"The Once-Dominant Tank Is Getting Humbled on the Battlefield"
The US Army is starting to recognize reality - and it isn't as planned. As covered in a front-page article in today's WSJ (link later), the West is admitting that it has a problem with the tanks that were supposed
1/
The US Army is starting to recognize reality - and it isn't as planned. As covered in a front-page article in today's WSJ (link later), the West is admitting that it has a problem with the tanks that were supposed
1/
to win the war. Some (fair use) quotes:
"Even as tanks help Ukraine push into Russia, armies are rethinking how the powerful vehicles are made and deployed after a recent history of being humbled in combat."
2/
"Even as tanks help Ukraine push into Russia, armies are rethinking how the powerful vehicles are made and deployed after a recent history of being humbled in combat."
2/
"Tanks were once the king of the battlefield. But the proliferation of drones in Ukraine means the large, noisy vehicles can be spotted and targeted within minutes."
3/
3/
'βIn the near term, we absolutely need to urgently make some adjustments to maintain the survivability of our armored formations,β said Gen. James Rainey, who heads the U.S. Army Futures Command,'
4/
4/
"For much of the war, Ukrainian forces equipped with the best Western tanks saw them incapacitated within hours."
"Of the 31 Abrams tanks the U.S. has sent Ukraine, six have been destroyed"
5/
"Of the 31 Abrams tanks the U.S. has sent Ukraine, six have been destroyed"
5/
"Among other Western tanks sent to Ukraine, 12 of the 18 newer model German-made Leopards have been destroyed or damaged"
6/
6/
'βAs soon as you hit the road a drone sees you and then youβre hit with artillery, mines, antitank missiles, drones, guided air bombs,β said the Ukrainian driver of one Abrams'
7/
7/
"Tanks are more vulnerable to drones than other armored vehicles because of their sheer size and their large turrets, the top of which is thinly armored."
8/
8/
'The U.S., meanwhile, is trying to find lighter metals for its tanks as it tries to make them more maneuverable. The Abrams has a 500-gallon fuel tank and needs several gallons just to start up, making it a behemoth in the U.S. arsenal.
βWe have got to get the weight off them,β'
βWe have got to get the weight off them,β'
The WSJ article is below (delayed for reach), and while the article was a belated & sobering admission - they didn't really address the most important parts.
Our tanks are effectively obsolete, because modern warfare isn't working as planned.
10/
wsj.com
Our tanks are effectively obsolete, because modern warfare isn't working as planned.
10/
wsj.com
There are some stopgap measures, but fundamentally, our tanks were built for the wrong war.
They need to just anti-drone cages, but to be lighter - while still having thicker armor on top - and to have anti-drone defenses, likely weapons and EW.
11/
They need to just anti-drone cages, but to be lighter - while still having thicker armor on top - and to have anti-drone defenses, likely weapons and EW.
11/
The bigger problem is that we will need a massive new tank manufacturing program to make the new tanks, after they've been developed - and where are we going to get that from?
The US has been coasting on its tanks, as it has on its naval ships.
12/
The US has been coasting on its tanks, as it has on its naval ships.
12/
We have massive amounts of weapons that are becoming obsolete as the nature of warfare changes (we're likely still just getting started), and because the US offshored the manufacturing, we can't build the new military.
13/
13/
This is a subject I've written numerous related threads on.
A nation can't be a military superpower unless it remains a manufacturing superpower. Otherwise it's "awesome" capabilities become obsolete each time the technology advances, and the new tanks & ships can't be built
14/
A nation can't be a military superpower unless it remains a manufacturing superpower. Otherwise it's "awesome" capabilities become obsolete each time the technology advances, and the new tanks & ships can't be built
14/
Loading suggestions...