The EBT-18 Tarakan is a tank in fiction by GMRE.
Seen here alongside the Object 279.
Name[]
It's a russian tank, so the official full name is: "Экспериментальный Большой Танк, модель 2018 "Таракан"", which means "Experimental big tank, model 2018 "Cockroach"".
Note the designation as a "big tank" as opposed to "heavy tank". That's because modern armor materials allow the mass to be with in limits of reason, so just because it's bigger doesn't mean it's necessarily significantly heavier.
Development history and description[]
The tank is a further development of the famous Object 279 experimental heavy tank.
The new vehicle still has the same track layout and the same caliber 130 mm main gun and a very similar hull shape, but that's where the similarities end. Just about everything else has been completely redesigned.
The name is no exaggeration: The vehicle is indeed much wider than any normal tank. This is to allow it to have those excellent armor angles.
Special features:
- The unusual track layout is inherited from the Object 279.
- Of all the reasonably-sized and somewhat normalish tanks, its armor is second to none.
- The main gun is 130 mm instead of the usual 125 of most russian tanks.
- All externally mounted parts are easy to replace near the battlefield.
- It has 2 small remote-controlled MG turrets.
- It has 4 automated defensive missile turrets that stop, or at least change the course of enemy projectiles. Details classified.
- Despite having armor that is second to none, it still has additional replaceable armor panels all over. These are to help deflect some missiles.
Performance[]
Reportedly it's excellent in every way, except for the logistical problems from its transportation.
- Mass: Classified, but believed to be something like 70 tons.
- Armament: 130 mm main gun, 1 coaxial MG, 2 MG turrets.
- Driving characteristics: Slower than most contemporary tanks. The track layout doesn't allow it to easily turn a full circle on the spot, but this isn't really needed all that often anyway. A tank like this is not meant to drive into narrow streets in an urban environment.
Trivia[]
- It took a while to count the pixels and get all the complex shapes right.