Military Vehicles & Ground Systems Contributor
Marcus Webb writes about military ground vehicles, armored platforms, and the logistics of land warfare. His work covers everything from MRAPs and infantry carriers to the training pipelines that keep ground forces operational in contested environments.
Nine countries chose the K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer over American, German, and French alternatives. South Korea's willingness to transfer technology, cut prices, and deliver fast turned a domestic artillery piece into the world's most exported howitzer, and made Seoul a top-five arms dealer.
On July 30, 2020, nine Marines and a sailor drowned when their 48-year-old amphibious vehicle sank during a routine training exercise. The vehicle had been in service since before any of them were born.
10 completely different military vehicles. One chassis. One engine. One set of spare parts. The Stryker's real innovation isn't armor or firepower, it's logistics.
France built the only Western tank with an autoloader, a 56-ton machine designed for speed and desert warfare. Everyone said the autoloader was a mistake. Then the UAE bought 388 of them and took them to war. Here's how the Leclerc defied its critics and why France chose a fundamentally different path than every other NATO nation.
The BMP-3 carries a 100mm cannon, a 30mm autocannon, and three machine guns on a vehicle that can swim across rivers. The Bradley carries one 25mm gun on a vehicle that weighs almost twice as much. Both designs reflect fundamentally different philosophies about what an infantry fighting vehicle should do, and Ukraine has stress-tested both in combat.
Special operations teams do not drive what you think they drive. Forget the armored convoys and MRAPs, SOF units use ultralight tactical vehicles that fit inside helicopters, mini-submarines that deliver SEALs to targets underwater, and modified civilian trucks designed to blend in on foreign roads. These are the 10 vehicles that special operations forces rely on for missions the conventional military cannot do.
100+ IED blasts. Zero crew killed. The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle's V-shaped hull deflected blast energy away from the crew compartment with such consistency that every single soldier inside survived. Here's how a 15-ton Australian vehicle became one of the most effective troop protection platforms ever deployed to combat.
Britain is rebuilding its main battle tank from the turret up, replacing the unique rifled gun, fitting a completely new turret, and modernizing every system. The result is one of the most capable tanks in NATO. They're building 148 of them. Poland is buying 250 Abrams in a single order.
China designed the Type 99A to match or exceed the M1A2 Abrams on every measurable specification. On paper, they might have succeeded. But paper and a real battlefield are very different things.
Nineteen armies on four continents chose the Leopard 2. No other Western tank comes close to this export record, and the reasons go far beyond German engineering.
The BMP-T Terminator carries more weapons than some warships. From unmanned turrets to 60mm mortars hidden inside tanks, these are the most heavily armed ground vehicles currently in military service.
The AbramsX technology demonstrator features an unmanned turret, hybrid electric drive, and a three-man crew. Here is what the Army learned and how it shapes the M1E3.
The armor detonates itself. On purpose. Explosive reactive armor uses a controlled detonation to disrupt incoming shaped charge jets and even kinetic penetrators, buying the crew inside precious milliseconds of survival. Here is the physics behind one of the most counterintuitive defense technologies ever fielded.
A single 35mm round costs roughly $100. A Patriot interceptor costs $3 million. Both can destroy a $20,000 Shahed drone. Germany was retiring the Gepard when Ukraine asked for it, and the Cold War anti-aircraft gun became the most cost-effective counter-drone weapon on the planet.
South Korea's K2 Black Panther is lighter, more fuel-efficient, and more technologically advanced than the M1 Abrams on paper. But paper and combat are not the same thing.
A Ukrainian crew took four to six direct hits inside their M1A1 Abrams. All walked away uninjured. The reason is a 1970s engineering decision involving depleted uranium, blow-out panels, and the difference between how American and Russian tanks store their ammunition.
In 23 minutes at the Battle of 73 Easting, nine M1A1 Abrams tanks destroyed over 30 Iraqi tanks with zero losses. For three decades, no enemy tank ever confirmed a kill on an Abrams in direct combat. Then came Ukraine, and FPV drones changed the math entirely. Here is the complete combat record of America's main battle tank, war by war, loss by loss.
In June 2022, four HIMARS launchers arrived in Ukraine. Within weeks, 50 Russian ammunition depots were destroyed. Now 20+ countries are scrambling to buy them. Here's how a truck-mounted rocket system became the most sought-after weapon on the planet.
The Type 99A is the most advanced tank China has ever built, a 58-tonne machine armed with a 125mm gun, protected by composite armor and explosive reactive armor, and equipped with an active protection system and a laser dazzler that can blind enemy optics. It has never been exported, never been used in combat, and never been independently tested. What China claims about the Type 99A and what the tank can actually do may be two very different things.
The infantry fighting vehicle is the most dangerous thing on a battlefield that isn't a tank. It is a tracked armored vehicle that carries a squad of infantry, protects them from everything short of a main battle tank round, and fights alongside them with autocannons, anti-tank missiles, and increasingly sophisticated active protection systems. These are the 10 best in the world.
The Namer is the heaviest armored personnel carrier in the world, a 60-tonne machine built on the Merkava Mk 4 tank hull with the same front-mounted engine, the same Trophy active protection system, and the same philosophy that has defined Israeli armored vehicle design for fifty years: bring the crew home alive. While other nations design APCs to be light and fast, Israel builds them to survive the kill zones of urban combat. The Namer is the most extreme expression of that philosophy.
