User:Keith-264/sandbox3
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Infantry tank | |
---|---|
Type | Armoured fighting vehicle |
Place of origin | Britain |
Service history | |
In service | 1938–1945 |
Used by | British Army Indian Army Commonwealth forces |
Wars | Second World War |
The Infantry tank derived from a concept developed by the British and other armies in the 1930s. Financial and technical constraints and the need to rely on commercially produced engines had left medium tank prototypes underpowered. The cuts imposed by the government in 1931 during the Great Depression fell most heavily on the army and the design of medium tanks capable of all roles was abandoned in the early 30s. The Kirke Committee reported in 1931 that cheap and unsophisticated vehicles could meet the need to support infantry.
Infantry tanks would be thickly armoured to survive frontal attacks on prepared defensive positions. A counterpart of the Infantry tank would be the Cruiser tank, a lighter-armoured and faster vehicle. Once a breakthrough had been achieved by infantry supported by Infantry tanks, artillery and aircraft, Cruiser tanks and light tanks could use their speed and range for flank attacks, cutting the lines of supply and communication of the opponent, then pursuing the defeated force.
First class vehicles for each role could be designed; the extra armour on Infantry tanks made them slow but was more important for infantry support. Constraints on tank design diminished as rearmament matured in the early 1940s, particularly in engine power and suspension. Infantry and Cruiser tank designs converged, as did the tactics of Infantry and Cruiser tank units, leading to the fast, well-armoured Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M) and the Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) "heavy cruisers" of 1944–1945 and the Centurion tank (A41) the first modern Main battle tank.
Infantry tank chassis were used to provide specialist mine-clearing, bomb-throwing, flame-throwing, bridge-laying, amphibious, searchlight-carrying and infantry-carriers. Troops could keep up with tanks in vehicles with equivalent armour protection, ready to disembark and overcome German positions from close range.