Tigers vs Shermans

[Griefbringer]

I would say that in late 30's tank design, capability to take on enemy armour seems to have been well considered, since a lot of the tanks were armed with a weapon that was used as the main anti-tank gun in the respective armies. These certainly were quite capable of tackling most enemy armour of their era (though less capable once the armour levels started to go up during the war), while their HE content was rather restricted.

For example:
- British 2 pounder gun was used as ATG and to arm early cruiser and infantry tanks
- Soviet 45 mm gun was used as ATG and to arm later T-26 and BT tanks (and on smaller gun turrets on T-35)
- German 37 mm gun was used as ATG and to arm early Panzer III (though these were designed with upgunning to 50 mm gun in mind)
- US 37 mm gun was used as ATG and turret gun on Stuarts and M3 medium tanks

There were also numerous tank designs that were armed with big, low-velocity weapons (usually around 75 mm caliber) mainly for the purpose of attacking enemy infantry.

That said, many of the tank designs from Japan, Italy, Poland and France were designed less with tank combat in mind, being armed with lower velocity guns.