Heart of Steel: Tank Engines

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On the first diamond tank Mark I was powered by a Daimler 6-cylinder petrol engine from a Foster tractor. Despite its German origin, it was produced in Britain, under a license acquired long before the First World War. Gasoline from the tanks got into the engine by gravity, so if the tank lifted the front part of the hull too much, the engine stalled.

On the German A7V there were two Daimlers at once, 100 hp each. in everyone. Initially, the designers planned to install one motor for 200 hp, but these units were used for airships and were in short supply.



The French went their own way and put an electric transmission on their Saint-Chamones: a gasoline engine transmitted rotation to a generator, a generator powered electric motors, and motors transmitted rotation to tracks. Later, the Germans implemented the same scheme on Ferdinand and Maus machines.

After a short operation of the first tanks, it became clear that the improvised power plants did not have enough power. In addition, they could not be repaired in the field. The British struggled with the Daimler engine on their "Marks" from the first to the fourth, and in the end they designed the Ricardo engine. It was more reliable, stronger and 20% more powerful. However, this idea was not developed due to the appearance of the French Renault FT-17, which weighed only 7 tons and was equipped with an engine from a conventional truck. 35 h.p. enough to carry out the main tasks and after a while "Renault" was adopted as a model by many countries.

After the First World War, the basis of the fleet of armored forces of all countries was light vehicles with car engines. Such units were cheap, did not require specialized production lines and were understandable to both repairmen and mechanics. However, after being installed on tanks, they ceased to be reliable. constantly worked in full force.

Car motors performed their swan song during World War II. In August 1941, Nikolai Astrov and his design bureau developed the T-60 tank, followed by the T-70 with the GAZ-202 engine. For several years, these vehicles were the backbone of the armored forces of the Red Army. Also, automobile engines were widely used in US tanks. However, where more power was needed, motors from aircraft were used. One of the first to install them was the American engineer J.W. Christie. In his experimental tank M1928 \ M1931, he used a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled aircraft engine Liberty L-12 with a capacity of 340 hp. As a result, a vehicle weighing 8,5 tons could reach speeds of up to 112 km / h.


Christie's ideas were also used in Soviet high-speed tanks. For example, at first the same Liberty engines were also installed on BT cars. An interesting scheme was set up for the BT-5. After the resource was exhausted and overhauled, the M-5 was installed on them - the Soviet version of the Liberty, which was removed from aircraft. Then, according to the same principle, they organized the installation of more powerful M-17 (licensed copy of the BMW VI engine) on the T-28, T-35 and BT-7. However, despite all the advantages aviation the motors weren't perfect. Among the main problems are too high revs, inappropriateness for typical tank conditions (vibration, shaking, mud, etc.), as well as difficulties in repair and maintenance. Gradually, engineers came to the conclusion that the best solution would be engines designed specifically for tanks.

In the 1930s, designers got serious about the development of tank engines and immediately faced a dilemma: diesel or gasoline. From the point of view of the military, the first version had a lot of positive qualities, so it was used with varying degrees of success in most design schools. The best diesel engines in the world at that time were made by the Germans, but they installed exclusively gasoline engines on their tanks. It's all about resources: the Reich had big problems with oil reserves, and the bulk of diesel fuel went to the underwater the fleet.

The Germans began production of tank engines in 1935, and after 3 years they created a 12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 with 300 hp. Until 1943, it was the main tank engine in Germany and was used on the Pz. III, Pz. IV and even on Ferdinands. Later, the Maybach HL 210 with 650 hp was developed and implemented. It was used on Tigers and Panthers.


In the USSR, the situation was the opposite: there was enough diesel fuel, but there was not enough high-quality gasoline. The designers set a course for diesel engines - the V-2 became a landmark, which was installed on the KV, T-34, T-34-85, IS tanks, as well as on tractors, ships and other equipment. And although this engine was used on land and water, it was created by specialists who initially worked on the project of a powerful aircraft diesel engine. Later, on the basis of V-2, a whole family of tank engines with the "B" index in the name was created.

Since the end of World War II and until now, the diesel type is considered the dominant among the tank engines of the world. It has become multi-fuel and is capable of operating on both heavy and light oil fractions. However, it cannot be called the limit of perfection, because the power of such engines is more and more difficult to increase. Since the 1960s, gas turbine engines have been installed on tanks. They work by a continuous flow of gas from the combustion chamber to the turbine blades. Such engines are more complicated than diesel ones, much more demanding on air cleanliness and are ahead of the competitor in terms of fuel consumption. However, they have clear advantages in the form of less weight and more power. Gas turbine engines first went into series on the Swedish Strv 103, which had been produced since 1966 and carried the Boeing 502 as an auxiliary unit. In addition to the Swedish machine, the T-80 went into mass production with a gas turbine engine in the USSR, as well as the M1 Abrams in the USA.

For more details on tank engines, see the video from Wargaming.

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  1. +7
    5 October 2021 06: 13
    "The best diesel engines in the world at that time were made by the Germans, but they used only gasoline engines on their tanks. It's all about resources: the Reich had big problems with oil reserves, and the bulk of diesel fuel went to the submarine fleet." - from the text - the bike, dirty on the Internet, is repeated again, about how the Kriegsmarine robbed the Panzerwaffe with diesel fuel! crying Excuse me, but what about 100 thousand fellow diesel trucks? For some reason, this fuel was enough for them. The main reason for the appearance of gasoline tanks in the Third Reich is its filthy military-industrial policy. negative Namely: the military gave in to the military-industrial lobby. If Germany switched to diesel tanks, then the entire developed and mastered line of transmissions would have to be phased out, and this clearly did not suit the German industrialists, who practically ruled this area in the Reich.
  2. 0
    6 October 2021 23: 56
    This article is nothing. Tell the story of tank engines to such an extent that you can retell the Bible in three phrases.
  3. 0
    7 October 2021 10: 32
    Boobs (premium) and balance and up-nerfing theme for premium tanks UNSOLVED-NON-ACCESS-TWO !!

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