Editing Tank (section)

===Support===

In addition to the essential three attributes of offence, defence, and mobility, tanks rely on a whole host of systems to be tanking. While none of them are strictly speaking indispensable, those extra systems are what turn a tank from a mobile pillbox fighting on its own into a force multiplier able to support their fellow soldiers and efficiently outmanoeuver and take out what has the misfortune of being in front of them. Any modern tank design will weigh the pro's and con's of outfitting the vehicle with said systems. Where including some systems are a given, other's aren't - it will often boil down to intended use, economics, and local limitations.

*'''Communications:''' The most vital improvement on this list, it comes in two distinct parts both equally important.
**'''Internal Communication''' An intercom is extremely important inside a tank because, well, tanks are '''[[Noise Marines|LOUD]]''', and it's the only way for the crew to talk to each other without going hoarse yelling at each other. And it's not a joke: before the advent of intercom the commander often had to kick the driver on the left or right shoulder to indicate the direction he wanted him to turn because even yelling wasn't working with the ruckus of the moving tank. Modern intercoms often have double and sometimes even triple-redundant systems, because it is that important for the commander to tell his driver where to go and his gunner where to shoot. 
**'''External Communication''' Another not be overstated improvement is keeping in touch with other tanks as well as whoever is in charge. Having a system to coordinate multiple units determines whether or not a tank is a rolling pillbox or a decisive, mobile weapon of war. Inter-war tanks often relied on flag signals with only the company leader having a radio for coordination, but in the early thirties [[Nazi|some guy named Guderian]] ordered "Each vehicle must have its own radio; no exceptions!" and the rest is history. Indeed, in both the battle for France and the early Operation Barbarossa the German tanks were outnumbered, undergunned and underarmored compared to their opponents but thanks to their radios, they were able to outmaneuver the enemy and take them apart. (Conversely, during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe failed to similarly radio-coordinate their fighter planes whereas the RAF did, giving the British a very significant advantage.) Cue everyone doing the same (even if Soviet tank crews actually communicated mostly in kicks and flags until well into 1943 because early Soviet radios were shit tier and tended to break in the first minute of every goddamn engagement), and still doing it today. The major improvement modern communication systems have brought is the ability to transmit not only voices but also data, which makes keeping everyone informed of the whereabouts of one's allies and enemies much faster and easier. Since WWII, many tanks also come with a built-in wire phone in an armored box on the back called the “tank-infantry or grunt phone” for infantry to talk directly to the tank commander for fire support and coordination of combined arms tactics. This may seem redundant with the use of wireless walkie-talkies but is a godsend in the case that airwave frequencies are jammed and the platoon commander needs to direct the tank to provide armored cover and supporting fire for infantry in a chaotic firefight without rolling over their allies.
***'''IFF''' Piggybacking on the improved communications and electronics of modern vehicles, the "Identification, Friend or Foe" system is basically a nifty little system that transmits a 'I'm a friend, don't shoot me.' signal to any other unit in the vicinity when queried and (if all goes well, for it is not always 100% reliable, especially amongst multi-nation task forces) will prevent friendly fire incidents. A simpler version of this would be IR identity stickers posted on the hull for aircraft to see from afar or RFID tags that can be read with the right scanning equipment. ''OR,'' if you're [[Ork|Russian]], just covering your vehicles turret to track in [[Administratum|hastily spraypainted]] "Z"s to tell the other conscripts not to shoot at this particular T64, and tell the Ukrainians to line their Javelins up. 

*'''Detection:''' Tanks have notoriously bad situational awareness, so people came up with solutions to improve it. The most basic instrument is of course, Eyeball Mk. I, initially relying on either vision slots, optical instruments such as periscopes, or the commander poking his head outside of the tank. In WWII, the Germans installed an armored cupola with vision slits atop the turret in order to improve the commander's sight while 'buttoned up'; near the end, they also came up with primitive infrared illuminators as well. Nowadays, you have an array of cameras, night-vision, and infrared/thermal imagers to give you a clearer picture of things. Some tanks also have an automated laser warning system to detect when enemy vehicles have painted them with a rangefinder or are locked on by a homing weapon. Once it detects the laser, it will warn the crew and taken defensive actions such as using smoke grenade launchers, active protection systems, or laser jammers. Lastly, many militaries rely on combined arms use of reconnaissance units (in the form of light vehicles, mounted infantry, aircraft, or drones) to screen the area ahead of tanks to minimize the risks of ambushes. 

