After the war, many nations recognised the importance of tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design and build them. The operational use of tanks during the latter part of the First World War established the validity of the tank concept. Overview An Australian Light Tank M3 Stuart I during the final assault on Buna. In addition to these types, the Army has operated small numbers of other tank designs for training and evaluation purposes. After an internal debate on whether the Army should continue to operate tanks as part of its force structure, the Australian Government replaced the Leopards with a small fleet of American M1A1 Abrams tanks in 2007, which are now the Army's only tanks.
During the 1950s the Army standardised on the British Centurion tank, which saw action in Vietnam and remained in service until it was replaced with the German Leopard 1 in the mid-1970s. With few modern tanks at the time of the Korean War, the Australian Army had to rely on British and US tank support. Many individual units later fought against the Japanese in the Pacific, although only in regimental strength. Three armoured divisions capable of independent operations were formed during the Second World War, but none were deployed outside Australia. In addition, a small number of Australian-designed Sentinel tanks were delivered to the Army during 19, but the type was never issued to combat units. From 1942 large numbers of American light and medium tanks were delivered to Australia, along with British Matilda IIs. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to a significant expansion of Australia's armoured force.
The first Australian tanks were a small number of British medium and light tanks which were operated mainly for training purposes during the 1920s and 1930s. The Australian Army's tanks have seen combat during the Second World War and the Vietnam War, where they proved successful despite some of the designs employed being considered obsolete. Throughout this period the Army has primarily been a light infantry force, with its tanks mainly being used in the direct support role. The Australian Army has used tanks from after the First World War, through the interwar period, the Second World War, the Cold War and to the present day.
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