Originally Posted by Welshwarrior

I would have thought the Sheman would have been further up the list, it was outstanding in the North Africa campaign in WW2

For the time it was a meek design. It's major abilities being speed, reliability, easy to repair, and wonderful ability to be modified into most anything. It really doesn't have the makings of a tank like firepower and armor.

Later models like the Easy Eight where pretty good.

Of course, the T-72 is the prior generation of tanks, compared to the M1a2 and Challenger, so its not a fair comparison. Soviet leftovers and outdated equip

That's not the same top ten I saw.

On the top ten I saw the Challenger and T-34 were both in the top 5. If I remember correctly it went Abrams, Challenger, Leopard, T-34, Merkava. The Abrams was scored well all around, the Challenger had the best tech score but its low number of production models meant that it was penalized, the Leopard I think should have been first, the T-34 did so well because of the sheer number of tanks produced, and the Merkava scored so high because of crew survivability, which was essentially off the charts.

But the list I saw was on the Military Channel, not Discovery. I think the Military Channel is part of the "Discovery Family" since its former name was "Discovery Wings".

Well I watched the Discovery Channel 2 or 3 days ago and it was the most recent one that I saw about the top 10 tanks.

This is what they said about each tank and why it got the place it did.

10-The sherman: PROS-Fast,easy to repair, mass produced, manuverable, and light,
CONS- In a 1 on 1 fight between a German tank it was basicly usless.

9-M-551A1 Sheridan: PROS-Very light (could be dropped out of airplanes),small (perfect for the jungle),it shot guided missiles instead of the conventional shell,fairly fast
CONS-because of its light aluminum body it was weak and had light armour.

8-Panther: PROS-Very thick armour, very powerful main gun 75mm/88mm, slopped armour (takin from the russians),well made,zimmerits (anti-mine coating)
CONS-To heavy and to slow, because the germans tried so hard to make them perfect there was never enough made,high fuel consumption,big tank big target.

7-T-72: PROS-powerful main gun 125mm,don't need a loader,very low to the ground,fast firing, pretty good armour.
CONS-you had to be 5'6" or smaller to fit in the tank,and the automatic loading system could catch an arm of the gunner. (thats why the gunners prefere the T-64).

6-S Tank: PROS-fast, can do a complete 180 (when driving then turning right away), low to the ground,hydrolic aiming system in the suspention, can dig into the ground,perfect defence tank,
CONS-no turret,not a good attack tank,have to get out of the tank and load it from the back, had to move the tank to aim the gun, and its only really useful in the Swedish forests.

5-Centurion: PROS-great design,fully automatic stabilization system, long service time (just after WWII till 1990)
CONS-hard to drive

4-Merkava: PROS-good design,very safe tank,forward mounted engine, design for urban and desert combat.
CONS- Its only use is to the Israeli army because it was designed for their needs only.

3-T-34: PROS-Very good design, fast, well armoured, slopped armour,powerful main gun 75mm/85mm/100mm,easy to repair, one of the only tanks that could stand up to the German tanks.
CONS-fuel consumption, weight.

2-M1A1 Abrams: PROS-Fast,good armour,uses a jet engine, manuverable.
CONS-Very high fuel consumption (uses 8 galons just to start the tank.

1-Leopard 2: PROS-Fast,good armour,manuverable,can plug a laptop into the tank and it will tell you exactly what wrong with it (this is the tanks computerized maintenance system) , land navigation system,The hybrid navigation system consists of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and an inertial navigation system,Thermal fire control. Easiest tank ever created to repair and maintain.
CONS-didn't have any

These are just some of the reasons why these tanks made the top ten list. I cant remember every exact word said about the tanks and i probably missed some things here and there. But now everyone knows what the Top Ten Greatest Tanks Ever, are. And just for kicks one of the jugdes was Tom Clancy, the rest were just tank designers, military personal, and that kind of thing.

Well hope this clears it up for you all.

Remember this wasn't a contest on which tank could beat which, and the most updated tanks. It was about the OVERALL BEST TANKS.

and about the M1A2....ask the Discovery Channel.

I found it!

10. M-4 Sherman (US)
9. Merkava (Israel)
8. T-54/55 (USSR)
7. Challenger (UK)
6. Mk IV Panzer (Ger)
5. Centurion (UK)
4. WWI Tank (UK)
3. Tiger (Ger)
2. M-1 Abrams (US)
1. T-34 (USSR)

Ok, so I might have been a little off on what I thought the top five was, but I did correctly mention that the Challenger was heavily penalized AND the T-34 was very high.