*'''Fire Control:''' Another big chunk of tech, fire control includes any and every system meant to improve the main gun's accuracy and reduce the time between identifying a target and actually blasting it to smithereens. The first tanks did not have really anything like a modern fire control systems. However, when it became clear tanks would be called upon to deal with other tanks, improvements were sought in roughly three different and complementary directions: improving accuracy at longer ranges, improving accuracy while on the move, and improving accuracy when firing at a moving target. There are many historical attempts to achieve this; below you'll find a list of the most common historical ones, all culminating in the modern computerized fire control system.
**'''Sights:''' By the outbreak of WWII, tanks commonly used telescopic sights with stadiametric indicators for ranging; think a rifle scope, but adapted for the tank's gun. The indicators allowed for a precise compensation for the target's range and movement, however the scope by itself had no way to measure said values; and those were often left to the crew's experience, pre-battle reconnaissance and educated guesswork to determine.
**'''Ranging Shot:''' Laugh if you want, but an experienced gunner could use a quick burst from one of the tank's machineguns to make a decent estimate of the range to target and quickly compensate for the follow-up shot from the main gun. Sure, it was crude, but it worked pretty well for what it was. The British went a step further and attached ballistically-matched spotting rifles to their tank guns, where firing solution was confirmed by a tracer impact on target (the American M60 'Ontos' did it in 'nam as well).
**'''Rangefinder:''' Battlefield experience from WWII impressed upon military commanders the importance of ensuring the first shot fired at an enemy tank hit, denying the enemy the ability to react to a missed shot. As tank warfare rolled into the Cold War, so-called "first-shot accuracy" became a priority for tank designers, who once again took a page from the navy and started mounting dedicated optical rangefinders to their designs.  These devices allow crew to determine the range of a target, without having to leave their positions inside the tank.  Rangefinders were considered a huge improvement, and quickly became commonplace.  Modern ones are laser-based, computerized, and far quicker to operate.
**'''Stabilizer:''' Essentially, this is a mechanism for keeping your main gun pointed in the correct direction while the tank is moving. While these sound great in theory, initially they were not viewed as critical to tank effectiveness, particularly since early designs didn't work very well: in WWII the American M4 Sherman tank used a stabilizer which only compensated for vertical movement, and only at low speed. But as we've said earlier, a stopped tank is a dead tank, and moving makes it harder for you to be hit. As such, even the earliest iterations were useful as a critical time-saver: relieving the gunner of some of the burden of aiming after the tank comes to a stop to fire at a target. As WWII ended and the Cold War began, stabilizer designs continued to improve. Later designs provided stabilization for movement in the horizontal and vertical angles, and modern designs even accommodate for the vertical heave of the tank changing physical elevation as it drives.  Stabilizers have become essential for modern tanks, allowing for accurate firing while on the move.
**'''Ballistic Computer:''' A modern development allowing for the gunner to accurately compensate for the target's movement (and other factors if necessary), especially when his tank is moving as well. This is yet another adoption from the navy, who were already using mechanical targeting computers during the turn of the 20th Century. It required half of a century's advances in computing miniaturization to create a mechanical targeting computer small enough to be fitted into tanks. Mechanical rangefinders appeared during the early Cold War, and digital computerized rangefinders would be developed and used in the late Cold War.

*'''Autoloader:''' A mechanism for automatically loading shells into the main gun, obviating the need for a loader. This is less of an obvious decision than it would seem. For decades, human loaders were actually regarded as better than mechanical loaders because they were generally faster and better: most early autoloaders had to depress the gun to a minimum elevation before loading and had difficulty switching between different types of shells. An autoloader that is put out of action by mechanical failure or damage will either make the cannon more difficult to load by hand or at worst, render it entirely inoperable, requiring extensive repairs in order to be restored to fighting condition. Plus, as mentioned in the previous section, having a human loader lends versatility and redundancy to a tank crew, as the loader could function as an additional pair of eyes and hands whenever needed. Initially, the main advantage to automating the loading process was that you could afford to have one less crew member, thus reducing overall weight. Newer developments however, can easily match or surpass human loaders in terms of loading speed, with the additional benefit of never tiring.

Due to their desire to man more tanks for the same unit size (cutting crew from 4 down to 3), the Soviets went in heavily for carousel-style autoloaders, storing ammunition beneath the main turret. One unfortunate (but hilarious) drawback of these autoloaders is that in the event of a strike to the turret (especially by a top-down anti-tank guided missile), this will often lead to all of the rounds cooking off, blowing the turret off the tank and killing the crew (examples can be now found all over Ukraine). Newer style autoloaders, such as that used on the Leclerc, mitigate this concern with the use of blowout panels.

