Mark IV tanks were used during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, showing that a large concentration of tanks could quickly overcome even the most sophisticated trench system. The Mark IV was built by six different manufacturers: Metropolitan (the majority builder), Fosters of Lincoln, Armstrong-Whitworth, Coventry Ordnance Works, William Beardmore and Company and Mirrlees, Watson & Co., with the main production being in 1917. It performed well against all the other tanks of its generation. Its 150mm armour and 105mm gun was a very powerful combination. It served with the Israelis and the Indians. This post-war tank saw action nevertheless around the world. It was the reason for the allied victories and the father of the modern tanks to come. The tank was the answer to the stagnant trench warfare in Europe. Though a tin can in the modern era, it was a revolutionary idea back then. World’s first combat tank was introduced in 1916. But it was difficult to manufacture and could not be fielded in large numbers. Its famous 88mm could outshoot any other tank and the 100mm armour was virtually impenetrable. The rightly feared Tiger tank was the German answer to the allied tank superiority. The massed charges of these tanks across the plains of Eastern Europe is one of the famous scenes of the war. Its sloping 65mm armour and the 76.2mm gun was capable of challenging most of the axis tanks. The Russians managed to built the perfectly balanced tank with firepower, mobility and easy to produce. Never defeated in a conventional tank battle but it has suffered in the hit-and-run tactics in Iraq. Equipped with advanced fire-control computer and damage control systems, it is surely the most hi-tech. This 62-ton American warhorse sits in the top with its 120mm smoothbore cannon, classified Chobham armor and a 1500hp engine giving it a top speed of 40mph. Hers is a few of them who have done just the same. Now an army can capture an entire country in weeks or days with these machines charging ahead and destroying all in its path. Tanks have revolutionized the battlefield making the static warfare a thing of the past.
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