Once you redesign it to work in tropical heat, and once you realise that every tank is going to require at least 3 men inside, plus engineers back at base, plus they take fuel.
Um, you know the Marines in Afghanistan are still using mules right? And that the MWTC offers 11 day course in animal packing? Mountains are not good terrain for tanks, or most other vehicles come to that (hence the mules).
Nothing about the suggest POD requires they work well. Yes, they would find challenges in the tropics, and they would begin to be worked on. In the two or so years before the war, we get maybe a company of armored cars/tanks operational, and maybe we have a couple of platoon size engagements in colonies. I don't see any issues with it being too lavish to fund nor do I see issues with it not working so well. Lots of ideas are tried by various militaries that do not work so well, at least initially. It makes a lot more sense than using a hand thrown harpoon to try to sink submarines.
Yes, I am aware the marines use animals. Are you aware that USA combat forces in Afghanistan use the internal combustion engine also? If the USA only used animals in Afghanistan then you would have a point. In my post, I did not say they would be used in the mountains, but used in the arid regions and securing the entrances to mountain passes or other bottlenecks. The NW territory in India is in modern Pakistan, not Afghanistan. I don't see how having a platoon or company of tanks rush out of a British fortress to try to cutoff the route of retreat is such a stretch. Or simply to try to engage some cavalry in the open plains with machine guns. It is the desert areas heading into the Hindu Kush where the armored cars are most likely to be used. Again, nothing about the POD means it has to work well. It is the UK decides to fund some type of armored vehicle, then the next stage after testing on the testing grounds is to try in combat. Where is the most common areas for combat in the British Empire - NW territories of Africa and parts of British East Africa. Neither is ideal for armored cars/tanks, but both are continual combat zones where new technology would be tried.
