The Batmobile Inspired Tank: Even In War, Life Imitates Art

Yes, of course, inspirations can come from anywhere. But is BAE Systems taking cartoon-mimicry just a little too far with its Batman-inspired tank?

No, I'm not kidding.  BAE's Future Protected Vehicles project, led by Hisham Awad and his team, were inspired by the Batmobile for its design of the Raider, a concept vehicle for a future unmanned skirmisher.  The Batmobile in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, that is.

The Raider, BAE's prototype skirmisher, inspired by the Batmobile: © BAE Systems

Batmobile in Dark Knight: image via furiousfanboys.com

Meeting with Stuart Nathan, features editor for the British publication The Engineer, Awad admitted raiding comic books and cartoon movies for ideas.  Car designs, these last few years, have obviously been inspired by animated box office hits (in my opinion to the detriment of car design).  But armored tanks?

Just goes to show you there's no limit on where one can can look for inspiration, especially when it comes to innovation.  In addition to biomimicry, at the forefront of defense inspirations, we can add the very fertile field of cartoon-mimicry to the mix of ideas for innovation and invention.

The Engineer via FoxNews