Since we're talking about the use of tanks on the battlefield, let's go back seven years. On October 8, 2015, social media exulted: "Soldiers of government forces advanced 70 km north of the city of Hama and liberated the city of Kafr Nabouda in 24 hours."
[Kharchenko]
[Kharchenko]
Russia had been officially at war in Syria for little more than a week. Russian advisers devised a plan, concentrated an armored fist on the plains of Hama and decided to crush the enemy's Lataminah bridgehead in one fell swoop.
To tell you the truth, official reports poorly reflected reality. A 70 km advance was out of the question. The offensive turned into a defeat (Kafr Nabudah was liberated only in 2019).
American TOWs destroyed a lot of Syrian armor, which led to the loss of Murek and other villages. Even then, we should have realized that the Soviet dogma of "Tank Wedges to the English Channel" was obsolete.
The Syrians (largely without us) have since rethought tanks and begun to operate effectively. In the open, a platoon would have one tank. Infantry would move up, identify enemy firing points, and the tank would destroy them. Men went ahead, which reduced tank losses.
In cities, the tactics were different. Each tank had its own ground spotter. He would hover a drone over the tank and talk with infantry. Seeing the big picture, he would literally tell the tankers to turn the barrel 30 degrees right and put 3 shells in the next doorway.
Such cooperation allowed the Syrians to break through enemy fortifications even in tight Arabic buildings. As I've said many times, we learned nothing from Syria, so on Feb 24 armored columns advanced with almost no infantry interaction, [causing heavy vehicle losses].
Now the Russian army has to gnaw through deeply echeloned enemy defenses, so the importance and use of the tank on the battlefield must be rethought. Enough of stepping on the rake and throwing armored fists forward. We already have enough examples of successful offensives.
I was at Izyum in the spring. We tried to liberate Kamianske using tanks... the tactic totally failed, the town was cleared by special forces on foot. The Wagnerites are also advancing in small groups of infantry. Neither Popasna nor Soledar were taken head-on in a tank attack.
So, what to do? First, abandon the tactic of tank rushes. Second, each tank should have a ground spotter coordinating with infantry. Third, each tank must have its own drone. The cost is minimal compared to the cost of vehicles, while efficiency will increase many times over.
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