Editing Tank (section)

{{short description|Tracked heavy armoured fighting vehicle}}
{{other uses}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Mark I series tank.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The first tank to engage in battle, the British [[Mark I tank]] (pictured in 1916) with the [[Solomon Joseph Solomon|Solomon]] camouflage scheme]]

A '''tank''' is an [[armoured fighting vehicle]] intended as a primary offensive weapon in [[Front line|front-line]] [[Land warfare|ground combat]]. Tank designs are a balance of heavy [[firepower]], strong [[Vehicle armour|armour]], and [[battlefield]] [[Mobility (military)|mobility]] provided by [[Continuous track|tracks]] and a powerful engine; their main armament is often mounted within a [[Gun turret|turret]]. They are a mainstay of modern 20th and 21st century ground forces and a key part of [[combined arms]] combat.

[[File:British Sherman tank Italy Dec 1943 IWM NA 9992.jpg|thumb|alt=A British Sherman tank in Italy during World War Two| An [[M4 Sherman]] in Italy in 1943 during [[WWII]]]]
[[File:Leopard 2 A7.JPG|thumb|A [[Leopard 2]]A7 in Germany|alt=A Leopard 2A7 tank at a public display in Germany in 2015]]
Modern tanks are versatile mobile land [[weapons platform]]s whose main armament is a large-[[calibre]] [[tank gun]] mounted in a rotating [[gun turret]], supplemented by [[machine gun]]s or other ranged weapons such as [[anti-tank guided missile]]s or [[rocket launcher]]s. They have heavy [[vehicle armour]] which provides protection for the crew, the vehicle's munition storage, [[fuel tank]] and propulsion systems. The use of tracks rather than wheels provides improved [[operational mobility]] which allows the tank to overcome rugged terrain and adverse conditions such as mud and ice/snow better than wheeled vehicles, and thus be more flexibly positioned at advantageous locations on the battlefield. These features enable the tank to perform in a variety of intense combat situations, simultaneously both [[offensive (military)|offensively]] (with [[direct fire]] from their powerful main gun) and [[defence (military)|defensively]] (as [[fire support]] and [[defilade]] for friendly troops due to the near invulnerability to common infantry [[small arm]]s and good resistance against heavier weapons, although anti-tank weapons used in 2022, some of them man-portable, have demonstrated the ability to destroy older generations of tanks with single shots<ref name= "6000nlaw">{{Cite news |last1= Parker |first1=Charlie |last2= Grylls |first2=George |date=24 March 2022 |title=Britain promised extra 6,000 missiles and war funds for Ukraine |work= [[The Times]] |editor-last= Brown |editor-first=Larisa |url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/43eb2854-aae8-11ec-8da7-c2b9b8c9eee5 |url-access= subscription |issn=0140-0460}}</ref>),{{Disputed inline|Near invulnerability to small arms and good resistance against heavier weapons|date=September 2022}} all while maintaining the mobility needed to exploit changing tactical situations.<ref>[[#CITEREFvon Senger und Etterlin1960|von Senger and Etterlin (1960)]], ''The World's armoured Fighting Vehicles'', p. 9.</ref> Fully integrating tanks into modern military forces spawned a new era of combat called [[armoured warfare]].

Until the invention of the [[main battle tank]], tanks were typically categorized either by [[weight class]] ([[light tank|light]], [[medium tank|medium]], [[heavy tank|heavy]] or [[superheavy tank]]s) or doctrinal purpose ([[breakthrough (military)|breakthrough-]], [[cavalry tank|cavalry-]], [[infantry tank|infantry-]], [[Cruiser tank|cruiser-]], or [[armoured reconnaissance|reconnaissance]] tanks). Some are larger and more thickly armoured and with large guns, while others are smaller, lightly armoured, and equipped with a smaller caliber and lighter gun. These smaller tanks move over terrain with speed and agility and can perform a reconnaissance role in addition to engaging hostile targets. The smaller, faster tank would not normally engage in battle with a larger, heavily armoured tank, except during a surprise [[flanking manoeuvre]].{{TOC limit|limit=4}}