Anti-tank warfare

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Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and has since become a fundamental component of land warfare doctrine. Over time, anti-tank warfare has evolved to include a wide range of systems, from handheld infantry weapons and anti-tank guns to guided missiles and air-delivered munitions.

Anti-tank warfare evolved rapidly during World War II, leading to infantry-portable weapons such as the bazooka, anti-tank combat engineering, specialized anti-tank aircraft and self-propelled anti-tank guns (tank destroyers).

Through the Cold War of 1947–1991, the United States, Soviet Union and other countries contemplated the possibility of nuclear warfare. Both NATO and Warsaw Pact nations increased their number of anti-tank weapons in response to the evolving threat of armored warfare. To achieve this, Soviet military theorists such as Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) realized that importance of anti-tank weapons' mobility. This led to the development of improved guided anti-tank missiles, though similar design work progressed in Western Europe and the United States.

Both sides in the Cold War also recognized the utility of light anti-tank weapons, and this led to further development of man-portable weapons for use by infantry squads, while heavier missiles were mounted on dedicated missile tank-destroyers. Designers also developed new varieties of artillery munitions in the form of top-attack shells, and shells that were used to saturate areas with anti-armor bomblets. Helicopters could be used as well to rapidly deliver scattered anti-tank mines.

Since the end of the Cold War in 1992, new threats to tanks and other armored vehicles have included remotely detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Both those weapon systems use a tandem warhead where the first stage of the warhead activates the reactive armor, and the second stage defeats the shell armor by means of a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, drones and loitering munitions have attacked and destroyed tanks.