MW4 DMZ Battle Tank: Where to Find and Destroy It
The Battle Tank is a Commander that drives set routes around Hajin: look for it at Imjin Farmland, the road south of the Heavenly Luck Casino, Songdo Wharf and the Grid. One Impact Warhead destroys it in a single strike, five or six JOKR missiles also do it, and its three loot spots hold Nano-Structured Alloy, which nothing else drops.
Last updated Game version: Season 1 (November 5, 2026)
Where the Battle Tank is
The tank is always on the move, so check these routes in turn:
- Imjin Farmland: usually driving around just south of the rice silos
- Cheongun Village: back and forth on the main road south of the Heavenly Luck Casino
- Songdo Wharf: driving in circles at the wharf, east of the Grid
- The Grid: downtown, along its north and east sides
Like every Commander it shows on your Tac-Map once you get near, and your Team Leader warns you. Spawning or picking a Story Mission close to one of the routes saves driving. Its main gun destroys a vehicle in one hit, so never drive toward it in the open, and it has a machine gun on top for anyone on foot. Every other Commander, and the Lieutenants you hunt for the Boss Board, are on our DMZ bosses page.
How to kill the Battle Tank
Bullets do nothing to it, so it comes down to explosives. Three ways work, from the fastest to the one that risks nothing:
Impact Warhead: one strike
Bring: An Impact Warhead Fire Support, plus a DDoS if you have one.
- Carry the Impact Warhead in your secure slot so you keep it if you go down, and move it to your Fire Support slot only once you can see the tank.
- Stay well back where you can see it, and let it drive toward you.
- Hit it with a DDoS first if you have one: that holds it in place.
- Aim the warhead at the road just ahead of it. It does not need a direct hit: the blast alone disables and destroys it.
The warhead is a Legendary recipe you have to find as loot before you can print it, and the Turned Components it uses are also needed for FOB upgrades.
The Impact Warhead prints from Turned Components ×2, Nitro Compounds ×3, Detonators ×5, and a DDOS from Electronics 30, Detonators ×3; the DDOS recipe comes from DMZ Orders. Both are on our 3D Printer recipes page.
JOKR: five or six missiles
Bring: A JOKR launcher.
- Get onto a roof near the tank's route.
- Fire five or six JOKR missiles at it. A DDoS saves no missiles with this method, so you can skip it.
You need the JOKR unlocked to bring it in every run, but it is the cheapest steady way, and it hits far harder than an RPG.
RPG on a free kit
Bring: An Operator with no Traits on a free loadout.
- Take an RPG from one of the two rocket soldiers who always stand on rooftops at Imjin Farmland.
- Fight the tank next to a Resupply station: you will refill the RPG many times.
- Stay above it on a roof if you can, and aim for the back: it is the weakest point, and hits there more often count as critical.
Slow, and other squads hear the fight, but you risk nothing: going down costs only a fresh Operator.
An Operator with no Traits costs nothing to replace if you go down, which is why this works; how the MIA fee adds up is in our MIA Operators guide.
Thermite and C4 also damage it, and Thermite keeps burning, so throw it again and again. Ordinary guns do nothing.
The DMZ Order Massive Damage, on page 20 of the Orders, asks for the same fight step by step: Knock out the Tank's reactive armor with DDoS, hit the Tank with a rocket and destroy the Tank. So bring a DDOS as well as the launcher when you do it, even though the JOKR does not need one.
What the Battle Tank drops
Once it stops burning, there are three places to search on the wreck:
- The front of the hull
- The back of the hull
- The top of the turret
Nano-Structured Alloy only comes from a destroyed tank, and it can be in any of the three spots, so search all of them before you move on. It goes into:
- the 3-Plate Helmet Armor Vest, 2 per print
- level 3 of the Stash Weapon Upgrade at the FOB (6 more weapon slots), 10 of them
- level 2 of the Vendor Item Upgrade at the FOB (more items for sale), 2 of them
Everything an upgrade costs is on our FOB upgrades page, and where every other ingredient turns up is on our 3D Printer ingredients page.
Threat Briefing: Battle Tank: the Season 1 tank event
It is the first DMZ Event of Season 1, and you track it in the DMZ Events tab at the FOB. The event card reads: “Enter Hajin and engage the NK Main Battle Tank in combat, removing tank parts once per deployment. The greater the number of parts you gather over deployments, the more impressive the reward.”
Activision's Season 1 patch notes call the parts armor fragments: destroy the tank, loot one and get out with it. In both Threat Briefings, when one squad member exfils with a part taken from a Commander, the whole squad gets the credit. Any of the ways to kill it above works, and the Impact Warhead is the quickest to repeat run after run. The other Season 1 events are on our X01 and Season 1 page.
Driving your own tank
You can also repair a tank and drive it: it waits, broken, in the Tank Depot, behind The Armory in the Chang-san Air Base Bunker. It needs four parts: Tank Water Pump, Tank Battery, Tank Plug and Tank Actuator. All four are loose loot at Chang-san Air Base and in its bunker, lying on shelves, crates, barrels and floors rather than inside bags or containers, and they move between matches. The Tank Actuator is the easy one: it sits right beside the broken tank.
