Currently it is the Type 99KM, with a 155mm cannon. In the time of World War II, it was the Tiger Tank I, with an 88mm gun.

The first vehicle, recognisable as a military tank is considered to be that developed by the French in 1903 as "The Levavasseur project".

The first fully constructed prototype armoured vehicle was built by the British in September 1915 and ultimately through a number of developmental stages as the Mark 1 Tank. French tank development took place separately, at roughly the same time as the British.

The first use of tanks in battle was made by the British Army during World War 1 in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (the third and final offensive mounted by the British during the Battle of the Somme) which commenced on the 15th of September 1916.

There is nothing to support Joseph Hawker's claim except the word of a Press Officer at the Museum in Chard, where Hawker lived for a while. Many engineers designed types of what we now call caterpillar tracks, from the 18th century onwards. Hawker's track system was just one, and was not even a true caterpillar, simply a type of footed wheel. His design did not include any other of the Tank's attributes - armour or armament.

There are many claimants. Vehicles very like Tanks (i.e. an armoured body containing armament, powered by an internal combustion engine, and travelling on caterpillar tracks) were designed in France, Austria, Russia, and Australia between 1900 and the outbreak of WWI. One was also contemplated in Great Britain. However, no Army or government chose to pursue the idea.

After the start of WWI, the British and French both began building Tanks. In Britain the most significant figures were Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, Major Ernest Swinton, and Willliam Tritton. It was Swinton and Tritton who jointly designed and built the prototype that became the Tank Mark I. In France, the likeliest candidate is Colonel J.B.E. Estienne, who had plans drawn up and persuaded the military to build them. The French and British projects were neck-and-neck, although it was the British who first used Tanks on the battlefield.

This is a difficult question (depending on whether you mean the idea, the design, trials, or prototypes) but the fairest answer is: 1915.

Without the use of tow and at close range; the tiger would win,however, at long range and with the use of a tow; the bradley would win.

• To improve traction and hence mobilty. Tracks also allow Tanks to cross gaps such as ditches.

• A tank weighs between 40 and 70 tons, depending on what model it is. If you built a tank with wheels, it would concentrate all that weight on a few small points, and the vehicle would sink into the ground. Tracks spread that weight out.

Following on from as said above, the key reasons why Military Tanks don't have wheels is because:

• Tracks on Tanks helps improve Traction and Mobility on all kinds of surface
• Reduce Chances of getting Stuck
• get rid of possibility of tyres can be blown (tyres can't be made bullet proof unless made of full bulletproof material.
• Tracks displace to weight of a tank on all parts of the track instead off on a single wheel.

The rule that "tanks have tracks, armored cars have wheels" is a very arbitrary one, and one which is increasingly wrong. In the current 4th generation of armored vehicles, the distinction between a "true" tank with tracks and an uprated wheeled fighting vehicle is very little, particularly in concept. In particular, current mobile armored warfare doctrine has three major roles for armored vehicles (not including things like artillery, vehicle recovery, etc.):

1. High mobility, Heavy Firepower vehicles able to quickly blast holes through enemy lines and then rush into the rear to wreck havoc with logistical and other support functions. Today, this is the task for the MBT (Main Battle Tank)
2. High mobility, Scouting and Screening vehicles are intended to search out the position of the enemy, and gather intelligence about strength, condition, and other tactical information. A wide variety of vehicles are used in this role by different armies.
3. Infantry Support vehicles are the infantry's best friend. Some of them are simply battle taxis, while others provide significant fire support and protection all on their own. APCs, IFVs, and a host of other vehicles now fill this role.

In the first category, mobility across a huge variety of terrain tends to be at a premium, as the ability to go anywhere quickly is key to mobile armored warfare. Tracks provide the best mobility across the widest terrain features of any vehicle propulsion system, due to both a huge traction advantage, and an extremely low ground pressure (a 70-ton Abrams M1A2 has less ground pressure per area than a soldier standing still). Thus, tracked vehicles are virtually the entire category.

In the scouting role, however, tracked vehicles are hardly the only option, and make up a slim majority of all such vehicles. The high mobility requirements are a large advantage over their wheeled counterpart, but there are significant disabilities that often result in wheeled tanks. Wheels are far faster over smooth, hard surfaces. They are also significantly quieter, and stealth is a major consideration for scouts. Additionally, wheeled vehicles have a higher reliability than tracked ones, and scouting missions often require long periods of time outside the logistical supply chain. Thus, this category is fairly evenly split between tracked and wheeled tanks, which otherwise have very similar characteristics. This is where you typically see something classified as a "light" tank. In fact, many armies have both a wheeled and tracked light tank available for use; they use the one most appropriate to the situation.

In the last category, most "tanks" actually carry infantry (though this is not exclusively true). The APC and IFV are the classic category vehicles, but newer ones such as the US's Armored Gun System also fit here. The prime design requirements for this category are moderate mobility (enough to keep up with the MBTs on many, but not all, terrain) and enough firepower to defeat common opponents of the infantry. Once again, wheeled and tracked vehicles are mixed here, and they are often use together.

Overall, tracks have the following advantages:

• Very low ground pressure, making movement over soft terrain easy. Ironically, modern tanks have so little ground pressure that they will not set off anti-tank mines.
• Extremely high traction, enabling them to climb very steep inclines and traverse extremely uneven terrain
• Long drive path, enabling the crossing of wide barriers and trenches.
• Relative immunity to small arms fire
• Very high maneuverability, able to turn in extremely tight spaces

They have the following disadvantages:

• High cost
• High complexity, and resulting higher maintenance (and lower reliability)
• Vulnerability to mid-range weaponry (autocannons and light AT rockets), which can quickly result in a "mobility kill"
• Loud sound signature
• High abuse of the surfaces they traverse, radically degrading it for further use.

Wheels on the other hand, have these advantages:

• Very high speed on hard surfaces, and correspondingly high fuel efficiency
• Relative simplicity of suspension, and relative ease of both maintenance and repair
• Multi-axle designs provide significant cross-country and extreme terrain performance, though not through very soft terrain.
• Advanced designs are mostly resistant to small arms fire, and, while easier to damage than tracks, are more able to operate when damaged.
• Significantly cheaper overall than tracked designs
• Quiet

Wheeled designs have these disadvantages:

• Poor performance over soft terrain
• High ground pressure, and vulnerable to mines
• Requires significant space for multi-axel designs
• Less maneuverable than tracks

Nowdays, tank designers take all of the above into consideration, and balance them again the design criteria to chose which to use. Thus, a "tank" (as defined as: "an armored vehicle armed with a large caliber main gun and significant armor protection") doesn't have to, and often doesn't, have tracks.