Thread: Tanks!!
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Old May 4th, 2012, 05:44 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Trintron View Post
The complexity of the Tiger tank design was also a issue, all of the extra parts in the gear box, suspension system, engine system, plus the size of the gun made the tank over weight and difficult to manufacture.

Transporting the Tiger Tank to the battlefield was a slow process as well, the tank required a sperate set of narrow transport tracks that required the outer road wheels to be removed and reattached after the tank was transported to the front by train. Then the crew had to take the time to prep the tank for battle by reattaching the wheels and combat tracks before battle.

Still, you can't take anything away from how effective the Tiger I was, the Wermacht still depended on it through out the war. But the Panther is still a better tank hands down, it's the first ancestor of the mondern main battle tank.
I would respectfully point out that the Tiger I was Germany's first serious attempt at building a heavy tank and, as a result, many lessons were learned from it. A lot of these lessons would influence the development of the Tiger II as well as that of the Panther G.

Very few nations can get tank design right first time... particularly when they're in the middle of a war!
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