A precursor to the current anti-tank vehicles, dedicated anti-tank vehicles made their first major appearance in World War II as combatants developed effective armored vehicles and tactics. Throughout the war, several different types of vehicles were designed specifically to engage enemy armored vehicles. Except for most American designs, tank destroyers were all turretless and had fixed or casemate superstructures. Many have been based on a tracked tank chassis mounting an anti-tank gun, while others are wheeled. 

Tanks are generally armored fighting vehicles designed for front-line combat, which combine operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities and perform all primary tasks of the armored troops on the battlefield; the tank destroyer, on the other hand, is designed mainly for taking on enemy armor.