2 replies to this topic

[AZZKIKR]

Each has their own strengths, but let me give my 2 cents on tracks.

Psychological factor: Seeing something with tracks is much more terrifying than seeing something on wheels. Imagine a T-90 heading for you, and imagine a T-90 with wheels. there is no 'fear' factor in the latter.

Weaponry and Armour: Tracked designs are able to support the weight and armour of a vehicle which probably wheels cannot. Plus a 140 mm gun on a wheeled vehicle would cause so much recoil the vehicle has to be reinforced.

Speed: Wheeled designs are generally quicker, and this might be very important in avoiding enemy shells. The usage of 'run-flat' tyres allow them to move even with punctured tires. Now, the modernity of wheels has made the design capable of moving over terrain virtually quicker than a tank.

Logistics: Tracked designs are fuel guzzlers due to friction. Friction between the sprockets and the tracks, tracks with the ground, has made them an expensive logistical bane. Wheeled designs, require much less fuel and power to achieve optimum mobility. Tank engines are generally 850-2000 Hp, while wheels are 100-500 HP.

[partyzanpaulzy]

Wheels are faster and more usefull in temperate climate, but tracks have better terrain abilities than wheels. Wheeled vehicles are also more vulnerable than tracked vehicles. Pandur II can('t) resist 1 RPG-7 while (BMOT on ) T-72 (chassis) 3 RPG-7. Off-course all depends on a place where projectile hits the vehicle, but wheels are more vulnerable than tracks and tracks can hold more weight, too. Russian light tank SPRUT-SD can fire from it's 120mm cannon when rides (or sails) while it would be problem for wheeled tank hunter to fire to back with such cannon (one Italian wheeled TH Centauro has 105 mm cannon, I think). Wheels are good when you need higher mobility and attack power is secondary or when the vehicle doesn't need to ride when fire (howitzers - Dana, Zuzanna; MLRS - Smerch, Grad; ICBM - Topol-M launcher) and isn't in the hottest place of the battle. American MLRS is tracked, German howitzer is tracked, Russian SPRUT-SD is tracked while Russian Smerch is wheeled, Czechoslovakian (made before disintegration) howitzer Dana is wheeled, Italian Centauro tank hunter is wheeled.
I think wheels will be used, but won't dominate. Tracks are better for tanks and heavy APCs can resist more.

Italian Centauro (to know what I was talking about).

[CommanderJB]

Wheels have a slight survivability edge over tracks in that an RPG will never take off more than one or two at a time, but but because they can support so much less weight the vehicle on top is guaranteed to be less armoured than an equivalent tracked design and thus less likely to survive overall. Also wheels often lead to a fairly high centre of gravity, meaning a wheeled vehicle is more likely to roll or have an accident, or be affected by a blast, than a tracked one.
It's almost like the jets vs. helicopters thread that came up a little while ago, or even the rocket artillery vs. shell artillery poll - they're different things with different purposes, used in different situations for different things. Neither is better, neither will replace the other for the forseeable future, and they each have their own advantages. Sorry but I refuse to vote; I don't have a 'preference' in that it depends on what I need them for. Give me a situation and I'd tell you; but overall, in the general case, they're simply different.