There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of a tank. There’s its top speed, its armor, the range and power of its main gun. And then there’s how well a tank can balance a glass of beer.
Naturally the German military tested the last one.
In 1986 Germany unveiled the Leopard 2 tank, a new model that became popular with NATO nations for its firepower, speed and accuracy. The German Bundeswehr released a video showing off the tank’s capabilities, including firing its main 120mm gun while on the go. But the standout moment comes roughly a minute and a 40 seconds into the video, where a soldier fills a stein with beer and balances it on the end of the gun.
It was more than just a celebration of German brewing. As the video shows, the glass does not wobble, fall off or spill, in part because of the tank’s advanced stabilization, allowing it to accurately aim while traveling at speed. At the time, that was a major point of interest, when Western nations in the Cold War figured the Soviet Union had a much larger arsenal of tanks.
[Eins, zwei, g’suffa! (One, two, down the hatch!) ~ Beege]
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