Editing Tank (section)

==History==
{{History of the tank|state=expanded}}
{{Main|History of the tank}}

===Conceptions===
The tank is the 20th-century realization of an ancient concept: that of providing troops with mobile protection and firepower. The [[internal combustion engine]], [[armour plate]], and [[continuous track]] were key innovations leading to the invention of the modern tank.

During the 119 BC [[Battle of Mobei]] of the [[Han–Xiongnu War]], the [[Han dynasty|Han]] general [[Wei Qing]] led his army through a fatiguing expeditionary march across the [[Gobi desert]] only to find [[Yizhixie]] [[chanyu]]'s main force waiting to encircle them on the other side. Using armored heavy wagons known as "Wu Gang Wagon" ([[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 武剛車) in ring formations that provided Chinese [[Archery|archers]], [[crossbowmen]] and [[infantry]] protection from the Xiongnu's powerful [[Charge (warfare)|cavalry charges]], and allowed Han troops to utilize their ranged weapons' advantages of [[Accuracy and precision|precision]]. This forced a [[stalemate]] and allowed time for his troops to recover strength, before using the cover of a [[sandstorm]] to launch a counteroffensive which overran the [[nomad]]s.

[[File:DaVinciTankAtAmboise.jpeg|thumb|left|Model of [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s [[Leonardo's fighting vehicle|fighting vehicle]]]]
Many sources imply that [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[H. G. Wells]] in some way foresaw or "invented" the tank. Leonardo's late-15th-century drawings of what some describe as a "tank" show a man-powered, wheeled vehicle surrounded by cannons. However, the human crew would have difficulty moving the heavy vehicle over long distances, while usage of animals was problematic in a space so confined. In the 15th century, [[Jan Žižka]] built armoured wagons known as ‘''Wagenburg''’ containing cannons and used them effectively in several battles during the [[Hussite Wars|Hussite-wars]]. The continuous "[[Continuous track|caterpillar track]]" arose from attempts to improve the mobility of wheeled vehicles by spreading their weight, reducing ground pressure, and increasing their traction. Experiments can be traced back as far as the 17th century, and by the late nineteenth they existed in various recognizable and practical forms in several countries.

It is frequently claimed that [[Richard Lovell Edgeworth]] created a caterpillar track. It is true that in 1770 he patented a "machine, that should carry and lay down its own road", but this was Edgeworth's choice of words. His own account in his autobiography is of a horse-drawn wooden carriage on eight retractable legs, capable of lifting itself over high walls. The description bears no similarity to a caterpillar track.<ref>Edgeworth, R. & E. ''Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth'', 1820, pp. 164–66</ref> Armoured trains appeared in the mid-19th century, and various armoured steam and petrol-engined vehicles were also proposed.

The machines described in Wells's 1903 short story ''[[The Land Ironclads]]'' are a step closer, insofar as they are armour-plated, have an internal power plant, and are able to cross trenches.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wells|first1=H.G.|title=The Land Ironclads|journal=The Strand Magazine|date=1903|volume=23|issue=156|pages=751–69|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011810515;view=1up;seq=767}}</ref> Some aspects of the story foresee the tactical use and impact of the tanks that later came into being. However, Wells's vehicles were driven by steam and moved on [[pedrail wheel]]s, technologies that were already outdated at the time of writing. After seeing British tanks in 1916, Wells denied having "invented" them, writing, "Yet let me state at once that I was not their prime originator. I took up an idea, manipulated it slightly, and handed it on."<ref>{{citation |last=Wells |first=H.G. |title=War and the Future |chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1804/1804-h/1804-h.htm#2H_4_0011 |chapter=V. Tanks |page=1 |year=1916 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327131513/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1804/1804-h/1804-h.htm#2H_4_0011 |archive-date=27 March 2013 }}</ref> It is, though, possible that one of the British tank pioneers, [[Ernest Swinton]], was subconsciously or otherwise influenced by Wells's tale.<ref>Harris, J.P. Men, Ideas, and Tanks. Manchester University Press, 1995. p. 38</ref><ref>Gannon, Charles E. Rumors of War and Infernal Machines: Liverpool University Press, 2003. p. 67</ref>

The first combinations of the three principal components of the tank appeared in the decade before World War One. In 1903, Captain Léon René Levavasseur of the French artillery [[Levavasseur project|proposed mounting a field gun in an armoured box on tracks]]. Major William E. Donohue, of the British Army's Mechanical Transport Committee, suggested fixing a gun and armoured shield on a British type of track-driven vehicle.<ref>''The Devil's Chariots: The Birth and Secret Battles of the First Tanks'' John Glanfield (Sutton Publishing, 2001){{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> The first [[Armored car (military)|armoured car]] was produced in Austria in 1904. However, all were restricted to rails or reasonably passable terrain. It was the development of a practical caterpillar track that provided the necessary independent, all-terrain mobility.

