A member of the 1ST Armored Cavalry throws a grenade at an M60 Main Battle tank during exercise Doughboy City. The exercise is designed to provide practice fighting in urban areas

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.