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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Tank destroyer

World Wars 1914 CE - 1945 CE, Weapons and technology

Soviet SU-85
Soviet SU-85
A tank destroyer, in a broad sense, is a weapon designed to put tanks out of action. In a narrower sense, it is a subcategory of self-propelled artillery, tuned to an anti-tank role.
The first weapons used against tanks were mines. These can blow the tracks off tanks, immobilizing them and making them vulnerable. Heavy mines can even put light tanks completely out of action.
But mines can be cleared, so sometimes a more flexible attack is needed. Infantry soldiers who are brave and stealthy enough to get up close with a tank, can take it out with explosive bombs, or incendiaries like 'molotov cocktails'. Despite the risk of approaching a machinegun-armed tank, this still is a viable method for infantry that lacks more powerful anti-tank weapons.
A safer method is to use anti-tank rifles, with a very heavy caliber that can penetrate the armor of tanks. This worked against early designs, but in World War II, tanks got so heavily armored that rifles did not suffice anymore. Only artillery, specifically anti-tank guns that fire rounds in a nearly flat trajectory at relatively short ranges, can keep up with tank armor. Because anti-tank guns are not required to be mounted on a tank chassis, they often can be made heavier than the guns mounted on the tanks themselves, so they can outshoot them. Early guns fired solid armor-piercing rounds; in the 1930's CE shaped charges were introduced.
However it takes time to ready a towed gun; realigning them is sometimes difficult and relocating them even more so. This is a severe handicap in fighting fast moving tanks. The solution was to mount anti-tank guns on top of mobile tank chassis, though without the turret. The result was a mobile tank destroyer. The concept retains the advantage of being able to mount a heavier gun, allows for heavier armor, more room for ammunition and crew and keeps costs low. A full tank chassis has the additional benefit of protecting the gun crew in armor. The great disadvantage is that in order to aim the gun, the entire vehicle must be turned around, prohibiting the swiftness of tank maneuvers. Tank destroyers saw extensive use in the second half of World War II.
In the 1960's CE anti-tank missiles replaced the traditional guns on most tank destroyers. Heavy armor was dispensed with, creating a cheap and light yet fast tank-hunter. Today tank destroyers are just one type of many anti-tank weapons. Their predecessors are still used and other types of weapons, like dive bombers, rocket propelled grenades and attack helicopters have joined the fray. Despite all the competition, a few modern armies still retain gun-armed tank destroyers.