In a memorandum of 1908, Antarctic explorer [[Robert Falcon Scott]] presented his view that man-hauling to the South Pole was impossible and that motor traction was needed.<ref>RF Scott (1908) ''The Sledging Problem in the Antarctic, Men versus Motors''</ref> Snow vehicles did not yet exist, however, and so his engineer [[Reginald Skelton]] developed the idea of a caterpillar track for snow surfaces.<ref>Roland Huntford (2003) ''Scott and Amundsen. Their Race to the South Pole. The Last Place on Earth.'' Abacus, London, p. 224</ref> These tracked motors were built by the [[Wolseley Motors|Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company]] in Birmingham and tested in Switzerland and Norway, and can be seen in action in [[Herbert Ponting]]'s 1911 documentary film of Scott's Antarctic [[Terra Nova Expedition]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBttUMKND4 |title=- YouTube |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=23 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003104603/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBttUMKND4 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |at=50-minute mark }}</ref> Scott died during the expedition in 1912, but expedition member and biographer [[Apsley Cherry-Garrard]] credited Scott's "motors" with the inspiration for the British World War I tanks, writing: "Scott never knew their true possibilities; for they were the direct ancestors of the 'tanks' in France".<ref>{{cite book| last = Cherry-Garrard | first = Apsley | author-link = Apsley Cherry-Garrard| title = The Worst Journey in the World chapter 9 | publisher = Penguin Books | location = London| year = 1970| orig-year = 1922| isbn = 978-0-14-009501-2 | oclc = 16589938| title-link = The Worst Journey in the World }}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2021}}

In 1911, a Lieutenant Engineer in the Austrian Army, [[Günther Burstyn]], presented to the Austrian and Prussian War Ministries plans for a light, three-man tank with a gun in a revolving turret, the so-called Burstyn-Motorgeschütz.<ref>''Gunther Burstyn'' Angwetter, D. & E. (Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, 2008){{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> In the same year an Australian civil engineer named [[Lancelot de Mole]] submitted a basic design for a tracked, armoured vehicle to the British [[War Office]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65020239 |title=Australia To The Fore. Invention of the War Tank |publisher=Trove.nla.gov.au |date=12 February 1920 |access-date=13 May 2012}}</ref> In Russia, Vasiliy Mendeleev designed a tracked vehicle containing a large naval gun.<ref>''Russian tanks, 1900–1970 The Complete Illustrated History of Soviet Armoured Theory and Design'' John Milsom (Stackpole Books, 1971){{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> All of these ideas were rejected and, by 1914, forgotten (although it was officially acknowledged after the war that de Mole's design was at least the equal to the initial British tanks). Various individuals continued to contemplate the use of tracked vehicles for military applications, but by the outbreak of the War no one in a position of responsibility in any army seems to have given much thought to tanks.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

===World War I===
[[File:Tanks of WWI.ogg|thumb|right|Film clip of World War I-era tanks]]
{{Main|Tanks in World War I}}

====United Kingdom====
{{Blockquote|The direct military impact of the tank can be debated but its effect on the Germans was immense, it caused bewilderment, terror and concern in equal measure. It was also a huge boost to the civilians at home. After facing the Zeppelins, at last Britain had a wonder weapon. Tanks were taken on tours and treated almost like film stars.|David Willey, curator at [[The Tank Museum]], Bovington.<ref name="Tank origins"/>}}
From late 1914 a small number of middle-ranking [[British Army]] officers tried to persuade the War Office and the Government to consider the creation of armoured vehicles. Amongst their suggestions was the use of caterpillar tractors, but although the Army used many such vehicles for towing heavy guns, it could not be persuaded that they could be adapted as armoured vehicles. The consequence was that early tank development in the United Kingdom was carried out by the [[Royal Navy]].
[[File:British Mark V-star Tank.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|British World War I Mark V* tank]]
As the result of an approach by Royal Naval Air Service officers who had been operating armoured cars on the Western Front, the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], [[Winston Churchill]], formed the [[Landship Committee]], on 20 February 1915.<ref name="Churchill">{{Citation | last = Churchill | first = Winston | title = The World Crisis (Abridged) | publisher = Macmillan Publishing Company | location = Canada & New York | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-684-19453-8 | pages = 316–317 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldcrisisabr00chur}}</ref> The [[Director of Naval Construction]] for the Royal Navy, [[Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt]], was appointed to head the Committee in view of his experience with the engineering methods it was felt might be required; the two other members were naval officers, and a number of industrialists were engaged as consultants. So many played a part in its long and complicated development that it is not possible to name any individual as the sole inventor of the tank.<ref name="Churchill"/>

