Tank facts for kids

T-34 used in World War II

A tank is an armoured combat vehicle, typically armed with a large cannon mounted on a turret and a few machine guns.

A tank is covered in thick armour to protect it from enemy weapons. Tanks have tracks that wrap around its wheels to spread out its weight and let it cross rough ground. Most tanks have a powerful gun and one or more machine guns.

A tank's crew is normally 3-5. A driver, commander and gunner are always present. There may also be a loader, who handles the ammunition for the main gun (so the gunner doesn't have to take eyes off the target). Some WWII tanks also had a separate soldier responsible for the radio.

Using

Early French tank, 1915

The first tanks were made by the British Royal Navy and French car manufacturers during World War I as a way of attacking enemy trenches. They were called tanks to trick the Germans into thinking they were water carriers for the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. Their use in a surprise attack in the Battle of the Somme caused fear among the German soldiers but their small numbers and poor reliability prevented them from making much difference.

Tanks became a main weapon during World War II, where battles between great numbers of tanks were fought, especially between the Germans and the Soviet Union. The Battle of Kursk was the biggest. Well-known World War II tanks were the German Panzer IV, Panther and Tiger I, Soviet T-34 (produced in the largest numbers of any tank of the war and second most ever), British Matilda, Churchill and Cromwell, and American M4 Sherman (second most produced tank of the war) and Stuart tanks. There had also been plans for much larger and more heavily armoured tanks such as the Maus but these were determined to be of little use due to their huge weight, which would have made moving them very difficult, and the huge size, which would have made them easy targets for heavy artillery.

Old tanks are often modified for other uses like carrying soldiers or equipment. Combat engineers use special tank-based vehicles, for example minesweeper tanks or bridge-layer tanks.

The tank is a major part of all large armies today. Tanks have replaced the cavalry everywhere and do the things that soldiers on horseback did in the past. Most modern tanks are of the heavy or Main Battle Tank type, able to fight other tanks. Compared to older types MBTs are very heavy (Russian MBTS being about 40 tons and Western around 60 tons) with a 120 mm (Western) and 125 mm (Russian) calibre cannon and 2-3 machine guns. Marines and other specialized forces also use some light tanks.

Related pages

• Anti-tank gun
• Tiger tank

Images for kids

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  The first tank to engage in battle, the British Mark I tank (pictured in 1916) with the Solomon camouflage scheme

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  A Leopard 2A7 tank in Germany.

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  Model of Leonardo da Vinci's fighting vehicle

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  British World War I Mark V* tank

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  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.

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  French Hotchkiss H-39 light tank of 1939

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  German Tiger II tanks of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 (s.Pz.Abt. 503) 'Feldherrnhalle' posing in formation for a German newsreel

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  Battle of Kursk was credited to be the largest tank battle ever fought, with each side deploying nearly 3,000 tanks.

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  Sherman tanks joining the U.S. Fifth Army forces in the beachhead at Anzio during the Italian Campaign, 1944

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  The Cold War era Soviet T-72 was the most widely deployed main battle tank across the world.

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  An Italian C1 Ariete in Rome in 2010.

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  Graphic representation of the US Army's cancelled XM1202 Mounted Combat System

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  ectioned 105mm rifled Royal Ordnance L7 tank gun

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  German Leopard 2A6 from a Panzerbattalion fires its main gun during the shoot-off of Strong Europe Tank Challenge.

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  The Russian T-90 is fitted with a "three-tiered" protection systems:1: Composite armour in the turret 2: Third generation Kontakt-5 ERA 3: Shtora-1 countermeasures suite.

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  PLA's Type 99a tank with disruptive camouflage painting

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  A British Challenger 2 Theatre Entry Standard fitted with a mobile camouflage system.

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  Concealed force: members of 122nd Tank Brigade camouflage their T-34 tank with natural materials as they prepare for the Siege of Leningrad, 1941

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  Troops carry a lightweight wood-framed "dummy" tank into position.

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  The British Challenger II is protected by second-generation Chobham armour

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  Arjun Mk II turret protection

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  Blazer explosive reactive armour (ERA) blocks on an Israeli M-60

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  IDF Merkava Mk4 tank with Trophy APS ("מעיל רוח") during training

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  M1 Abrams offloading from Landing Craft Air Cushioned vehicle.

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  The tank commander's position in an AMX Leclerc

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  A view in a M1A1 Abrams tank of the gunner's station (bottom left) and commander's station (top right)

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  The Indian Arjun MBT's hydropneumatic suspension at work, while moving over a bump track.

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  German Army Leopard 2A6M incorporates networked battlefield technology

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  Merkava Mark 4 main battle tank is equipped with a digital C4IS battle-management system.

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  Circular review system of the company LimpidArmor

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  A Japanese Type 10 firing.

See also

In Spanish: Carro de combate para niños