How Can You Distinguish Between Tanks and Other Armoured Vehicles?

From time to time, when I listen to the statements of reporters in war zones on television about military vehicles, I understand that some basic issues are not known. The most striking mistake is that almost every armoured vehicle is referred to as a tank. However, most of the vehicles called tanks are armoured personnel carriers (APCs), armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), self-propelled guns (SPGs) or armoured engineering vehicles. 

For this reason, I will now try to answer questions such as what are tanks, APCs, IFVs, SPCs, armoured fighting vehicles and what are the differences between them, without going into their tactical uses or techniques. Since tanks are the first ones to appear on the battlefield, I will start by explaining tanks.

Tanks were first used in the First World War on the Western Front. Tanks were manufactured to transport infantry to enemy defence positions without heavy casualties. The first tank prototype was tested by the British Army on 6 September 1915.

The first tanks had no turret (as seen below).

Although the British took the lead in tank development, the French followed them very closely. The French put their first tanks into service in 1917 and produced and used tanks such as the St. Chamond pictured above.

In fact, these tanks were more like armoured combat vehicles than today's tanks. As a matter of fact, they also carried a small infantry unit.

However, before the end of the First World War, tanks started to have turrets like the Renault FT17 pictured above. This model shows that tank design similar to today's tanks emerged during the First World War.

Medium Class Tanks

Although tanks were a new invention that would bring movement to the war, they failed to do so during the First World War. Because their concept of use was to overcome wire obstacles and prevent excessive casualties rather than bringing movement to the war. Their doctrine was also determined in accordance with this purpose.

Therefore, although they broke through the front many times, they immediately tried to break flanks and encircle positions instead of continuing to operate in depth. While the attacking side wasted time in capturing positions, the defending side could make adjustments to the broken defensive line and reorganise on a line one behind.

It was the Germans who first succeeded in using tanks effectively as an element of fire and manoeuvre. The Germans, who prepared new doctrines for tanks and introduced the concept of blitzkrieg, won many short-term and decisive battles in World War II by using the armour protection, firepower and mobility of the tank.

They were also the first to form mechanised infantry units mounted on armoured personnel carriers, called panzer units, to transport infantry at the same speed as tanks. However, tanks and armoured vehicles did not achieve a standard structure until the end of World War II.

Armies had tanks of different sizes and weights. These were divided into models such as light tanks, medium tanks, heavy tanks or super heavy tanks. However, towards the end of the Second World War, a conviction began to emerge that the most suitable tank was the medium tank. 

During the Second World War and early Cold War, light tanks were used for reconnaissance and rear and flank defence. They also protected infantry in places that did not require medium or heavy tanks.     

Over time, heavy and light tanks were abandoned. During the Cold War, most armies settled on the idea of a single Main Battle Tank (AMT). 

These tanks had very distinctive features, as can be seen in the T-55 Russian tank below. For example, it had a 90 mm gun and a machine gun on the turret. 

Wheeled tanks, such as the French AMX-10 tank pictured above, were also built, but were soon discarded as impractical. 

Tank guns increased in diameter first to 105 millimetres and then to 120 millimetres. Although larger diameter tank guns were sometimes produced, 120 millimetre guns are widely used today. 

Tanks are generally tracked vehicles. Currently, main battle tanks are tracked.

The tank is a relatively easy to recognise and identify vehicle/weapon with its large cannon, tracks, turret and machine gun. However, it is difficult to say the same for IFVs and APCs. Because many countries may give different names to these types of vehicles. 

However, while APC is basically an armoured vehicle used to transport personnel from one place to another on the battlefield by protecting them from small arms fire and shrapnel, IFV is a vehicle that can fight alongside tanks, can be used for reconnaissance purposes, has a smaller cannon than a tank and some other weapons.

IFVs are primarily designed to perform the same tasks as the older light tanks. However, they can also carry some infantry, but not the crew. 

The BMP-1, an IFV developed by the Soviet Union, and the BMP-3, an improved version of it, are shown below. 

BMPT, one of Russia's newest IFVs, is quite different from the old models as seen in the picture above.

BMPT has a 4 × 130 mm Ataka-T GWS shooter and a 2 × 30 mm 2A42 automatic cannon.

Below are the US-made Stryker and Bradley IFVs and the Turkish-made IFV-15. These also have a small calibre weapon like the BMPT.

Old and new model M113 APCs are shown above.

As can be seen, IFVs are generally tracked, but there are also wheeled IFVs. The same is true for APCs. However, APCs do not have as high firepower as IFVs. Because they are not designed for combat, but only for transporting personnel.  

Russia's APCs are produced under the name BTR. The first picture below shows a Russian APC of the BTR-90 model.

It is not possible to confuse tanks with APCs and often even IFVs, but the situation is different with SPGs. Especially some SPGs are very similar to tanks in appearance. However, there are obvious differences between a tank and an SPG.

For example, looking at the M-109 and M107 SPGs in the second picture below, it can be seen that they have very long barrels. No tank gun has such a long barrel. 

Although some 105 millimetre self-propelled howitzers have very short barrels, it is easy to distinguish them. This is because the barrel of these howitzers is very short, not only compared to SPGs, but also compared to tank gun barrels. The picture below of the M-52 self-propelled howitzer, which is also used by the Turkish army, shows how short the barrel is.

If you cannot distinguish the barrel length, there are other features that help to distinguish SPGs from tanks. The most visible of these is the dozer bucket-like apparatus on the rear of most SPGs. 

Because of the high recoil of the cannon, SPGs cannot fire on the move like tanks. In fact, they need to take some precautions while firing at rest. For example, the bucket-like apparatus at the rear is lowered to the ground to provide an additional contact point to absorb the recoil.

Also, SPGs do not have turrets like tanks. While the crew usually enters the tank through the turret hatch, the rear of the SPGs has doors for the crew to enter the vehicle.

Armoured engineering vehicles are the easiest armoured vehicles to distinguish. This is because they either have a crane on them or some other device that identifies them as construction equipment. These vehicles usually have dozer blades, diggers, mine ploughs or chain extensions for detonating mines. The Turkish Pars and Kunduz model armoured engineering vehicles stand out in this respect.

Apart from these, there are also light armoured vehicles, which in general do not resemble a conventional combat vehicle. These vehicles have become quite widespread since the post-Cold War conflicts have generally taken place in residential areas. 

These vehicles, which do not damage the road and can move more easily on motorways and in residential areas, are used by almost every country. Some models of these vehicles are in the inventories not only of armies but also of security forces such as police and gendarmerie. 

In conclusion, not all armoured vehicles are tanks. There are many types of armoured vehicles with different functions. Although they are generally similar to each other, they also have many different features. It is possible to understand what an armoured vehicle is by looking at these features. 

The third picture below shows Kirpi, Akrep, Ural and Yörük light armoured vehicles.