However leading roles were played by Lt [[Walter Gordon Wilson]] R.N. who designed the gearbox and developed practical tracks and by [[William Tritton]] whose agricultural machinery company, [[William Foster & Co.]] in [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire]], England built the [[prototype]]s.<ref name="Tank origins"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Foley|title=Rise of the Tank: Armoured Vehicles and their use in the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f2ZtBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|year=2014|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78346-393-0|page=32|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327160324/https://books.google.com/books?id=f2ZtBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|archive-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> On 22 July 1915, a commission was placed to design a machine that could cross a trench 4&nbsp;ft wide.<ref name="Tank origins"/> Secrecy surrounded the project with the designers locking themselves in a room at the White Hart Hotel in Lincoln.<ref name="Tank origins"/> The committee's first design, [[Little Willie]], ran for the first time in September 1915 and served to develop the form of the track but an improved design, better able to cross trenches, swiftly followed and in January 1916 the prototype, nicknamed "Mother", was adopted as the design for future tanks. The first order for tanks was placed on 12 February 1916, and a second on 21 April. Fosters built 37 (all "male"), and [[Metro-Cammell|Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company]], of Birmingham, 113 (38 "male" and 75 "female"), a total of 150.<ref>Glanfield, Appendix 2.</ref> Production models of [[Male tank|"Male"]] tanks (armed with naval cannon and machine guns) and [[Female tank|"Females"]] (carrying only machine-guns) would go on to fight in history's first tank action at the Somme in September 1916.<ref name="Churchill"/><ref>McMillan, N: Locomotive Apprentice at the North British Locomotive Company Ltd Glasgow Plateway Press 1992{{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> Great Britain produced about 2,600 tanks of various types during the war.<ref>Glanfield, Devil's Chariots{{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> The first tank to engage in battle was designated ''D1'', a British [[Mark I tank|Mark I]] Male, during the [[Battle of Flers-Courcelette]] (part of the wider [[battle of the Somme|Somme offensive]]) on 15 September 1916.<ref>{{Citation | last = Regan | first = Geoffrey | title = The Guinness Book of More Military Blunders | location = London | publisher = Guinness Publishing | year = 1993 | page = 12 | isbn = 0-85112-961-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofmi00rega}}</ref> Bert Chaney, a nineteen-year-old signaller with the 7th London Territorial Battalion, reported that "three huge mechanical monsters such as [he] had never seen before" rumbled their way onto the battlefield, "frightening the [[List of terms used for Germans#Jerry|Jerries]] out of their wits and making them scuttle like frightened rabbits."<ref>''The Mammoth Book of How it Happened'', Robinson Publishing, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-84119-149-2}}, pp. 337–38</ref> When the news of the first use of the tanks emerged, Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] commented,

{{blockquote|text=It is really to Mr Winston Churchill that the credit is due more than to anyone else. He took up with enthusiasm the idea of making them a long time ago, and he met with many difficulties. He converted me, and at the [[Ministry of Munitions]] he went ahead and made them. The admiralty experts were invaluable, and gave the greatest possible assistance. They are, of course, experts in the matter of armour plating. [[Albert Gerald Stern|Major Stern]], (formerly an officer in the Royal Naval Air Service) a business man at the Ministry of Munitions had charge of the work of getting them built, and he did the task very well. [[Ernest Swinton|Col Swinton]] and others also did valuable work.|author=David Lloyd George, 19 September 1916.<ref>"The New Armoured Cars", ''The Motor Cycle'', 21 September 1916, p. 254</ref>}}

====France====
[[File:American troops going forward to the battle line in the Forest of Argonne. France, September 26, 1918. - NARA - 530748.jpg|thumb|left|French [[Renault FT]] tanks, here operated by the US army, pioneered the use of a fully traversable turret and served as pattern for most modern tanks.]]

Whilst several experimental machines were investigated in France, it was a colonel of artillery, [[Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne|J.B.E. Estienne]], who directly approached the Commander-in-Chief with detailed plans for a tank on caterpillar tracks, in late 1915. The result was two largely unsatisfactory types of tank, 400 each of the [[Schneider CA1|Schneider]] and [[Saint-Chamond (tank)|Saint-Chamond]], both based on the [[Holt tractor]].

The following year, the French pioneered the use of a full 360° rotation [[gun turret|turret]] in a tank for the first time, with the creation of the [[Renault FT]] light tank, with the turret containing the tank's main armament. In addition to the traversable turret, another innovative feature of the FT was its engine located at the rear. This pattern, with the gun located in a mounted turret and the engine at the back, has become the standard for most succeeding tanks across the world even to this day.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zaloga |first=Steven J. |title=The Renault FT Light Tank |date=1988 |location=London, UK |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-0850458527 |page=3}}</ref> The FT was the most numerous tank of the war; over 3,000 were made by late 1918.

