What's the future of the Main Battle Tank? Based on what we've seen, a few observations can be made:
1⃣ Tank-on-tank combat is a rarity rather than the norm.
2⃣ Tanks are mostly being defeated with missiles not tungsten penetrators.
3⃣ In many instances, tanks are being used as assault guns to support infantry in the attack, which is why older types such as Leopard 1 have proved so useful.
4⃣ Although 120 mm tank guns have highly effective APFSDS rounds, new 105 mm natures are still equally lethal and you can carry more, while programmable 105 mm HE is perfect for direct fire tasks.
5⃣ Survivability is less dependent on passive armour and more reliant on active protection systems that can defeat ATGM and aerial threats, especially drones.
6⃣ The best means of survivability is exiting an area quickly and hiding - a basic tactic we seem to have forgotten.
7⃣ Operational mobility has become increasingly important - especially within an expeditionary context - so the ability to redeploy a force rapidly from one area to another can be decisive.
The above factors tend to favour lighter, more agile wheeled vehicles, which partly explain why Japan and Italy are so invested in 8x8 assault guns.