Technological advancements are constantly reshaping our lives. Jumping onto the technology bandwagon are tanks as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) reveals that ground-based fighting vehicles of the future will rely more on technology rather than armor.
Tanks are usually layered with a thick metal armor to shield them; however, this makes them massive, slow and not very agile. DARPA envisions the creation of an advanced agile fighter vehicle, which need not rely on its armor for protection and will be able to dodge enemies effectively. To achieve this goal, DARPA has initiated the Ground X-Vehicle Technology (GXV-T) program.
The GXV-T program will persevere to create technologies, which will pave the way for sleeker tanks that can evade getting shot at easily. This program intends to reduce the weight of vehicles, as well as the crew required to operate them by 50 percent. The GXV-T program also aspires to make the land-based fighting vehicles two times faster to aid them in dodging incoming attacks.
The DARPA initiative will also look to give the new line-up of vehicles the ability to drive through undulating terrains, as well as elude discovery by enemies.
"For the past 100 years of mechanized warfare, protection for ground-based armored fighting vehicles and their occupants has boiled down almost exclusively to a simple equation: More armor equals more protection. Weapons' ability to penetrate armor, however, has advanced faster than armor's ability to withstand penetration. As a result, achieving even incremental improvements in crew survivability has required significant increases in vehicle mass and cost," notes the press release.
Another factor propelling DARPA's GXV-T program is the fact that bigger ground-based fighter vehicles are expensive to design. The U.S. military is at a juncture where it needs to keep tabs on cost and at the same time focus on innovativeness.
For the GXV-T initiative, DARPA requires two years to work on the technologies required before the agency can award the contracts for the newer, sleeker and faster ground-based fighter vehicles.
