Sergeant Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and members of his staff gather for a photograph near an M1 Abrams main battle tank during their tour of the US Army Armor Center. They are, from left to right: Larry Cox, state director for the senator; Senator McConnell; Janet Mullins, McConnell's CHIEF of STAFF; and Robin Cleveland

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.