A missile tank is an armoured fighting vehicle

Armoured fighting vehicle

An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....

 fulfilling the role of a main battle tank

Main battle tank

A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...

, but using only guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

s for main armament. Several nations have experimented with prototypes, notably the Soviet Union during the tenure of Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

 (projects Obyekt 167, Obyekt 137Ml, Obyekt 155Ml), but only the West German Jaguar 2

Jaguar 2

The Raketenjagdpanzer 4 Jaguar 2 was a German tank destroyer equipped with anti-tank guided missiles. It was only operated by the Bundeswehr. The vehicle is being used by United States Army as the Badger, and it is fitted with a large articulated arm in digging up IED's or any buried device and was...

 saw service as a standard vehicle, although the Soviet IT-1

IT-1

The IT-1 was a Soviet cold war missile tank based around the hull of the T-62. The tank fired specially designed 3M7 Drakon missiles from a pop-up launcher. It saw a very limited service between 1968 and 1970. The large deadzone around the tank created by the missiles' minimum range combined with...

 missile tank also saw limited service.

The term is sometimes applied more loosely to conventional tanks which are able to launch anti-tank guided missile

Anti-tank guided missile

An anti-tank missile , anti-tank guided missile , anti-tank guided weapon or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored military vehicles....

s, to supplement their main gun for very long-range fire. Examples are the U.S.-German prototype MBT-70

MBT-70

The MBT-70 was a 1960s German-U.S. joint project to develop a new main battle tank, which was to be equipped with a number of advanced features. It utilized a newly developed hydropneumatic "kneeling" suspension and housed the entire crew in the large turret...

, the defunct U.S. M551 Sheridan

M551 Sheridan

The M551 Sheridan was a light tank developed by the United States and named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81E1 152mm gun/launcher which fired conventional...

 and French AMX-13

AMX-13

The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1953 to 1985. It served with the French Army and was exported to over twenty-five other nations...

, and several Soviet, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n, and Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 tanks: T-64

T-64

The T-64 is a Soviet main battle tank, introduced in the early 1960s. It was used solely by the Soviet Army in its front-line divisions and was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62...

, T-72

T-72

The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...

, T-80

T-80

The T-80 is a main battle tank designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union. A development of the T-64, it entered service in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.the Swedish Stridsvagn 103 of 1971 used a gas turbine alongside...

, T-84

T-84

The T-84 is a Ukrainian main battle tank, a development of the Soviet T-80 main battle tank. It was first built in 1994 and entered service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1999. The T-84 is based on the diesel-engined T-80 version, the T-80UD...

, and T-90

T-90

The T-90 is a Russian third-generation main battle tank that is a modernisation of the T-72 . It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Naval Infantry...

. Some of the T-55's currently in use with the Peruvian Army

Peruvian Army

The Peruvian Army is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding internal security, conducting disaster relief operations...

 also seem to have racks with missiles fitted to their turrets.

A Polish combat engineering version of the Soviet T-55A main battle tank was also equipped with PW-LWD rockets. Although these were actually a rapid breaching system and not a weapon as such.

In the 1930s, the Soviet Union tested the RBT-5 rocket-based assault gun, comprising a BT tank mounting two 250-kg "TT Tank Torpedo" unguided rockets its turret sides. In World War Two they also deployed the BM-8-24 multiple rocket launcher

Multiple rocket launcher

A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...

, based on a T-60

T-60

The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. In this time over 6,292 were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank.-Design:...

 light tank chassis. These weapons firing unguided rockets rather than guided missiles are properly classified as rocket artillery

Rocket artillery

Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.-History:...

.