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Oppositely, the key NATO nations – the US, UK, France, and West Germany – all developed their own tank designs. Soviet domination of the Warsaw Pact led to effective standardization on a few tank designs. Aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with advances in shell design and terminal effectiveness. Tanks became larger and advances in armour made it much more effective. In spite of this, tanks would not only continue to be produced in huge numbers, but the technology advanced dramatically as well.

Many war planners believed that with the advent of nuclear weapons the tank was obsolete, given that a tactical nuclear weapon could destroy any brigade or regiment, whether it was armoured or not. The period pitted the nations of the Eastern Bloc (organized under the Warsaw Pact in 1955) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO (since 1949) against each other.Īfter World War II, tank design budgets were cut and engineering staff was often scattered. Tank development both evolved considerably from World War II and played a key role during the Cold War (1945–1990).