ARMOR AND THE ARMS RACE

The continuing struggle with tanks began with the fact that they were designed to crush infantry. For infantry to survive, they needed something that would penetrate the armor. Initially, this was found in the artillery that supported the infantry, but there was never enough artillery. A cheaper solution had to be found. The anti tank rifle was born as an infantry weapon to defend against tanks. Originally based on various bolt action military rifles, these weapons started as scaled up versions that fired a bullet in the 8mm to .55 caliber, 800-1000 grain category. They were small enough to be carried by one or two men, and had enough power to penetrate the side armor of early tanks. Improved armor rapidly outclassed the original rifles, and demanded more power from them; and higher powered rifles demanded more tank armor. This race continued on into World War Two, with the rifles growing to 20mm, but being outpaced by the thickening armor on tanks. When tanks began fighting each other, the focus turned to defense against another tank's main gun.

One part of the arms race that is not often recognized, is the improvement in engines and power transmission gear. The early tanks had drive trains that we might condescend to use in a go cart today, and they were questionably adequate for the job. Improved engines allowed the vehicles to pull more weight, which allowed thicker armor for protection and heavier guns for offense. Improved drive trains allowed cross country performance to skyrocket.

Another area needing improvement was the layout of the weapons. The British Mk I tanks came in 'Male' and 'Female' versions. The male carried two naval six pounder guns in side sponsons and four machine guns, while the female carried only six machine guns. There was no turret and none of the guns had a very wide field of fire. Turrets appeared early on, but often in such profusion that they interfered with one another. The Russian T35, produced before the Winter War with Finland, carried a howitzer in its main turret, which had 360 degree traverse. The tank also had four subsidiary turrets with 45mm guns for infantry attack. The traverse in these was rather limited and the tank required a crew of ten. The American M-3, of about the same period, carried a 75mm gun in a limited traverse sponson on the right forward corner of the vehicle, and a

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