapacitated. In comparison, if a tank’s tracks are damaged, the vehicle remains stable and combat-ready, and in most cases it can be repaired relatively easily. However, the walking concept raises other problems. Apart from the mechanical complexity and high maintenance costs, it’s hard to imagine a machine on legs that would be nearly as close to the ground as a modern tank. The goal of tracked constructions is to be as low as possible, thus providing the enemy with a much smaller attack surface. A tall, walking vehicle would be easily spotted from a long distance, but a much higher center of gravity would also be a problem, as it would make the tank much easier to tip over. The value of speed in mechanized combat has been evident since World War II. For a combat robot walking on legs, it would be difficult not only to quickly maneuver to attack the enemy, but also to, for example, keep up with a squadron of conventional tanks and trucks. With the current technology, in the best case, you would reach a maximum of 10-20 km/h “jogging”. This is bad even compared to older heavy tanks, not to mention that modern designs can easily reach 70 km/h. A walking prototype was already built in the 1960s. Despite the walking tank’s flaws, the concept was not completely ignored by the military. During the Cold War, General Electric raised the idea of a military vehicle on legs as early as the 1960s. The result was the Ralph Mosher-designed GE Walking Truck, a 1,400-kilogram vehicle intended to help transport infantry equipment in rough terrain. The prototype was completely unarmored and unarmed, they just wanted to prove that the concept worked. And although the special mechanism of the legs allowed the Walking Truck to be able to carry a heavy load even on worse terrain, the vehicle was too slow, capable of reaching a maximum of 8 km/h. In addition, its energy consumption was huge, and according to the testers, it was mentally taxing for its operator to drive. Even the old tanks from the period between the two world wars would have beaten General Electric’s machine in terms of speed, so it is not surprising that, apart from the prototype, no more Walking Trucks were made. Boston Dynamics, famous for its robot dogs, later developed a prototype for helping soldiers, the Legged Squad Support System. The robot was able to follow soldiers over rough terrain, but ultimately the concept was not deemed feasible, and concerns regarding maintenance and controllability led to the program ending in 2015. Due to the limitations of legged combat machines, it is therefore not surprising that such vehicles have never been built or deployed, despite the fact that they are depicted as particularly destructive in movies and games. In reality, the efficiency, robustness and simplicity of conventional tracked tanks prevail. As invincible as walking tanks may seem in fiction, in real life they would never be a serious threat in a real combat situation.
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#military #walking #combat #machines