====Germany====
Germany fielded very few tanks during [[World War I]], and started development only after encountering British tanks on the Somme. The [[A7V]], the only type made, was introduced in March 1918 with just 20 being produced during the war.<ref>[[#Willmott2003|Willmott (2003)]], ''First World War'', p. 222</ref> The first tank ''versus'' tank action took place on 24 April 1918 at the [[Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux]], France, when three British [[Mark IV tank|Mark IVs]] met three German [[A7V]]s. Captured British Mk IVs formed the bulk of Germany's tank forces during World War I; about 35 were in service at any one time. Plans to expand the tank programme were under way when the War ended.

====Other nations====
The United States [[Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Force|Tank Corps]] used tanks supplied by France and Great Britain during World War I. Production of American-built tanks had just begun when the War came to an end. Italy also manufactured two [[Fiat 2000]]s towards the end of the war, too late to see service. Russia independently built and trialed two prototypes early in the War; the tracked, two-man [[Vezdekhod]] and the huge [[Tsar Tank|Lebedenko]], but neither went into production. A tracked self-propelled gun was also designed but not produced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vadimvswar.narod.ru/ALL_OUT/TiVOut9801/RuTLe/RuTLe008.htm |title=Легенда о русском танке |publisher=Vadimvswar.narod.ru |access-date=13 May 2012 |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614054809/http://vadimvswar.narod.ru/ALL_OUT/TiVOut9801/RuTLe/RuTLe008.htm |archive-date=14 June 2013 }}</ref>

Although tank tactics developed rapidly during the war, piecemeal deployments, mechanical problems, and poor mobility limited the military significance of the tank in World War I, and the tank did not fulfil its promise of rendering trench warfare obsolete. Nonetheless, it was clear to military thinkers on both sides that tanks in some way could have a significant role in future conflicts.<ref name = "Willmott2003">[[#Willmott2003|Willmott (2003)]], ''First World War''{{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref>

===Interwar period===
{{Main|Tanks of the interwar period}}
[[File:Hotchkiss H-39.jpg|thumb|French [[Hotchkiss H35#The Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39|Hotchkiss H-39 light tank of 1939]]]]
In the [[History of the tank#Between the wars|interwar period]] tanks underwent further mechanical development. In terms of tactics, [[J.F.C. Fuller]]'s doctrine of spearhead attacks with massed tank formations was the basis for work by [[Heinz Guderian]] in Germany, [[Percy Hobart]] in Britain, [[Adna R. Chaffee, Jr.]], in the US, [[Charles de Gaulle]] in France, and [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]] in the USSR. [[B. H. Liddell Hart|Liddell Hart]] held a more moderate view that all arms – cavalry, infantry and artillery – should be mechanized and work together. The British formed the all-arms [[Experimental Mechanized Force]] to test the use of tanks with supporting forces.

In the [[Second World War]] only Germany would initially put the theory into practice on a large scale, and it was their superior tactics and French blunders, not superior weapons, that made the "blitzkrieg" so successful in May 1940.<ref name="Deighton1979"/> For information regarding tank development in this period, see [[History of the tank#Between the wars|tank development between the wars]].

Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union all experimented heavily with tank warfare during their clandestine and "volunteer" involvement in the [[Spanish Civil War]], which saw some of the earliest examples of successful mechanized combined arms&nbsp;—such as when [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican]] troops, equipped with Soviet-supplied tanks and supported by aircraft, eventually routed Italian troops fighting for the [[Nationalists]] in the seven-day [[Battle of Guadalajara]] in 1937.<ref>[[#TimeApril1937|Time (1937)]], ''Chewed up''</ref> However, of the nearly 700 tanks deployed during this conflict, only about 64 tanks representing the ''Franco'' faction and 331 from the ''Republican'' side were equipped with cannon, and of those 64 nearly all were [[World War I]] vintage [[Renault FT]] tanks, while the 331 Soviet supplied machines had 45mm main guns and were of 1930s manufacture.<ref>Manrique p. 311, 321, 324</ref> The balance of ''Nationalist'' tanks were machine gun armed. The primary lesson learned from this war was that machine gun armed tanks had to be equipped with cannon, with the associated armour inherent to modern tanks.

