What were the tanks of World War 2 like?

Answer 1

Some were good, a few were an indifferent mixture of good and bad traits and some had significant faults that cost their crew's lives in vast numbers. To be effective on the battlefield, every armored vehicle must balance these elements: * Firepower, * Protection, * Speed, * Range, * Weight, and * Goodies like Fire Control, Communications, Crew Comfort, Producability, Affordability and Simplicity. Each must be weighed against the other, because an excess of protection for example, adds weight and means that the tank can't cross existing bridges and high speeds burns fuel which reduces range. Larger guns add weight, and reduced firepower means they are incapable of making one shot kills. Only the Soviet T-34 seemed to balance everything to some degree and it remained in production until 1958 and is still in use by some Third World Countries. The US Sherman was easy and cheap to produce, simple to operate, had light weight, good range and speed but failed to protect its crews and was so poorly equipped in weaponry that entire units had to be used to take on a single Tiger tank. The US factories produced 49,000 Shermans, which was more then the Axis produced during the entire war. The UK's Matilda was slow, but could be shot at all day and continue to fight back. German Tanks were so over-engineered and produced in such a variety that the factories could never meet the military need. Japanese tanks failed in almost every category.