British Army With No Tanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Raellus]

Thanks for posting that thought-provoking article, Targan.

Perhaps the MBT is headed in the same direction as the battleship c.1941. Sometimes, it can be hard to let go of orthodoxy and envision a novel alternative.

Having seen some recent combat footage out of Nagorno-Karabakh of UAVs hunting MBTs with apparent impunity, it's not hard to imagine a future where MBTs become little more than incredibly expensive mobile crematoriums (I don't mean to sound cold or trite- I really feel for the crews of stricken tanks on both sides of the conflict). I just wonder how infantry are going to move around on a battlefield where armor has been rendered obsolete by precision-guided smart weapons, ATGMs, and UAV-directed artillery.

Are we headed for a reprise of WWI-era static warfare?

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[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Perhaps the MBT is headed in the same direction as the battleship c.1941. Sometimes, it can be hard to let go of orthodoxy and envision a novel alternative.
...
Are we headed for a reprise of WWI-era static warfare?

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Not so sure, myself. I just saw a vid of a US Army colonel who spent some time with the Ukrainians in Donbass recently. He thought tanks were the only way to generate mobility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CMby_WPjk4&t=3s

Tanks, IMO, are still useful, but the days of blitzkrieg are long over. 1940-41 was a narrow window of time, before defenses could bog things down. After that, combined-arms forces could overcome defenses for a limited time-- August 44 in France, June 44 in Belorussia & Poland-- but only for a limited time. Most of Ww2 was not blitzkrieg, but closer to trench warfare (not the same, but closer). I think now isn't too different.

[mpipes]

".....the days of blitzkrieg are long over."

Tell that to the Iraqi Army and Saddam!

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by mpipes

".....the days of blitzkrieg are long over."

Tell that to the Iraqi Army and Saddam!

Point taken, but that was 31 (Desert Storm) and 17 (Iraqi Freedom) years ago. Times change. We might be in the midst of a paradigm shift, which is seldom recognized by most people when it's happening. It's only in retrospect that it becomes obvious (like in France, 1940, or Midway, 1942).

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[Legbreaker]

Also have to bear in mind the Iraqi's were seriously over matched both times - they didn't stand a chance, and it certainly didn't help that the unmotivated conscripts tossed into the front line surrendered in droves.

[Targan]

An interesting analysis from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defence and security think tank.

The Key to Armenia’s Tank Losses: The Sensors, Not the Shooters

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Targan

An interesting analysis from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defence and security think tank.

The Key to Armenia’s Tank Losses: The Sensors, Not the Shooters

Now that... that was a better article to read in regards to the future of warfare. It seems pretty clear that if tanks are vulnerable in this new age of warfare, so is every single other item in the army inventory.

Great find Targan, a thought provoking piece if ever there was one.