To be seen, or not to be seen - that is the question. In the course of tank combat, there are many times when the answer to that question is not to be seen. Not being seen can conceal the overwhelming numbers of attacking tanks, conceal the lack of overwhelming numbers of attacking tanks, or confuse the enemy as tanks attempt to bug out (get out of) a deteriorating situation. The question is then; how can a whole tank not be seen?

The most practical solution is something called a smoke round, which is essentially a smoke emitting canister. When a smoke round explodes, huge clouds of smoke materialize, leaving the enemy to guess what is going on inside the smoke. Smoke rounds fired into the battlefield before the tanks roll in will confuse the enemy, who is now unawares as to what is coming at him and where what is coming at him is. On the other hand, smoke rounds fired in the thick of a losing battle can hide a tank's escape, letting it live to fight another day.

The strategic importance of smoke rounds was not overlooked by tank designers, who began adding small arrays of smoke round launchers on the side of tank turrets. These quickly went out of fashion, however, as smoke canisters were replaced by smoke shells which could be fired out of the main gun.

HOW TO LOCATE A SMOKE ROUND LAUNCHER

Look for an array of tubes on the sides of the turret. These are usually grouped in threes.