Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-10429682-20130613144253/@comment-10941901-20130805172816

"The missing link between infantry and artillery" is what Granin said about the very first Metal Gear style tank in the series, the Shagohad (although it didn't have the title 'Metal Gear' before it). As I understand it, it is a vehicle with the maneuverability of a man and the destructive power of a tank. After the Shagohad, there was Metal Gear RAXA, which was equipped with nuclear missiles, increasing their destructive power.

So Metal Gear weapons are pretty much devestatingly powerful vehicles capable of a terrifying amount of destruction and possess variable potential on a battlefield, potential that infantry/tanks would not have on their own.