Editing Tank (section)

====Armour====
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2013}}
{{Main|Vehicle armour}}
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=300
| image1 = M1 Abrams Hull Front Special Armor.jpg
| image2 = M1 Abrams Turret Bustle Side Special Armor.png
| image3 = M1 Abrams Hull Side Special Armor.jpg
| image4 = M1 Abrams Gun Shield Special Armor.jpg
| footer = Configuration of M1 Abrams [[Chobham armor|Chobham]] Special Armor. Clockwise from upper left: Hull front, turret bustle, hull side, gun shield.
}}
[[File:Challenger2-Bergen-Hohne-Training-Area-2.jpg|thumb|right|The British [[Challenger 2|Challenger II]] is protected by second-generation [[Chobham armour]]]]

To effectively protect the tank and its crew, tank armour must counter a wide variety of antitank threats. Protection against [[kinetic energy penetrator]]s and [[high-explosive anti-tank]] (HEAT) shells fired by other tanks is of primary importance, but tank armour also aims to protect against infantry [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]], [[grenades]], [[rocket-propelled grenade]]s, [[anti-tank guided missile]]s, [[land mine|anti-tank mines]], [[anti-tank rifles]], [[bomb]]s, direct [[artillery]] hits, and (less often) [[Weapon of mass destruction|nuclear, biological and chemical]] threats, any of which could disable or destroy a tank or its crew.

[[rolled homogeneous armour|Steel armour plate]] was the earliest type of armour. The Germans pioneered the use of [[carbon steel#Case hardening|face hardened]] steel during World War II and the Soviets also achieved improved protection with [[sloped armour]] technology. World War II developments led to the obsolescence of homogeneous steel armour with the development of [[shaped-charge]] warheads, exemplified by the [[Panzerfaust]] and [[bazooka]] infantry-carried weapons which were effective, despite some early success with [[spaced armour]]. Magnetic mines led to the development of [[diamagnetism|anti-magnetic]] paste and paint. From WWII to the modern era, troops have added improvised armour to tanks while in combat settings, such as sandbags or pieces of old armour plating.

British tank researchers took the next step with the development of [[Chobham armour]], or more generally [[composite armour]], incorporating [[ceramic]]s and plastics in a [[resin]] matrix between steel plates, which provided good protection against HEAT weapons. [[High-explosive squash head]] warheads led to [[spall|anti-spall]] armour linings, and kinetic energy penetrators led to the inclusion of exotic materials like a matrix of [[depleted uranium]] into a composite armour configuration.

[[File:M60A1-Patton-Blazer-latrun-2.jpg|thumb|Blazer [[explosive reactive armour]] (ERA) blocks on an Israeli M-60]]
[[Reactive armour]] consists of small explosive-filled metal boxes that detonate when hit by the metallic jet projected by an exploding HEAT warhead, causing their metal plates to disrupt it. [[Tandem warhead]]s defeat reactive armour by causing the armour to detonate prematurely. Modern reactive armour protects itself from Tandem warheads by having a thicker front metal plate to prevent the precursor charge from detonating the explosive in the reactive armour. Reactive armours can also reduce the penetrative abilities of [[kinetic energy penetrator]]s by deforming the penetrator with the metal plates on the Reactive armour, thereby reducing its effectiveness against the main armour of the tank.