The crew of an M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank (MBT) prepares to engage in a force-on-force exercise. The unit, Bravo Company, 1ST Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1ST Armored Division, is taking part in a weeklong Tank Crew Proficiency Course (TCPC) at the Friedberg Local Training Area

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.