BRITISH SUPER-TANK

Otago Witness, Issue 3590, 2 January 1923, Page 19

BRITISH SUPER-TANK

SPEED OF 20 MILES AN HOUR. LONDON, December 16. A new type of tank has been devised for the British Government which may brino- about important modifications in military tactics, render certain now formidable weapons harmless, and minimise the terrible -casualties which hitherto have been regarded as inseparable from modern warfare. Externally the new machine is a larger edition of the Mark V tank with which the army was equipped at the end of the war. The hard steel shell, however, conceals secrets which a hostile power would o-ive much to discover. “ An engine of a new type is installed, giving a normal speed of 20 miles an hour. This “comparatively great speed increases the effect of the machine as a weapon of surprise and assault, besides rendering it exceedingly difficult for hostile artillery to hit. A wonderful system of springs prevents jars and shocks, and thus enables the gunners to maintain a steady aim and rapid fire. In addition this smoothness of travel minimises the risk of the revolving caterpillar ’‘tracks” getting broken. An automatic gun of a new type which fires a rapid stream of one-inch armour-piercing bullets will probably be mounted. One of the most important features is the economy of interior space; 50 men can be packed comfortably into the new tank; .15 was the limit for the old tank. This means that battalions can be carried forward, a platoon to each tank, in a fleet of the new machines and released for battle in the enemy’s lines, without the heavy casualties in “no man’s land.” Tests of the new machines have been carried out in lonely spots under conditions of secrecy, and are said to have proved successful in all respects. The improvements are the result of four years of extensive experiments and tests.