Since medieval times the military has placed importance on body armour, originating as a kit of chainmail worn by gallant knights. Some knights even had armour plated cover for their horses. Over the decades this secure system gave birth to armour plated vehicles.
The mechanisms then changed and the vehicles were fitted with guns. Since then the entire strategy of the conventional battle field has changed. Today every army has its Armoured Corps Brigade, which provides mobility and fire support in almost every terrain.
I made my way to the famous ‘Rock House’ camp situated at Modera, Colombo15. It is the ultimate home of ‘Armour’. Within this vast compound adjacent to the harbor the Army has its amazing fleet of tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. This regiment had humble beginnings from 1955 where they used a Saladin scout car and a combination BSA 600 CC motor bike (that has the carriage for the pillion rider). Over the decades the men of armour have made tremendous progress and made a silent but important contribution in safeguarding our nation.
Weighing a staggering 42 tons the T-55 AM2 functions as a main battle tank. This is one imposing piece of hardware from Czechoslovakia and is basically a fortress on wheels. I went along with Major.Ranga Kadigamuwa to check out this awesome track vehicle. The tank has a crew of 4 men: the commander (an officer), driver, gunner and loader. Each man has a highly skilled task and must work as a team. The unique feature of this tank is the main turret (with the 100mm heavy gun) which can rotate a full 360 degrees.
It unleashes its fury with a firing range of 6.9Km and uses High Explosive shells and armour piercing rounds. In addition the vehicle also has a 12.5 mm anti-aircraft gun that can rotate and hit threats from the sky. The gunner and loader play a key role in achieving an accurate hit. As I climbed into the tank via the small hatch I noticed it has no steering wheel, but has 2 sticks: one on the left and right.
The drive navigates this massive vehicle from these two mechanized sticks. Inspite of weighing 42 tons the tank can speed upto 48 Km on a road and 22 Km on rough muddy terrain.
It is the ultimate ride for the tech inspired person. The crew sergeant tells me that they can operate in total darkness using infra red light (night vision). In addition if the internal temperature gets more than 105 degrees, state of the art fire alert systems will come into action and sustain the fire. Tank formations ruled supreme during the Second World War. Since then they have adopted maneuvering formations.
From their famous “extended line” which spread fear to the enemy the tanks also ride in the ‘1 up 2 down” style: the lead tank going into unknown enemy areas with the 2 other tanks behind. The T-55AM has a special “mine plough” apparatus fixed in front so that concealed mines are ripped up before the tank actually crosses over them. The crew can take their tank 5 meters into the water and still fire at targets.
A tank cannot operate alone and has her auxiliary support vehicles. One of them is the magnificent AVLB- Armoured Vehicle Launching Bridge. This scientific wonder can carry a 60 foot folded bridge and position itself in a river or marsh and using advanced hydraulics “releases” the bridge in less than 15 minutes. Then the tank crosses on this bridge. The AVLB then comes “under “the bridge and folds it back to position. This is a brilliant engineering task.
In case the tank is bogged down in mud or marshland the corps has an ARV- Armoured Recovery Vehicle. This iron giant can pull a staggering 100 tons, and can tow any vehicle of the fleet. In addition to these engineering marvels the army has its Russian made BTR- Crew transporters. With a 30mm gun this armoured crew of 3 can carry a 7 man assault team into combat. A unique aspect of this cool vehicle is that its tires even if shot, can pump air into the tube and keep running at 80 Km, until reaching a safe place.
Brigadier Prathap Tillekerathne is the brigade commander of this outfit that boasts of high tech machines and superior fire power.
