A right rear view of a US Army M1 M-1 Abrams main battle tank on a road near one of the fort's firing ranges. The tank will be test firing 105 mm ammunition developed by the Army with the assistance of Naval Ordnance Station, Louisville, Kentucky

Tanks in mass culture. Tanks were first developed separately and simultaneously by Great Britain and France as a means to break the deadlock of trench warfare on the Western Front. Their first use in combat was by the British Army in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The name "tank" was adopted by the British during the early stages of their development, as a security measure to conceal their purpose.