An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed to penetrate the armour of vehicles, particularly tanks. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I and until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armour became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other targets, though shaped-charge weapons such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-defense against tanks. Anti-materiel rifles of today, such as the Barrett M82, are a development of the Second World War technology.
Read more about Anti-tank Rifle: History, Anti-tank Rifles, Anti-materiel Rifles
Famous quotes containing the word rifle:
“Many times man lives and dies
Betweeen his two eternities,
That of race and that of soul,
And ancient Ireland knew it all.
Whether man die in his bed
Or the rifle knocks him dead,”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)