Back in the 1930's and even thru WWII, engineers designing tanks were burdened with complicated theories as to what the tank was supposed to do. They spoke of "breaking thru enemy positions" and "infantry support" and "exploitation" and "offensive combat" and so on. Which resulted in some strange, very strange, tanks. Like a model with five machine gun turrets, or numerous models with dinky main guns.
By the end of WWII it had become clear that the purpose of a tank was to destroy ALL battlefield targets within visual range. Of which, the most difficult are hostile tanks. This simple concept led to the conclusion that a tank needs a gun big enough to blow a hole thru enemy tanks. Compared to the popguns that armed all too many tanks in WWII, the postwar tanks were equipped with truly massive guns.
In short, the simpler statement of the mission of a tank, led to much more effective designs.
KISS
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