Armoured warfare or armored warfare, is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional defensive lines through use of manoeuvre by armoured units.
A shooting contest between Leopard 2A6 tanks during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge in 2018
British heavy tank of World War I
A T-34-85 tank on display at the Musée des Blindés in April 2007
An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe defines an infantry fighting vehicle as "an armoured combat vehicle which is designed and equipped primarily to transport a combat infantry squad, and which is armed with an integral or organic cannon of at least 20 millimeters calibre and sometimes an antitank missile launcher". IFVs often serve both as the principal weapons system and as the mode of transport for a mechanized infantry unit.
A M2 Bradley tracked infantry fighting vehicle in US service during the Second Battle of Fallujah (2004)
A Russian BMP-3 with embarked infantry
West German troops aboard a Schützenpanzer Lang HS.30, the world's first IFV. (1965)
An East German BMP-1 with eight passengers (1988)