Where each part has turned up:
- Tank Battery: On the hangar side of the air base bunker, the stretch of tunnel where the aircraft are parked: look on the floor, barrels and crates beside the planes.
- Tank Plug: In the workshop buildings in the middle of the air base, on the low shelves once the guards inside are down.
- Tank Water Pump: In the buildings on the north side of the air base by the main gate, on the boxes just right of the gate as you come in; the roofs and tents there are worth a look too.
- Tank Actuator: Deep in the bunker, in the Tank Depot past The Armory door, lying right beside the broken tank.
- Collect the parts over several runs: grab one, put it in your secure slot, exfil, and come back for the next.
- Get the Air Base Armory Card during Operation Iron Citadel by upgrading the Air Base Access Card.
- With all four parts and the card on you, go down into the air base bunker and read the three notes marked on your minimap: each gives two digits of the armory code, which changes every match.
- Enter the code at the armory door and use the card. A heavily armored enemy with a minigun waits inside: fight it from the doorway corner or keep a control panel between you, so its gun cannot reach you.
- Go through The Armory into the Tank Depot, clear the guards (they shoot the tank, which starts badly damaged), and fit the four parts at the back of the tank.
- Press the red button by the tank to open its hangar door and drive into the bunker tunnels. The doors out of the bunker open from a button at the top of the round watchtower in the air base: an elevator goes most of the way up, with guards at the top.
The tank burns fuel fast. Bring two or three fuel cans from gas stations, and plan each drive so a gas station is never more than about 600 meters away, or it stops for the rest of the match. Enemy soldiers barely scratch it, a teammate can ride on the turret machine gun, and you can run enemies over.
The card and the bunker are explained on our Airbase Armory Keycard page, the mission on our Operation Iron Citadel walkthrough, and what else The Armory holds on our Chang-san Air Base armory guide.
Questions
Where is the tank in DMZ?
The Battle Tank drives set routes around Hajin rather than parking in one spot. Look for it at Imjin Farmland (usually driving around just south of the rice silos), the road south of the Heavenly Luck Casino (back and forth on the main road south of the Heavenly Luck Casino), Songdo Wharf (driving in circles at the wharf, east of the Grid) and the Grid (downtown, along its north and east sides).
How do you kill the tank in DMZ?
With explosives: an Impact Warhead destroys it in one strike, five or six JOKR missiles also do it, and an RPG works if you refill it at a Resupply station. Thermite and C4 also damage it, and Thermite keeps burning, so throw it again and again. Ordinary guns do nothing.
Can you one-shot the Battle Tank?
Yes, with an Impact Warhead Fire Support. Aim it at the road just ahead of the tank: the blast alone disables and destroys it. Printing one takes Turned Components ×2, Nitro Compounds ×3, Detonators ×5, once you have found the recipe.
What does the tank drop in DMZ?
Nano-Structured Alloy, the 3D Printer ingredient you can only get from it, plus other loot in three spots: the front of the hull, the back of the hull and the top of the turret. The alloy can be in any of the three.
Does Thermite or DDoS work on the tank?
Both help. Thermite and C4 also damage it, and Thermite keeps burning, so throw it again and again. Ordinary guns do nothing. A DDoS disables it for a moment and holds it in place, which is why it pairs with an Impact Warhead. Bring a launcher as well: explosives are what bring it down.
What is the Threat Briefing: Battle Tank event?
The first DMZ Event of Season 1: take a part off the tank once per deployment and get out with it. The more parts you bring back over your deployments, the better the reward, and one squad member getting out with a part counts for the whole squad.
Where is the Tank Battery in DMZ?
On the hangar side of the air base bunker, the stretch of tunnel where the aircraft are parked: look on the floor, barrels and crates beside the planes. It is one of the four parts that repair the tank in the Tank Depot, and its item card reads "Used to repair heavy military tanks".
Can you drive a tank in DMZ?
Yes. Repair the broken tank in the Tank Depot, behind The Armory in the Chang-san Air Base Bunker with four parts, Tank Water Pump, Tank Battery, Tank Plug and Tank Actuator, then drive it out. You need the Air Base Armory Card and the armory code to reach it.
Official sources
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Next stepTank down? See every other Commander and the Lieutenants on the Boss Board.MW4 DMZ Bosses: Every Lieutenant and CommanderEvery Lieutenant and Commander players have found, where each Lieutenant is and its key, with a Boss Board challenge tracker.Go there Related guides
EnemiesDMZ Threat Levels, Enemies and BossesThe five threat levels, every enemy type named so far, the Lieutenants and Commanders on the Boss Board, and which places start at Extreme.
OperatorsMW4 DMZ MIA Operators: Rescue Cost and InsuranceWhat happens when an Operator goes MIA, what a rescue costs as the Dog Tag levels up, and the Rescue Beacons and Weapon Insurance Contracts that soften it.
KeysChang-san Air Base Armory in MW4 DMZ: How to Get InWhere the Chang-san Air Base armory is, how to get the one-use Air Base Armory card in Operation Iron Citadel, and every other locked door at the base.