Editing Tank destroyer (section)

{{Short description|Armoured fighting vehicle designed to engage and destroy enemy tanks}}
{{Redirect|Gun motor carriage||Self-propelled artillery}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2009}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Tank destroyers.jpg|thumb|Two American [[M10 tank destroyer]]s in Belgium during World War II]]
{{History of the tank|state=uncollapsed}}

A '''tank destroyer''', '''tank hunter''' or '''tank killer''' is a type of [[armoured fighting vehicle]], predominantly intended for [[anti-tank]] duties. They are typically armed with a [[direct fire]] [[anti-tank gun|artillery gun]], also known as a '''self-propelled anti-tank gun''', or [[missile launcher]], also called an '''anti-tank missile carrier'''. The vehicles are designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy [[tank]]s, often with limited operational capacities.

While tanks are designed for [[front-line]] combat, combining [[operational mobility]] and [[Military tactics|tactical]] offensive and defensive capabilities and performing all primary tasks of the armoured troops, the tank destroyer is specifically designed to take on enemy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles.<ref>von Senger and Etterlin (1960), ''The World's Armored Fighting Vehicles'', p. 9.</ref> Many are based on a [[Continuous track|tracked]] tank [[chassis]], while others are wheeled.

Since [[World War II]], gun-armed powerful tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole [[main battle tank]]s. However, lightly armoured [[Anti-tank missile|anti-tank guided missile]] (ATGM) [[anti-tank missile carrier#missile-based tank destroyers|carriers]] are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. The resurgence of [[expeditionary warfare]] in the first two decades of the 21st century has seen the emergence of gun-armed wheeled vehicles, sometimes called "protected gun systems", which may bear a superficial resemblance to tank destroyers, but are employed as direct fire support units typically providing support in [[low-intensity operations]], as was done in wars in [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–14)|Afghanistan]].