Military Channel's Top Ten

The above link includes other Top Tens, not just limited to Tanks.

Originally Posted by Damien435

I found it!

10. M-4 Sherman (US)
9. Merkava (Israel)
8. T-54/55 (USSR)
7. Challenger (UK)
6. Mk IV Panzer (Ger)
5. Centurion (UK)
4. WWI Tank (UK)
3. Tiger (Ger)
2. M-1 Abrams (US)
1. T-34 (USSR)

Ok, so I might have been a little off on what I thought the top five was, but I did correctly mention that the Challenger was heavily penalized AND the T-34 was very high.

Military Channel's Top Ten

The above link includes other Top Tens, not just limited to Tanks.

Yeah, we discussed this list to death on another thread. Another list with odd choices and ommissions although I think this list included the overall influence of each tank as a prime factor rather than how good they were tank for tank.

then what about the M1A2?

I say it should be mentioned as well dont you think?

it should be better than the M1A1 right?

Originally Posted by CanadianCombat

Well I watched the Discovery Channel 2 or 3 days ago and it was the most recent one that I saw about the top 10 tanks.

This is what they said about each tank and why it got the place it did.

10-The sherman: PROS-Fast,easy to repair, mass produced, manuverable, and light,
CONS- In a 1 on 1 fight between a German tank it was basicly usless.

9-M-551A1 Sheridan: PROS-Very light (could be dropped out of airplanes),small (perfect for the jungle),it shot guided missiles instead of the conventional shell,fairly fast
CONS-because of its light aluminum body it was weak and had light armour.

8-Panther: PROS-Very thick armour, very powerful main gun 75mm/88mm, slopped armour (takin from the russians),well made,zimmerits (anti-mine coating)
CONS-To heavy and to slow, because the germans tried so hard to make them perfect there was never enough made,high fuel consumption,big tank big target.

7-T-72: PROS-powerful main gun 125mm,don't need a loader,very low to the ground,fast firing, pretty good armour.
CONS-you had to be 5'6" or smaller to fit in the tank,and the automatic loading system could catch an arm of the gunner. (thats why the gunners prefere the T-64).

6-S Tank: PROS-fast, can do a complete 180 (when driving then turning right away), low to the ground,hydrolic aiming system in the suspention, can dig into the ground,perfect defence tank,
CONS-no turret,not a good attack tank,have to get out of the tank and load it from the back, had to move the tank to aim the gun, and its only really useful in the Swedish forests.

5-Centurion: PROS-great design,fully automatic stabilization system, long service time (just after WWII till 1990)
CONS-hard to drive

4-Merkava: PROS-good design,very safe tank,forward mounted engine, design for urban and desert combat.
CONS- Its only use is to the Israeli army because it was designed for their needs only.

3-T-34: PROS-Very good design, fast, well armoured, slopped armour,powerful main gun 75mm/85mm/100mm,easy to repair, one of the only tanks that could stand up to the German tanks.
CONS-fuel consumption, weight.

2-M1A1 Abrams: PROS-Fast,good armour,uses a jet engine, manuverable.
CONS-Very high fuel consumption (uses 8 galons just to start the tank.

1-Leopard 2: PROS-Fast,good armour,manuverable,can plug a laptop into the tank and it will tell you exactly what wrong with it (this is the tanks computerized maintenance system) , land navigation system,The hybrid navigation system consists of a Global Positioning System (GPS) and an inertial navigation system,Thermal fire control. Easiest tank ever created to repair and maintain.
CONS-didn't have any

These are just some of the reasons why these tanks made the top ten list. I cant remember every exact word said about the tanks and i probably missed some things here and there. But now everyone knows what the Top Ten Greatest Tanks Ever, are. And just for kicks one of the jugdes was Tom Clancy, the rest were just tank designers, military personal, and that kind of thing.

Well hope this clears it up for you all.

IMO the Discovery Channel did a horrible job. Exspecially on the M1.

M1A1 and A2 PROS:

BFT (Blue Force Tracker)

GPS/NAV (Global Positioning System/Navigation)

Integration of the vehicle electronics system through the use of a dual redundant data (MILSTD 1553D) and utility bus architecture

2nd Gen FLIR Thermal Imgaging Sight and FCS

CTIV (Commanders Independant Thermal Veiwer) Only on the A2

UAAPU (Under Armor Auxiliary Power Unit)

Embedded Battle Command (EBC) command and control software

Intervehicular Information System (IVIS)

Tank Management System (TMS)

Along with the new TUSK.