Mobile protected firepower- that’s what every General wants. Tank traces the near 100-year history of mobile protected firepower. Since it first appeared on the muddy fields of northern France in the First World War, designers and engineers have been trying to perfect and improve these steel leviathans. In this programme, a U.S. tank crew-in-training will give us an exclusive look at the latest Abrams M1A2 main battle tank at the US Army’s Fort Hood, while tank historians and war veterans will spotlight the major advances that make up the evolutionary timeline of the tank’s development. What makes an Abrams one of the best tanks of today? In the near 100-year history of the tank, how did we end up here?

• Mark Halliley