Editing Tank classification (section)

====Cruiser tank====
[[File:Cromwell-latrun-2.jpg|thumb|[[Cromwell tank]].]]
{{Main|Cruiser tank}}
A cruiser tank, or cavalry tank, was designed to move fast and exploit penetrations of the enemy front. The idea originated in "[[Plan 1919]]", a British plan to break the trench deadlock of [[World War I]] in part via the use of high-speed tanks. This concept was later implemented in the "fast tanks" pioneered by [[J. Walter Christie]].

They were used by the United Kingdom during [[World War II]]. Cruiser tanks were designed to complement [[infantry tank]]s, exploiting gains made by the latter to attack and disrupt the enemy rear areas. In order to give them the required speed, cruiser designs sacrificed armour compared to the infantry tanks.

The Soviet fast tank (''bistrokhodniy tank'', or [[BT tank]]) classification also came out of the infantry/cavalry concept of armoured warfare and formed the basis for the British cruisers after 1936. The T-34 was a development of this line of tanks as well, though their armament, armour, and all-round capability places them firmly in the medium tank category.