Armored Tanks A tank is an armored fighting vehicle with heavy firepower strong armor and a powerful engine Using a geared wheel the engine drives the tank along linked tracks called caterpillar tracks These provide it with its own roadway spreading its weight over a large surface They allow the tank to travel over rough terrain where a wheeled vehicle would become bogged down or stuck 4
When tanks began to be used by modern armies a new type of combat emerged It used armored killing machines that could roll over barbed wire and withstand bullets all while shooting heavy guns at the enemy Tanks soon became a key part of coordinated combat where areas of the military worked together to achieve a goal Today the latest tanks are called main battle tanks MBTs They have armor that reacts to the impact of weapons to reduce damage as well as laser range finders and heat-sensing cameras that can track targets up to a range of 6 1 miles 9 8 km away South Korean K2 Black Panther main battle tanks on maneuvers 5
World War I 1914 1918 France The First Tanks The first tanks were used by the British Army on the European battlefields of the Western Front during World War I WWI Tanks could go where no humans dared across the dangerous territory between enemy trenches known as no-man’s land The first tanks called the Mark I were built in total secrecy The manufacturers told their workforce that they were building tanks to hold water and the name stuck These first tanks were slow and clumsy and 6
During the Battle of Cambrai in France two British Mark IV tanks break through German lines on November 20 1917 Along with infantry more than 400 tanks made it through 6 miles 9 km of enemy-held territory The territory was recaptured in a counterattack many broke down They had a shell-firing cannon on each side and three machine guns A crew of eight operated in stifling heat while breathing in poisonous engine fumes The first Mark I tanks appeared on the battlefield on September 15 1916 during the Battle of the Somme By 1918 small light tanks called Whippets were used They had a crew of three armed with machine guns 7
