Firepower and mobility are best implemented if the soldiers who wieldthem are protected from the firepower of the enemy forces they face. Thisis especially crucial in the case of the tank, since its firepower makeit a desirable targetfor destruction, and its mobility prevent the soldier from seeking protectionfrom terrain on the battlefield. The tank, therefore, carries the shieldingfor its crew with it, in the form of armor protection over the entire chassis,protection that is enhanced over the front 60 degrees of the vehicle, whereit is most likely to be hit by enemy fire. This protection also takes theform of the overpressure system, which uses air pressure to prevent theencroachment of chemical weapons into the body of the tank. In the humanbody, crew protection finds its origins in the womb. Although it has replacedthe womb entirely, the cyborg of the tank reproduces the capability ofthe womb only imperfectly, since it can only prevent the destruction oflife, not create it. But the body that is the main battle tank, unlikethe body of the mother, or any other human, never bleeds, never tires,never dies. It may not live, but it lends its technological semblance ofimmortality to the crew it contains.

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