The five-month-long war between the Soviet Union and the Japanese 6th Army at ''Khalkhin Gol'' ([[Nomonhan]]) in 1939 brought home some lessons{{which|date=August 2015}}. In this conflict, the Soviets fielded over two thousand tanks, to the around 73 cannon armed tanks deployed by the Japanese,<ref>Goldman p. 19</ref> the major difference being that Japanese armour were equipped with [[diesel engine|diesel]] engines as opposed to the Russian tanks equipped with petrol engines.<ref>Coox p. 300, 318, 437</ref> After General [[Georgy Zhukov]] inflicted a defeat on the Japanese 6th Army with his massed combined tank and air attack, the Soviets learned a lesson on the use of gasoline engines, and quickly incorporated those newly found experiences into their new [[T-34]] medium tank during [[World War II]].<ref>Coox 998</ref>

Prior to World War II, the tactics and strategy of deploying tank forces underwent a revolution. In August 1939, Soviet General [[Georgy Zhukov]] used the combined force of tanks and airpower at [[Nomonhan]] against the Japanese 6th Army;<ref>Coox p. 579, 590, 663</ref> [[Heinz Guderian]], a tactical theoretician who was heavily involved in the formation of the first independent German tank force, said "Where tanks are, the front is", and this concept became a reality in World War II.<ref>[[#Cooper1979|Cooper and Lucas (1979)]], ''[[Panzer]]: The armoured Force of the Third Reich'', p. 9</ref> Guderian's armoured warfare ideas, combined with Germany's existing doctrines of ''Bewegungskrieg'' ("[[maneuver warfare]]") and [[infiltration tactics]] from World War I, became the basis of [[blitzkrieg]] in the opening stages of World War II.

===World War II===
{{Main|Tanks in World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1975-102-14A, Panzer VI (Tiger II, Königstiger).jpg|thumb|alt=A row of seven large German tanks from World War Two lined up with their long cannons pointing up at an angle, as if saluting|German Tiger II tanks of [[503rd heavy tank battalion (Germany)|''Schwere Panzer Abteilung'' 503 (s.Pz.Abt. 503) 'Feldherrnhalle']] posing in formation for a German newsreel in 1944]]
During [[World War II]], the first conflict in which armoured vehicles were critical to battlefield success, the tank and related tactics developed rapidly. Armoured forces proved capable of tactical victory in an unprecedentedly short amount of time, yet new [[anti-tank]] weaponry showed that the tank was not invulnerable. During the Invasion of Poland, tanks performed in a more traditional role in close cooperation with infantry units, but in the [[Battle of France]] deep independent armoured penetrations were executed by the Germans, a technique later called ''blitzkrieg''. Blitzkrieg used innovative [[combined arms]] tactics and radios in all of the tanks to provide a level of tactical flexibility and power that surpassed that of the Allied armour. The [[French Army]], with tanks equal or superior to the German tanks in both quality and quantity, employed a linear defensive strategy in which the armoured cavalry units were made subservient to the needs of the infantry armies to cover their entrenchment in Belgium.<ref name = "Deighton1979">[[#Deighton1979|Deighton (1979)]], ''Blitzkrieg, From the rise of Hitler to the fall of Dunkirk''.</ref> In addition, they lacked radios in many of their tanks and headquarters,<ref>[[#CITEREFForty2004|Forty (2004)]], p. 251.</ref> which limited their ability to respond to German attacks.

In accordance with blitzkrieg methods, German tanks bypassed enemy strongpoints and could radio for [[close air support]] to destroy them, or leave them to the infantry. A related development, [[motorized infantry]], allowed some of the troops to keep up with the tanks and create highly mobile combined arms forces.<ref name = "Deighton1979"/> The defeat of a major military power within weeks shocked the rest of the world, spurring tank and anti-tank weapon development.

[[File:M4A4 cutaway.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Cutaway of an [[M4 Sherman|M4A4 Sherman]] tank, the primary tank used by the United States and a number of the other western allies during the [[Second World War]].]]
The [[North African Campaign]] also provided an important battleground for tanks, as the flat, desolate terrain with relatively few obstacles or urban environments was ideal for conducting mobile armoured warfare. However, this battlefield also showed the importance of logistics, especially in an armoured force, as the principal warring armies, the German [[Afrika Korps]] and the [[British Eighth Army]], often outpaced their supply trains in repeated attacks and counter-attacks on each other, resulting in complete stalemate. This situation would not be resolved until 1942, when during the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]], the Afrika Korps, crippled by disruptions in their supply lines, had 95% of its tanks destroyed<ref>{{cite book | title=The Phantom Army of Alamein | publisher=Bloomsbury | author=Stroud, Rick | year=2012 | pages=219}}</ref> and was forced to retreat by a massively reinforced [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]], the first in a series of defeats that would eventually lead to the surrender of the remaining Axis forces in [[Tunisian Campaign|Tunisia]].

