THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN ARMOR
ANTI-TANK WEAPONS

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From the battlefields of Flanders onwards, the ultimate ground weapon was the tank. Developed to break the deadlock of trench warfare, nothing that preceded it could stand against it. The search for an anti-tank weapon had begun.

At the beginning of World War II, the standard German anti-tank weapon was the little 37mm PaK 35 and 36 which could penetrate only 1 inch of sloped armor at 500 yards. By the end of the war, the supreme tank destroyer was the Jager-tiger with an ability to penetrate 10 inches at 1000 yards. Land mines could also be used with devastating effect and took a heavy toll on the Sherman Tanks whose floor plates were only a half-inch thick. 

During the Cold War, the Russians pitted the MIG-23 against the American F-4 Phantom and the high-speed Russian MIL-24 ground support helicopter against the agile German PAH-1. 

By the time of Vietnam, the MacDonell Douglas AH-64 Apache came into service and was still a vital element in the anti-tank mission during the Gulf War. The British contributed the vertical take-off Harrier which has proved itself an effective killer using ‘smart’ bombs as recently as Kosovo.