Tank; A military class that includes a tracked and armored fighting vehicle or units consisting of these vehicles, whose main mission is to attack enemy forces with direct firepower . The features that distinguish the tank from other fighting vehicles are that it has heavy armor , high firepower and driving gear designed to go fast on all types of terrain. Although they are costly and logistically demanding vehicles, they are indispensable elements of modern armies due to their ability to attack ground targets and their ability to destroy infantry morale .

Until the advent of the main battle tank , tanks were typically classified either by weight class ( tankette , light tank , medium tank , heavy tank , or super-heavy tank ) or by doctrinal purpose ( dummy tanks , cruiser tank , infantry tank , flame tank , or reconnaissance tanks ).

Modern tanks are versatile mobile ground weapons platforms whose main armament is a large- caliber tank gun mounted in a rotating turret , supported by other ranged weapons such as machine guns , guided anti-tank missiles or rocket launchers . They have heavy vehicle armor . The armor provides protection for the crew, the vehicle's ammunition stores, fuel tanks and propulsion systems. The use of tracks instead of wheels provides enhanced operational mobility at the operational level of combat . These features allow the tank to perform well in a variety of intense combat situations, both offensive ( with direct fire from its powerful main armament ) and defensive (fire support for friendly troops, due to its near-invulnerability to ordinary infantry small arms).

Although tanks are powerful fighting machines, they rarely operate alone. Despite their armor and mobility, they are vulnerable to shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, mines , artillery fire, and air attack . For this reason, they usually operate in conjunction with other units. They are also disadvantaged in forested and urban areas, where long-range fire is not possible, the tank crew has difficulty detecting threats due to the narrow field of view, and even the turret's limited mobility.

Tanks were first used in World War I to break the trench warfare deadlock and eventually assumed classic cavalry duties on the battlefield. The name tank was first used in tank factories in England . In order to conceal the fact that a war vehicle was being built, workers were given the impression that tracked water tanks were being produced for the British Army. According to another story, a secret report submitted to Winston Churchill by British Army Officer Ernest Swinton mentioned the new motorized weapon and suggested three possible names. These were "cistern" (cistern, water tank) , "motor-war car" (motorized war vehicle) and tank. However, tank was preferred because it was easier to pronounce. However, the most far-fetched scenario is mentioned in Winston Churchill's official biography. In order to conceal these new weapons, the words " Water Carriers for Russia" were written on the drawings and projects . However, when writing, it was thought that it could be written as "WC for Russia" as an abbreviation and it was changed to "Water tanks for Russia" in the drawings. Thereupon, the name of these weapons remained tank.
Until World War II, tanks were used in areas where infantry could not overcome due to high fire. For this reason, each infantry division had a certain number of tanks. The first country to use tanks as the main weapon was Nazi Germany .