*'''Remote Weapon Systems''' The pintle-mounted gun is great for clearing out and suppressing infantry because it can rotate 360 degrees and is at the top of the tank, so it has a bird's-eye view of the area. Unfortunately, popping your head out to shoot at people makes you a prime target for snipers. A solution for this is having the pintle gun be virtually controlled from the inside by a remote weapon system, so the gunner can still shoot at targets without threat of catching a bullet in the face the moment they peek out of the hatch. Granted the gun itself can still be shot, but it's a lot easier to replace a machine gun than a trained crewman. The aforementioned blurb regarding replacing the MG with grenade launchers also apply here.

*'''Air Conditioning System/Climatization:''' Yes, I can already hear you laughing. First, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1rXLhow1Ro watch this 30 seconds video.] Then imagine having to ride/fight into a vehicle getting that hot for hours, you'll get the point. An airco is not strictly speaking mandatory, depending on where your tank is operating. But many modern designs include one by default, as it is an easy way to improve crew morale and efficiency.

*'''Automatic Fire Extinguisher''' Fire in the hull? No problem. Tap a button to activate some kind of extinguishing system in either the engine compartment or fighting compartment.  Modern systems are automatic, in the case of the Abrams tank the crew just wait a few seconds and Halon gas at 7% concentration will puts it out. 

*'''Damage Control:''' A big problem with tanks is them tanks going up from the ammunition being detonated when hit. The remains of the crew would be... messy, to say the least. Frequently they would be buried all together in a matchbox. So, once again, we came up with way to limit that happenstance.
**'''Common Sense, Better Training and Improved Logistics:''' Early in WWII, the doctrine called for full combat load and crews tended to cram in a generous extra helping of fuel, ammo and spare parts in their tanks, "just in case". This turned their tanks into mobile explosion hazards (just imagine a Sherman chock full of over 120 shells, 5000 MG rounds, extra fuel drums lashed to it... you get the idea). To remedy this, combat loads were lowered, logistics were improved to make sure tanks could be repaired and resupplied easily, and crews drilled to take on no more than needed for the mission; which led to a marked decrease in such big booms.
**'''Welded Armor:''' Toyed with by all belligerents, the idea was to weld extra armor plates on the outside of where the ammo racks were. Which was a double-edged sword: it added protection, but was also an unmistakable 'shoot here for full effect' sign. Quickly abandoned when it became clear guns would improve faster than armor.
**'''Ready-Rack and Secondary Ammo Stowage:''' The idea here is that the gunner/loader only keep around 'a handful of shells' (between 6 and 10 shells depending on the tank) inside the turret in easy reach, and the rest of the ammo stocked in armored compartments near the bottom of the tank, where the tracks/wheels/transmission/engine would work as that much added armor. The reasoning being that if a shot was powerful to reach the ammo stocked there in the least vulnerable part of the vehicle, the tank was fucked every way to Sunday anyway; and the decrease in rate of fire when the ready-rack needs restocking was an acceptable drawback for the improved protection. This concept is still in use on modern Russian/Chinese tanks, who have a rotating ammo carrousel at the bottom of the tank.
**'''Wet Storage:''' Ammo compartments surrounded by a reservoir full of a mix of glycerine and salt water that would flood the ammo compartment if breached and buy time for the crew to bail out by delaying the cook-off. Good idea that worked good enough (lowering the risk of a cook off by about 30% when first introduced with the M4A3E8 Easy Eight Sherman) but ultimately more hassle than it was worth, and dropped after WWII. But...     
**'''Blowout Ammo Compartment:''' The idea of 'wet storage', adapted for modern tanks. They're basically compartments that blow outwards when the ammunition is hit and begin to burn; they vent the bang away from the main body of the machine, thus saving the million dollar tank (and the squishy but almost equally expansive meatbags inside). Sure, the tank must retreat to restock ammo, a new storage bin and some tuning up; but it can still fight with a small repair... if your ammo storage compartment wasn't open the moment it was hit.

*'''NBC protection:''' Because [[Nurgle|war never ceases to become dirtier]], modern vehicles are outfitted with a system that creates slightly more air pressure in the crew compartment than is outside, and circulates air through a filtration device to protect against airborne threats to the crew.  Those broadly come in the forms of nuclear, bacteriological or chemical agents which may be lingering outside the tank.