The Puma is the most heavily protected and technologically advanced infantry fighting vehicle in NATO, a 43-ton armored vehicle that weighs more than many main battle tanks of the previous generation. Its modular armor system can be configured from Level A (air-transportable) to Level C (protection against 30mm kinetic energy rounds and medium anti-tank weapons), making it one of the few IFVs that can genuinely survive on a modern battlefield alongside main battle tanks.
The T-90M Proryv is Russia's most advanced operational tank, a heavily upgraded descendant of the T-72, armed with a 125mm gun that can fire anti-tank missiles, protected by third-generation Relikt explosive reactive armor, and equipped with the Arena-M hard-kill active protection system. It was supposed to be the best tank Russia had ever fielded. Then it went to Ukraine.
At 57 tonnes, the Leclerc is the lightest main battle tank in Western service, nearly 15 tons lighter than an M1A2 Abrams. But light doesn't mean weak. The Leclerc carries a 120mm smoothbore gun with an autoloader that gives it the fastest rate of fire of any Western MBT, composite armor that has proven itself in combat, and a fire control system that can engage targets while moving at full speed. France built a tank for a different kind of war, and it works.
The Challenger 2 is the only Western main battle tank that uses a rifled gun, and it has never lost a crewmember to enemy fire in combat. Built around Chobham armor so effective it remains classified, the Challenger 2 is Britain's armored fist and one of the most heavily protected tanks ever built. But age and export failure have left it facing an uncertain future.
The M1 Abrams and Merkava Mk 4 are both among the world's finest main battle tanks, but they were designed around fundamentally different priorities. The Abrams was built for speed and firepower on the open plains of Europe. The Merkava was built to bring its crew home alive from the close-quarters battles of the Middle East. Their differences reveal how geography, doctrine, and national experience shape the machines nations build.
The Merkava puts its engine in the front, its troops in the back, and its crew's survival above everything else. Born from Israel's refusal to accept tank crew casualties, it is the only main battle tank in the world that can carry infantry, evacuate wounded, and shoot down incoming missiles mid-flight.
South Korea's K2 Black Panther packs an autoloader, active protection, and a hydropneumatic suspension that lets it kneel for hull-down firing positions, all in a 55-ton package. Poland just ordered over a thousand of them, making it one of the most successful tank export programs in the world.
In February 1991, M1A1 Abrams tanks proved themselves in the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait during the 100-hour ground war of Operation Desert Storm. The Battle of 73 Easting became the defining engagement, where American armor destroyed an Iraqi Republican Guard division in under 23 minutes. Here is what the crews experienced and what the machine actually did.
The Evolution of Modern Armor: How Tanks Changed Warfare from World War I to Today For more than a century, the tank has been one of the most powerful…
Gustav Gun Tank Pat. W. Kohl, U.S. Army Hitlers massive weapon would make any opposition tremble. This monster was designed to have the capabilities to…
Leopard 2 Battle Tank Friedrich Böhringer The main battle tank-or in this case kampfpanzer-of the German Army, is the Leopard 2. As the name suggests,…
A collection of dramatic images capturing U.S. military aircraft during nighttime operations, from afterburner-lit takeoffs to illuminated flight line maintenance.
A gallery of images showcasing Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, the armored platforms designed to protect troops from IEDs and ambushes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A gallery of images showcasing the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the world's premier fifth-generation stealth air superiority fighter in action across various deployments.
A gallery of images featuring the Rockwell B-1B Lancer, the supersonic variable-sweep wing bomber that serves as a key component of America's long-range strike capability.
Images of the Bell AH-1 Cobra and its variants, the first dedicated attack helicopter and a combat-proven platform that served from Vietnam to the modern battlefield.
Images of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, the vertical/short takeoff and landing jet that gave the Marine Corps close air support from amphibious assault ships.
Images of the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, the legendary high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that has conducted surveillance missions at the edge of space since the Cold War.
Images of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the long-range heavy bomber that played a decisive role in the Pacific Theater of World War II and dropped the first atomic bombs.
Images of the MH-6 Little Bird, the light attack and reconnaissance helicopter used by U.S. Army special operations forces for close air support and covert insertion missions.
A collection of images featuring the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, the legendary strategic bomber that has served the U.S. Air Force for over seven decades.
A gallery of images showcasing the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the versatile four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft that has served in virtually every military role imaginable.
A collection of images featuring U.S. military fighter jets, from the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon to the stealth F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.
Striking images of the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, the world's most advanced stealth bomber with its iconic flying wing design and nuclear strike capability.
A gallery of striking images featuring the legendary McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the iconic Cold War-era fighter-bomber that served with distinction across multiple conflicts.
A gallery of powerful images showcasing main battle tanks from militaries around the world, from the American M1 Abrams to other iconic armored fighting vehicles.
Images of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, one of the largest military transport aircraft in the world, capable of carrying tanks, helicopters, and oversized cargo across continents.
A gallery of powerful images featuring the Boeing AH-64 Apache, the U.S. Army's primary attack helicopter known for its advanced targeting systems and battlefield dominance.
An in-depth look at the F-35 Lightning II, the fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter designed to replace multiple legacy aircraft across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
Images of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the multirole fighter jet that became the most widely produced fourth-generation combat aircraft in the world.
There is arguably no aircraft that has captured the imagination of the public quite like the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird has been out of commission for awhile, but there’s not…
Images of the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler, the electronic warfare aircraft that jammed enemy radar and communications for over four decades of Navy and Marine Corps service.
The newest version of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle, or M-ATV, is currently being upgraded, refurbished and up-armored for both the Marine Corps and Air Force at Production Plant…
Powerful images of the M1 Abrams main battle tank in training exercises and deployed operations, showcasing America's most formidable armored fighting vehicle.
