Antitank gun

Anti-tank warfare arose as a result of the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the first tanks were developed by the Triple Entente in 1916 but not operated in battle until 1917, the first anti-tank weapons were developed by the German Empire. The first developed anti-tank weapon was a scaled-up bolt-action rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr that fired a 13mm cartridge with a solid bullet that could penetrate the thin armor of tanks of the time and destroy the engine or ricochet inside killing occupants. Because tanks represent an enemy's greatest force projection on land, anti-tank warfare has been incorporated into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. Most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II were the tank-mounted gun, anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades used by the infantry as well as ground-attack aircraft.

Anti-tank warfare evolved rapidly during World War II, leading to the inclusion of infantry portable weapon such as the Bazooka, anti-tank combat engineering, specialized anti-tank aircraft and self-propelled anti-tank guns (tank destroyers). Both the Soviet Red Army and the German Army developed methods of combating tank-led offensives, including deployment of static anti-tank weapons embedded in in-depth defensive positions, protected by anti-tank obstacles and minefields, and supported by mobile anti-tank reserves and ground attack aircraft.

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