Rhino

The Rhino, commonly referred to in police chatters simply as the Tank, is a military tank featured in every game of the franchise

Description
Like its predecessor in Grand Theft Auto 2, the Rhino appears when the player attains a six star Wanted Level or upon entering Fort Zancudo in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto VI. In the 3D era, the Rhino can be avoided without much difficulty because of its slow speed and bad handling, but it's extremely deadly if the player attempts to engage one, and the soldier driving it always carries strong weapons. Also, when successfully stolen, authorities can bust the player due to the Rhino's slow speed. When it hits a vehicle, the vehicle most of the time explodes straight away; if not, it starts to burn instead. In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars however, this does not happen. Law enforcement tends not to use the main cannon of the Rhino, except in GTA Chinatown Wars and Grand Theft Auto V, in which the gun causes massive damage and usually kills the player. The Rhino is practically invincible to small arms fire and crashes; only Satchel Charges, dozens of other explosives & rockets, and the Police Maverick's mounted gun can inflict damage. The exception being the Rhino Tank in Grand Theft Auto V; where small arms can eventually cause fatal damage and roughly 6 rounds from an RPG or sticky bombs will cause the engine to catch fire and explode. Additionally, flame weapons such as the Molotov cocktail and flamethrower are able to damage the tank. Note that it is also possible to destroy a Rhino with conventional ordnance, but it takes a staggering amount and a long time to do so. In GTA Liberty City Stories, if you can get the Rhino up and onto the tracks of the subway or the El-Train, the incoming train cars will destroy the tank on impact.

In GTA San Andreas and GTA Liberty City Stories, it's possible to carjack a Rhino and even store one in a safehouse garage. Vice City Stories removes the ability to carjack the Rhino and unlike the other games where a Rhino spawn point is found, the tank is locked until a certain mission is completed (and even then the PS2 version of the game keeps the Rhino locked).

Design
In GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories, the Rhino does not appear to be directly based on any real life military vehicle. However, its front end does bear some resemblance to that of the 6-wheeled M93 Fox reconassaince vehicle, and the sides belong to the design of the Panhard ERC 90. Its features also resemble the seemingly original and chunky design reminiscent of a modified M3 Stuart, but with a front that more closely resembles that of an M4 Sherman. The Rhino's weapon configuration and chassis are similar to the equipment of the LAV-600. Because of its heavy construction, with doors on both sides that can easily be damaged with even the slightest hit, and a truck-style 3-axle drivetrain with visible wheels, the turret can only be rotated by pressing buttons, which makes precise shooting almost impossible.

In its original appearance in GTA III, the Rhino assumes a stark appearance with little detail on its armored body. The GTA Vice City rendition, however, saw the addition of a variety of equipment to the vehicle, as well as the enlargement of the turret's barrel. The GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories variants follow the design cues of the GTA III and GTA Vice City renditions, with the turret barrel of GTA Liberty Stories rendition even being of the same size and length as that in GTA Vice City, although the GTA Vice City Stories variant is even longer.

In GTA San Andreas, the Rhino looks like an M1 Abrams and it is much more realistic than its predecessors. This variant of the Rhino features a beige (desert) camouflage, a normal tank entrance hatch in the front, and a new drive-train with numerous smaller wheels. The design overhaul gives a great deal more realism to the tank's appearance.

It also has a new steering system, which finally allows the player to make very tight turns. The turret is operated with the mouse (PC) or right thumb-stick (PlayStation 2), which allows the player to aim more precisely--however, this means the Rhino can no longer fire backwards on pursuers while keeping the camera pointed forward for steering. The Rhino in GTA San Andreas is also heavy enough to push aircraft, making a Rhino an ideal vehicle to push the Andromada (after blow up all vehicles is activated) from "Stowaway" to their hanger at Verdant Meadows.

Interestingly enough, none of the pre-GTA IV versions have caterpillar tracks, unlike their real world counterparts; this is likely due to tracks being too complex for the game's engine to render.

The Rhino does not appear in Grand Theft Auto IV. It is assumed that Rockstar's goal of making GTA IV more realistic than previous GTA entries led to the tank being cut from the game as the layout of Liberty City/Alderney does not allow much by way of tanks. In GTA IV's first DLC, The Lost and Damned, the text files for a Rhino tank are included, even though it never appears in game. It is later replaced with the APC in The Ballad of Gay Tony. GTA Chinatown Wars reintroduces the Rhino with an appearance similar to the M7 Priest. The GTA Chinatown Wars Rhino bears the distinction of being the first Rhino to ever be depicted as having tracks.

The Rhino returns in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto VI, resembling the Leopard 2A4, and, like GTA Chinatown Wars, is depicted as having tracks, making it overall the most realistic rendition of the vehicle in the series to date (despite being modeled after a non-American military vehicle). It features a powerful main cannon and 2 unusable machine guns, one beside the main gun, and one on the roof. Like the GTA San Andreas rendition, there is a hatch to the driver's seat, but on the left side of the tank. The turret is again controlled by the right thumb-stick, but with greater accuracy than earlier versions of the tank, enabling it to turn very quickly and even aim at pursuing helicopters above. Unlike the 3D Universe renditions, the cannon is solid, making a great advantage of clearing out obstacles without the risk of firing, avoiding the explosion.