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Instructables member TigrisLi make a tank for her kitten out of cardboard, and posted the instructions so you can make one, too! Even if you don’t want a kitty-sized cardboard tank, don’t miss the short film she made of her kitten using it to blow the enemy away. Link -via Laughing Squid
Swedish engineers are working on a tank that will be able to blend into the background — whatever that background may be. It’s covered with a skin that can change its appearance:
The technology is based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels’ that are able to change temperature very quickly.
On-board cameras collect images of the vehicle’s background and display that infra-red image onto the vehicle panels, making it appear to vanish.
Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user Håkan Dahlström used under Creative Commons license
This is an unbelievable story of a tank that was used by the British to conduct nuclear tests and not only survived the blast, but went on to be used in several high profile missions. That’s one tough tank.
The test was codenamed Operation Totem, and was one of a number of British atomic tests carried out in remote areas of Australia during the 1950s. While the primary focus of these tests was the performance of the atomic weapons, there was also the opportunity to measure the blast effects on various types of military equipment. Although Centurion Mark 3 tanks had only been in service with the Australian Army since September 1951, and there were plenty of obsolescent Second World War tanks available, it was decided that an expensive current issue Centurion tank only a year old would be provided. With every expectation that the damage would be so severe as to effectively destroy the vehicle, the provision of a Centurion was certainly a measure of the importance placed on the atomic tests by the Australian Government.
At Woomera, the tank was stowed with a complete issue of ammunition, including grenades and 2-inch smoke bombs, before the convoy commenced the 300 mile move across rough desert tracks, Spinifex and sand dunes to Emu Field.
The tank was in position at the test site by early August, and over the next two months was subjected to various inspections and measurements. It was also fitted with sensors and makeshift dummy crewmen.
Positioned to face the low-yield atomic blast head on, 169041 was less than 500 yards from the epicentre.
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Cats in Tanks from Whitehouse Post on Vimeo.
Cat’s in Tanks is the feline epic that shows cats in tanks with lasers. Win. NSFW language when the lady screams the f-bomb. link
I’m not a huge fan of the VW vans like this one, but when you put the van on a set of tank treads, you have my interest. Apparently the shell to the VW was riveted onto a WWII era tracked ATV called the Weasel. This might be the ultimate off-road camping machine. link
Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and visiting lawman Steven Seagal went on a raid to a home in the West Valley area of Phoenix, where a man was suspected of cockfighting. The search warrant was executed as the SWAT team rolled into the neighborhood in armored vehicles led by a tank. They arrested Jesus Llovera during the raid Monday.
Llovera was alone in the house at the time of the arrest, and he was unarmed.
“I think taxpayers should be shocked,” said Robert Campus, Llovera’s attorney. Campus said he believes the operation costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Deputies had no probable cause to believe Llovera was armed or dangerous, according to Campus.
Campus said he believes the entire scene was basically a stage, to help actor Steven Seagal’s TV show, “Lawman.”
Seagal was riding in the tank.
The Sheriff’s Department has entered into a contract with Seagal and part of that contract gives Seagal carte blanche to go along with the sheriff as he arrests people.
Thousands of dollars in damages were made to the property and 115 birds were euthanized on the spot.
One neighbor was so frightened she called 911 to report the raid. Link -via reddit
This Russian-language (?) video shows a handy car accessory. Drive up on the treads, remove your wheels, attach the axle to the treads, and you have a functional tracked vehicle.
via DVICE | Previously on Neatorama: Mattracks
Put that shotgun away. This Australian beer commercial proposes a new sport: skeet shooting with a tank.
Previously on Neatorama: skeet fishing.
via Wandering Goblin
This design, patented in 1945 by Henry Wallace, never made it into mass production (or, I suspect, even a prototype). Odd, that. From the text of the patent:
One of the objects of this invention is to provide a tank having an extensible leg capable of imparting a series of vertical oscillations to the tank, and having means to vary the angle of inclination of the leg to obtain directional movement of the tank.
Another of the objects of the invention is to provide a tank which is adapted to traverse difficult terrain.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a tank which is propelled in such a manner that its progress is intermittent, thereby rendering it a difficult target. Still another object is to provide a tank provided with means whereby the direction of its course may be rapidly changed, thereby rendering it a difficult target.
Link via Boing Boing
The Panzerbike is a German-built motorcycle with the engine of a T-55 tank inside. That’s a diesel V12 with 620 HP. The bike is 19 feet long, 9 feet wide, and weighs nearly 5 tons. Actually, it’s more like a tractor than a motorcycle, since the sidecar is built-in and it takes two people to steer. Still, Tilo Niebel and his friends at the Harzer Bike company created quite an impressive piece of machinery.
YouTube Video of the Panzerbike
Link via Ride Fast & Shoot Straight
The Toy Zone has pictures and descriptions of fifteen weapons or defensive systems that historians have found sketched in the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. These include a tank, cluster munitions, and mobile walls. The picture above is of a pivoting radial barrage canon found in the Codex Atlanticus.
