The tank gradually lost its race to anti-tank measures. Alas, every improvement in armour design increased the tonnage of the tank, necessitating bigger engines, further adding to the weight. Reactive and Cobham armour provided added protection against shaped-charges and kinetic-energy projectiles. Tank technology responded by countered with improved armour, mobility and firepower.

Anti-personnel minefields added anti-tank minefields trenches graduated to ditch-cum-bunds (DCB), anti-tank weaponry extended from hand-held rocket-launchers to jeep-mounted recoilless (RCL) guns, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), anti-tank artillery and anti-tank bombs from aircraft. The tanks immediately caused evolution of anti-tank measures – anti-tank tactics, anti-tank obstacles, anti-tank weapons and even anti-tank tanks. The tank reached its pinnacle of glory in the plains of Europe and the deserts of North Africa during World War II under the baton of battle-conductors like Rommel and Guderian.

The tank, starting as a supporting tool for infantry in 1917, became a primary arm for battle by the 1940s, needing support from other arms, including the evolving air dimension. This gave birth to supporting elements like armoured personnel carriers (APC), self-propelled (SP) guns, armoured engineering vehicles, mobile command posts, etc. The consequent return of “manoeuvre” to the battlefield resulted in new tactics, doctrines and weapon-systems from the 1920s to 1980s.ĭefence research & development (R&D) buzzed with development of the tank, from a vehicle that neutralised trench-warfare to an instrument of “manoeuvre force”. Emergence of the tank infused fresh impetus to the battlefield, rendering trenches and anti-personnel obstacle systems as redundant as a man’s nipples. Soldiers died more of disease and boredom than from gunshots. Defences based on trenches, protected by anti-personnel measures like wire obstacles, minefields, booby-traps, et al, brought warfare to a grinding halt. The military tank was born to counter the stagnation of trench warfare during the Great Wars.

― Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer “The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it”

Military tank future