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Merz-014-12A, Russland, Beginn Unternehmen Zitadelle, Panzer.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Battle of Kursk]] was credited to be the largest tank battle ever fought, with each side deploying nearly 3,000 tanks.]]
When Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union, [[Operation Barbarossa]], the Soviets had a superior tank design, the [[T-34]].<ref>[[#Zaloga1997|Zaloga ''et al.'' (1997)]]</ref> A lack of preparations for the [[Axis powers|Axis]] surprise attack, mechanical problems, poor training of the crews and incompetent leadership caused the Soviet machines to be surrounded and destroyed in large numbers. However, interference from [[Adolf Hitler]],<ref>Stolfi, ''Hitler's'' Panzer''s East''{{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> the geographic scale of the conflict, the dogged resistance of the Soviet combat troops, and the Soviets' massive advantages in manpower and production capability prevented a repeat of the German successes of 1940.<ref>Deighton (1979), ''Blitzkrieg, From the rise of Hitler to the fall of Dunkirk'', p 307</ref> Despite early successes against the Soviets, the Germans were forced to up-gun their Panzer IVs, and to design and build both the larger and more expensive [[Tiger I|Tiger]] heavy tank in 1942, and the [[Panther tank|Panther]] medium tank the following year. In doing so, the ''Wehrmacht'' denied the infantry and other support arms the production priorities that they needed to remain equal partners with the increasingly sophisticated tanks, in turn violating the principle of combined arms they had pioneered.<ref name = "House1984">[[#CITEREFHouse1984|House (1984)]], ''Toward Combined Arms Warfare:A Survey of 20th Century Tactics, Doctrine, and Organization'' {{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref> Soviet developments following the invasion included upgunning the T-34, development of self-propelled anti-tank guns such as the [[SU-152]], and deployment of the [[IS-2]] in the closing stages of the war, with the T-34 being the most produced tank of World War II, totalling up to some 65,000 examples by May 1945.

[[File:Shermans disembarking from LST at Anzio crop.jpg|thumb|[[M4 Sherman|Sherman]] tanks joining the [[U.S. Fifth Army]] forces in the beachhead at [[Anzio]] during the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]], 1944]]
Much like the Soviets, when entering World War II six months later (December 1941), the United States' [[mass production]] capacity enabled it to rapidly construct thousands of relatively cheap [[M4 Sherman]] medium tanks. A compromise all round, the Sherman was reliable and formed a large part of the Anglo-American ground forces, but in a tank-versus-tank battle was no match for the Panther or Tiger.<ref>[[#CITEREFCawthorne2003|Cawthorne (2003)]], ''Steel Fist: Tank Warfare 1939–45'', p. 211</ref> Numerical and logistical superiority and the successful use of combined arms allowed the Allies to overrun the German forces during the [[Invasion of Normandy|Battle of Normandy]]. Upgunned versions with the [[76 mm gun M1]] and the [[Sherman Firefly|17-pounder]] were introduced to improve the M4's firepower, but concerns about protection remained—despite the apparent armour deficiencies, a total of some 42,000 Shermans were built and delivered to the Allied nations using it during the war years, a total second only to the T-34.

Tank [[Chassis|hulls]] were modified to produce [[flame tank]]s, mobile [[rocket artillery]], and [[combat engineering]] vehicles for tasks including [[demining|mine-clearing]] and [[bridge|bridging]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Starry |first1=Donn. A |author1-link=Donn A. Starry |title=Mounted Combat in Vietnam |date=1978 |publisher=Department of the Army |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-83931-084-3 |pages=45, 79, 129, 143, 153 |url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/090/90-17-1/CMH_Pub_90-17-1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108125912/https://history.army.mil/html/books/090/90-17-1/CMH_Pub_90-17-1.pdf |archive-date=8 January 2015 |access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref> Specialized self-propelled guns, most of which could double as [[tank destroyer]]s, were also both developed by the Germans—with their ''[[Sturmgeschütz]]'', ''[[Panzerjäger]]'' and ''[[Jagdpanzer]]'' vehicles—and the ''[[Samokhodnaya ustanovka]]'' families of AFV's for the Soviets: such turretless, [[Casemate#Armoured vehicles|casemate]]-style [[tank destroyer]]s and [[assault gun]]s were less complex, stripped down tanks carrying heavy guns, solely firing forward. The firepower and low cost of these vehicles made them attractive but as manufacturing techniques improved and larger turret rings made larger tank guns feasible, the [[gun turret]] was recognized as the most effective mounting for the main gun to allow movement in a different direction from firing, enhancing tactical flexibility.<ref name="Deighton1979"/>

===Cold War===
{{Main|Tanks in the Cold War}}
[[File:T-72A tank on parade.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|The Cold War era Soviet [[T-72]] was the most widely deployed main battle tank across the world.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Steven J. Zaloga|author2=Michael Jerchel|author3=Stephen Sewell|title=T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974–93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EouHCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT3|year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0537-9|page=3}}</ref>]]

During the [[Cold War]], tension between the [[Warsaw Pact]] countries and North Atlantic Treaty Organization ([[NATO]]) countries created an [[arms race]] that ensured that tank development proceeded largely as it had during World War II. The essence of tank designs during the Cold War had been hammered out in the closing stages of World War II. Large turrets, capable suspension systems, greatly improved engines, [[sloped armour]] and large-caliber (90&nbsp;mm and larger) guns were standard. Tank design during the Cold War built on this foundation and included improvements to [[fire-control system|fire control]], [[gyroscopic]] gun stabilization, communications (primarily radio) and crew comfort and saw the introduction of [[laser]] rangefinders and [[infrared]] night vision equipment. [[Composite armour|Armour technology]] progressed in an ongoing race against improvements in [[anti-tank weapons]], especially [[guided missiles|antitank guided missiles]] like the [[BGM-71 TOW|TOW]].

