How to recognise main battle tanks

30 main battle tanks in Spotrep’s field guide, each with a photo, where it comes from, who uses it and the details that tell it apart from the rest.

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C1 ArieteTanks · Italy
Seven road wheels and a long, boxy turret with vertical sides and a big rear bustle; looks like a squared-off Leopard 2A4.
Challenger 2Tanks · United Kingdom
Six road wheels, tall angular turret, gun with thermal sleeve and no muzzle brake.
LeclercTanks · France
Six road wheels, compact angular turret with a bustle autoloader and a long 120 mm gun with thermal sleeve.
Leopard 2A4Tanks · Germany
Seven road wheels, flat vertical turret front without the wedge armour of later versions, L44 120 mm gun.
Leopard 2A5Tanks · Germany
Leopard 2 with the wedge-shaped 'arrowhead' armour on the turret front but still the shorter L44 gun (the 2A6 has the long L55).
Leopard 2A6Tanks · Germany
Seven road wheels, wedge-shaped add-on armour on the turret front and a long L55 120 mm gun.
M1A1 AbramsTanks · USA
Seven road wheels and a wide, flat slab-sided turret; lacks the separate commander’s sight box of the M1A2.
M1A2 AbramsTanks · USA
Seven road wheels, wide flat slab-sided turret with a separate commander's sight box on the roof; very hot gas-turbine exhaust at the rear.
M60 PattonTanks · USA
Tall, boxy tank with six road wheels and return rollers, a long narrow-nosed turret and often a big searchlight box over the gun.
Merkava Mk 3Tanks · Israel
Front-mounted engine and a long wedge turret set far back, with older and less sharply pointed armour than the Mk 4.
Merkava Mk 4Tanks · Israel
Front-mounted engine pushes the long wedge-shaped turret far to the rear.
T-14 ArmataTanks · Russia
Seven road wheels, a long hull and a small, angular unmanned turret with sensors on top; the crew sits in the hull.
T-55Tanks · Soviet Union
Small, low hull with five road wheels and a clear gap between the first and second, dome-shaped turret and a 100 mm gun with a fume extractor at the muzzle end.
T-62Tanks · Soviet Union
Like a stretched T-55: five road wheels with larger gaps toward the rear, egg-shaped turret and a 115 mm smoothbore with a fume extractor midway along the barrel.
T-64BVTanks · Soviet Union
Six small road wheels with return rollers above them and a thin track; low rounded turret with reactive armour.
T-72BTanks · Soviet Union
Six large road wheels and a rounded cast turret, but older sights than the T-72B3: no large thermal-sight box on the turret roof.
T-72B3Tanks · Russia
Six large road wheels, low rounded cast turret covered in reactive armour, low hull.
T-80UTanks · Soviet Union
Six rubber-tyred road wheels with return rollers, Kontakt-5 explosive armour giving the turret a blocky, flat-faced front, and a gas-turbine exhaust at the rear.
T-90ATanks · Russia
Six road wheels like the T-72, welded turret with wedge-shaped reactive armour and two dazzler boxes beside the gun.
Type 10Tanks · Japan
Compact tank with five road wheels, a low wedge-faced turret with modular armour and a 120 mm gun; smaller than other Western tanks.
No photo yet
AltayTanks · Turkey
Seven road wheels and a long angular turret with a big rear bustle, similar to the Korean K2 it is based on, with a 120 mm smoothbore.
No photo yet
Challenger 3Tanks · United Kingdom
Challenger 2 hull and running gear with a reworked turret and a longer smoothbore 120 mm gun.
No photo yet
K2 Black PantherTanks · South Korea
Six road wheels, low angular turret with a large rear bustle housing the autoloader, long 120 mm gun.
No photo yet
Leopard 1A5Tanks · Germany
Seven road wheels, angular turret with bolted-on armour plates and a 105 mm gun with thermal sleeve; lighter and higher-riding than the Leopard 2.
Leopard 2A7Tanks · Germany
Seven road wheels, arrowhead add-on armour on the turret front, long 120 mm gun.
No photo yet
PT-91 TwardyTanks · Poland
T-72 outline covered in Polish ERAWA explosive armour: flat rectangular boxes on the turret front and the hull glacis.
No photo yet
T-80BVMTanks · Russia
Six rubber-rimmed road wheels with return rollers, gas-turbine exhaust grille at the rear, rounded turret with reactive armour.
No photo yet
T-84 OplotTanks · Ukraine
T-80UD-style hull with six road wheels and a welded, angular turret with a large rear bustle, covered in explosive reactive armour blocks.
T-90MTanks · Russia
Six road wheels like the T-72, but a welded angular turret with a large rear bustle.
No photo yet
Type 99Tanks · China
Six road wheels, a long hull and an angular turret with a wedge-shaped front; the 99A has a very boxy arrowhead turret front.

How to recognise main battle tanks

Easy to mix up