A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in the reconnaissance role, or in support of expeditionary forces where main battle tanks cannot be made available. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.
The fast light tank was a major feature of the pre-WWII buildup, where it was expected they would be used to exploit breakthroughs in enemy lines created by slower, heavier tanks. Numerous small tank designs and "tankettes" were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, including Combat Car.
The light tank has been one of the few tank variants to survive the development of the main battle tank, and has seen use in a variety of roles including support of light airborne or amphibious forces and reconnaissance. Modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, a cheaper alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank.
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“Through the din and desultoriness of noon, even in the most Oriental city, is seen the fresh and primitive and savage nature, in which Scythians and Ethiopians and Indians dwell. What is echo, what are light and shade, day and night, ocean and stars, earthquake and eclipse, there? The works of man are everywhere swallowed up in the immensity of nature. The AEgean Sea is but Lake Huron still to the Indian.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)