main battle tank

English

Etymology

USA, 1955, main +‎ battle (“n. attr.”) +‎ tank.

Alternative forms

• MBT

Noun

main battle tank (plural main battle tanks)

1. The primary tank of a country or armed forces.
2. (military) A tank with a good balance of firepower, cross-country mobility, and armoured protection, and therefore capable of carrying out the roles of breakthrough, exploitation and infantry support.

Synonyms

• MBT (abbreviation)
• universal tank

Coordinate terms

• light tank (WWII)
• medium tank (WWII)
• heavy tank (WWII)
• tank destroyer (WWII)
• half-track (WWII)
• infantry tank (WWI)
• cavalry tank (WWI)
• scout tank (WWI)
• infantry fighting vehicle (IFV)
• armored personnel carrier (APC)
• armored car

Translations

primary tank of a military force

• Finnish: päätaisteluvaunu
• French: char de combat principal m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: kereta kebal tempur utama

multipurpose tank

• Finnish: taistelupanssarivaunu (fi)
• French: char de combat (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: carro de combate principal m
• Spanish: tanque de combate principal m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} осно́вний бойови́й танк m (osnóvnyj bojovýj tank)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:main battle tank.