East Africa's tank proving ground was built in the Lake Rukwa Basin, northwest of Mbeya city. On the one hand, it could draw on Mbeya city's industrial resources; on the other, the terrain and climate were well suited for tank testing and operations.
Lake Rukwa was also one of East Africa's larger lakes, roughly half the size of Qinghai Lake, located between Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika.
As a saltwater lake, Lake Rukwa differed most from Qinghai Lake in that it was seasonal, even drying up completely during the dry season.
Lake Rukwa was home to large numbers of wild animals such as hippos and crocodiles. Unlike other places, its development and utilization rate was extremely low. After all, being both a saltwater lake and a seasonal lake meant East Africa was not about to develop it on a large scale. The only local resource was the salt ponds south of the lake, where East Africa had established a small salt extraction plant.
Other than that, there was practically no human habitation around Lake Rukwa. The few villages and towns were mainly distributed along the rivers flowing into the lake, which provided the East African Army with an excellent testing ground for weapons and equipment.
After all, with so few people around, it was not only easier to keep things secret, but also less likely to be disrupted by outside factors. As for certain blind "animals," if they got run over or blown to death during weapons tests, they had only themselves to blame.
To ensure the proving ground's safety, dedicated armed guards were stationed near Lake Rukwa. In truth, they were there to guard against the lake's hippos; crocodiles would not easily come ashore.
Hippos were absolutely the kind of creatures everyone in Africa despised. Their "exhaust emissions" alone