The idea of armored vehicle was generated a long time ago. In 1485, Leonardo da Vinci made the sketches of one of the first armored war vehicle. In spite of the brilliant idea, the armored vehicle did not become a reality till the First World War. During that period the British renovated 16 armored trucks into armored car. The cars were used by the British army as well as the Tsarist Russian Army in the war. Even though the armored cars were proved to be very efficient, it was not that reliable during that period of time. After the First World War, every nation wanted to build a working and reliable armored vehicle and the evolution of the armored cars took off.
Where Did The Journey Start?
The concept of the armored cars existed from the very day man fought war against each other. The Greek invented a somewhat armored vehicle known as Phalanx and the Romans implemented siege engines to war. From Leonardo da Vinci to H.G. Wells, everybody imagined a different model of armored vehicle. Like all the inventions, the evolution of armored cars also took many dangerous curves and was heavily criticized by the newspapers.
Types of Armored Vehicles
The first armored vehicle was powered by a forty five horse powered engine. The weight of the vehicle was almost 40 tons. Only three people could have sit in the vehicle with the only one 30 caliber machine gun.
Holt tractors were considered to an important part of the evolution of the tank. These tractors demonstrated a system that was known as the caterpillar track. That system later became extremely important as it was considered ideal for the movements of the heavy armored vehicles.
Royal navy developed a prototype tank during the First World War, known as Little Willie. Six army personnel were required to maneuver the tank. The maximum speed of the tank was 2 miles per hour which was a reason for concern.
After the war was over, a new design for the armored car came into existence. Known as the peerless lorry, this vehicle was tough. The Austin Company produced the armor of the vehicle. The design they followed was invented for the Russians at the time of the war. The vehicle became unpopular due to its poor performance off the road.
New Era of Armored Vehicle
In 1930 an American engineer Walter Christie developed a new design for the armored vehicles. In his new design Christie changed the axis of movement from vertical to horizontal. This improved the cross country movement of the vehicles. It also facilitated the efficacy that the armored vehicle had in the war.
This was the point from where new designs for the modern armored cars were being developed. Even though the warfare is becoming more and more technology dependent, the relevance of the armored vehicle in war is still not lost.
Instead, today’s modern armored vehicles take a major part in the technological warfare. Armored vehicles such as Challenger 2 have the best armor while tanks such as K2 have some of the most advanced fire-control systems. They can even shoot a helicopter down from the sky.
