The main cannon of a tank will always be better at AV than whatever you put on top.
That's the point of having a cannon. Period, I don't even understand why you consider the possibility that the gun around which the entire turret is built is the weakest. That would be completely insane. Being "no joke" (whole quote) means it has "substantial power", but we also already heard the secondary gun has less power than the Lightning's specialised weaponry. And a Lightning is NOT a Main Battle Tank. Unless of course they make another main battle tank out of the Lightning, which would be rather quaint from a gameplay as well as a 'PS tradition' perspective.
AI and AA guns on top of a tank are primarily there for defensive purposes, an AV gunner would be there for increased firepower, but the gunner in the current PS2 tank setup is not the controller of the majority of power. The theorizing that's going on may sound nice on paper, but is not reflected or supported by anything I've heard or seen so far.
Quite the contrary.
Originally Posted by Higby
One of the biggest unlock lines for mbt's are secondary weapon unlocks. You'll be able to switch out a variety of weapons up there that add a ton to your tank's situational viability. These will rival the power of the main guns depending on the vehicle and situation and will be a lot of fun to use. Imagine putting a mortar cannon on top of your vanguard, now you can sit behind cover and shell an area; or, add an AA Flak cannon for defending against reavers. There will be a lot of variation here and having a good secondary gunner will always be a major benefit.
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See, Higby says rivals, not equals. And even if you equal the main cannon, the AV gun is still pointless compared to getting a second tank. Less or equal power and ONE tank hull, or equal power, but twice the endurance by having two tank hulls. No matter how much you try to twist and turn it, NOBODY who can get their own tank at the same time, will opt to gun an AV gun on a tank. No serious armour outfit would even consider it. They'd all get AA guns, especially if the new Liberator is supposedly so good at fighting ground vech. AI gun is probably almost pointless enough to not consider gunning as well if you have a main gun with the rate of fire and damage dealt as we saw in the demo (three accurate shots in as many seconds, no way infantry can kill a tank by then). On top of that, infantry can always be easily targeted by the main gun, aircraft cannot. AA will be the only useful secondary weapon.
Developing an AV secondary gun for a MBT where the driver has a more powerful gun is an absolute waste of development resources, IMO.