Medium tanks of World War II evolved into the ''[[main battle tank]]'' (MBT) of the Cold War and took over the majority of tank roles on the battlefield. This gradual transition occurred in the 1950s and 1960s due to [[anti-tank]] [[guided missiles]], [[armour-piercing discarding sabot|sabot]] ammunition and [[high-explosive anti-tank]] warheads. World War II had shown that the speed of a light tank was no substitute for armour & firepower and medium tanks were vulnerable to newer weapon technology, rendering them [[obsolete]].<!-- What is this sentence saying? Light, Heavy and Medium tanks are all vulnerable and obsolete? Why do armies go on using them, then? -->{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

In a trend started in World War II, [[economies of scale]] led to serial production of progressively upgraded models of all major tanks during the Cold War. For the same reason many upgraded post-World War II tanks and their derivatives (for example, the [[T-55]] and [[T-72]]) remain in active service around the world, and even an obsolete tank may be the most formidable weapon on battlefields in many parts of the world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zaloga |first1=Steven J.|last2=Johnson|first2=Hugh |title=T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004 |date=2004 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=1-84176-792-1}}</ref> Among the tanks of the 1950s were the British [[Centurion Tank|Centurion]] and Soviet T-54/55 in service from 1946, and the US [[M48 Patton|M48]] from 1951.<ref>[[#CITEREFvon Senger und Etterlin1960|von Senger und Etterlin (1960)]], ''The World's Armoured Fighting Vehicles'', pp. 61, 118, 183</ref> These three vehicles formed the bulk of the armoured forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact throughout much of the Cold War. Lessons learned from tanks such as the [[Leopard 1]], [[M48 Patton]] series, [[Chieftain tank|Chieftain]], and T-72 led to the contemporary [[Leopard 2]], [[M1 Abrams]], [[Challenger 2 tank|Challenger 2]], [[C1 Ariete]], [[T-90]] and [[Merkava]] IV.

Tanks and anti-tank weapons of the Cold War era saw action in a number of [[proxy war]]s like the [[Korean War]], [[Vietnam War]], [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], [[Soviet–Afghan War]] and Arab-Israeli conflicts, culminating with the [[Yom Kippur War]]. The T-55, for example, has seen action in no fewer than [[T-54/55#Other conflicts|32 conflicts]]. In these wars the U.S. or NATO countries and the Soviet Union or China consistently backed opposing forces. Proxy wars were studied by Western and Soviet [[military intelligence|military analysts]] and provided a contribution to the Cold War tank development process.

===21st century===
{{Main|Tanks of the post–Cold War era}}
[[File:Italian Army - 132nd Tank Regiment Ariete main battle tank during an exercise in Italy 01.jpg|alt=|thumb|An Italian [[Ariete|C1 Ariete]] in 2022.]]
The role of tank vs. tank combat is becoming diminished. Tanks work in concert with infantry in urban warfare by deploying them ahead of the platoon. When engaging enemy infantry, tanks can provide covering fire on the battlefield. Conversely, tanks can spearhead attacks when infantry are deployed in personnel carriers.<ref name="Modern tank tactics, infantry">{{Citation|title=Combat Techniques: An Elite Forces Guide to Modern Infantry Tactics|year=2010|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-36824-1 |first1=Martin J. |last1=Dougherty |first2=Chris |last2=McNab }}{{Page needed|date=May 2012}}</ref>

Tanks were used to spearhead the initial US invasion of Iraq in 2003. As of 2005, there were 1,100 [[M1 Abrams]] used by the [[United States Army]] in the course of the [[Iraq War]], and they have proven to have an unexpectedly high level of vulnerability to [[roadside bomb]]s.<ref>[[#USAToday2005a|USA Today (2005)]], ''Tank takes a beating in Iraq''</ref> A relatively new type of remotely detonated mine, the [[explosively formed penetrator]] has been used with some success against American armoured vehicles (particularly the [[Bradley fighting vehicle]]). However, with upgrades to their armour in the rear, M1s have proven invaluable in fighting insurgents in urban combat, particularly at the [[Second Battle of Fallujah|Battle of Fallujah]], where the US Marines brought in two extra brigades.<ref name="USAToday2005b"/> Israeli [[Merkava]] tanks contain features that enable them to support [[infantry]] in [[low intensity conflict]]s (LIC) and [[counter-terrorism]] operations. Such features are the rear door and rear corridor, enabling the tank to carry infantry and embark safely; the [[Israeli Military Industries|IMI]] [[APAM-MP-T]] multi-purpose ammunition round, advanced [[C4IS]] systems and recently: [[Trophy (countermeasure)|TROPHY active protection system]] which protects the tank from shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons. During the [[Second Intifada]] further modifications were made, designated as "Merkava Mk. 3d Baz LIC".{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

====Research and development====
[[File:XM1202 MCS.jpg|thumb|left|Graphic representation of the US Army's cancelled [[Future Combat Systems manned ground vehicles#XM1202 Mounted Combat System|XM1202 Mounted Combat System]]]]

In terms of firepower, the focus of 2010s-era [[Research and development|R&D]] was increased detection capability such as [[Thermography|thermal imagers]], automated fire control systems for the guns and increased [[muzzle energy]] from the gun to improve range, accuracy and armour penetration.<ref>{{Citation | last = Pengelley | first = Rupert | title = A new era in tank man armament: The options multiply | journal = Jane's International Defence Review | issue = November 1989 | pages = 1521–31 | year = 1989}}</ref> The most mature future gun technology is the [[Electrothermal-chemical technology|electrothermal-chemical]] gun.<ref>Hilmes, Rolf (30 January 1999), "Aspects of future MBT conception". ''Military Technology'' '''23''' (6): 7. Moench Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh.</ref> The [[XM291]] electrothermal-chemical tank gun has gone through successful multiple firing sequences on a modified American [[M8 Armored Gun System]] chassis.<ref>{{Citation| last = Goodell | first = Brad |title = Electrothermal Chemical (ETC) Armament System Integration Into a Combat Vehicle |journal = IEEE Transactions on Magnetics | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 456–459 | publisher = IEEE |date=January 2007| doi = 10.1109/TMAG.2006.887524| bibcode = 2007ITM....43..456G | s2cid = 35796526 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4033055| issn=0018-9464 }}</ref> To improve tank protection, one field of research involves making the tank invisible to radar by adapting [[Stealth technology|stealth]] technologies originally designed for aircraft. Improvements to [[camouflage]] or and attempts to render it invisible through [[active camouflage]], which changes according to where the tank is located, are being pursued. Research is also ongoing in [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] armour systems to disperse or deflect incoming [[hollow charge|shaped charges]],<ref>{{Citation| last = Wickert | first = Matthias | title = Electric armour Against Shaped Charges: Analysis of Jet Distortion With Respect to Jet Dynamics and Current Flow| journal = IEEE Transactions on Magnetics| volume = 43| issue = 1| pages = 426–29 | publisher = IEEE|date=January 2007| doi = 10.1109/TMAG.2006.887650| bibcode = 2007ITM....43..426W | s2cid = 12106623}}</ref><ref>Xiaopeng, Li, et al., ''Multiprojectile Active Electromagnetic armour'', pp. 460–62</ref> as well as various forms of [[active protection system]]s to prevent incoming projectiles (RPGs, missiles, etc.) from striking the tank.

Mobility may be enhanced in future tanks by the use of [[diesel–electric powertrain|diesel–electric]] or turbine–electric [[series hybrid]] drives—first used in a primitive, gasoline-engined form with Porsche's ''[[Elefant]]'' German tank destroyer of 1943—improving fuel efficiency while reducing the size and weight of the power plant.<ref>''Electric/Hybrid Electric Drive Vehicles for Military Applications'', pp. 132–44</ref> Furthermore, advances in gas turbine technology, including the use of advanced [[recuperator]]s,<ref>McDonald, Colin F., ''Gas Turbine Recuperator Renaissance'', pp. 1–30</ref> have allowed for reduction in engine volume and mass to less than 1 m<sup>3</sup> and 1 metric ton, respectively, while maintaining fuel efficiency similar to that of a diesel engine.<ref>Koschier, Angelo V. and Mauch, Hagen R., ''Advantages of the LV100 as a Power Producer in a Hybrid Propulsion System for Future Fighting Vehicles,'' p. 697</ref> In line with the new doctrine of [[network-centric warfare]], the 2010s-era modern battle tank shows increasing sophistication in its electronics and communication systems. The future of tanks has been challenged by the proliferation of relatively inexpensive anti tank guided missiles and rockets during the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/tanks-could-grow-obsolete-russia-ukraine-war-shows-2022-3?r=US&IR=T|title=Ukraine has destroyed nearly 10% of Russia's tanks, making experts ask: Are tanks over?|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=March 23, 2022}}</ref>