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Modern day Battle Tanks that combine speed, protection, and firepower are still needed to Hold ground , can sprint rapidly across the battlefield, shrugging off hits, engaging enemy forces with cannons and machine guns, and driving deep behind enemy lines.
[ Below : The 'flying tanks,' T-80BVM, are now being equipped as standard with protection against precision-guided weapons]
Yet as powerful as they are, with right hardware & tanks can be stopped; even unarmored ground troops armed with the right weapons can kill the largest and best protected tanks dead.
Tanks are designed to kill enemy tanks - It was reported in Sep 2023 that the US-made M1 Abrams tank is at last in Ukraine, and while it has its limitations, it's more than just another piece of Western weaponry. It's heavy-duty, combat-proven armor that was built with a very specific mission in mind:
killing Russian tanks.
Improvements in antitank weapons and techniques to suppress armour such as "Top Attack Mode" are leading to Armor designs better able to withstand them and vice versa, with pendulum swings marking the temporary advantage of one or the other.
In recent years, the balance rested firmly on the side of well-trained infantry with both advanced guided missiles and unguided rockets.
The greatest of these capabilities are fire-and-forget, guided, top-attack missiles—the premier model being the American-made Javelin.
This weapon allows a single soldier to target and destroy even the most heavily armored main battle tank with an almost guaranteed kill rate, at great range and with minimal risk.
Infantry units will need new TTPs—tactics, techniques, and procedures—to defeat APS-equipped tanks. Development of these TTPs should begin now, and leaders at the small-unit level—commanders of light infantry companies, for example—should take the initiative to do so. Lacking large-caliber kinetic weapons (such as the sabot round delivered from an M1A2 Abrams), it could prove necessary to reduce the effectiveness of the APS before a kill can be guaranteed.
[Above: Recently Russian MOD published a video showing a Russian tank destroying a Ukrainian tank with the fire support of the combat vehicle (BMPT) “Terminator.”]
The critical weaknesses of an APS are an upper limit on its ability to handle volume of fire, its vulnerability to degradation by external forces, and the arc of its detection system and countermeasures—each of which should be considered as new TTPs are explored.
Attack helicopters such as the American AH-64E Apache Guardian and the Russian Ka-52 Alligator are very effective anti-tank weapons, often carrying long-range missiles with shaped charge anti-tank warheads such as the Hellfire missile.
Attack helicopters whizzing at treetop level can swiftly respond to reports of enemy tanks and set up deadly anti-tank ambushes. Attack helicopters, however, are vulnerable to surface to air missile systems: in thirteen months of war, Ukraine and Russia have lost more than sixty attack helicopters, mostly to ground fire. They are also expensive, with the AH-64E costing $33.6 million each.
www.defenceturkey.com
[ Below : The 'flying tanks,' T-80BVM, are now being equipped as standard with protection against precision-guided weapons]
Yet as powerful as they are, with right hardware & tanks can be stopped; even unarmored ground troops armed with the right weapons can kill the largest and best protected tanks dead.
Tanks are designed to kill enemy tanks - It was reported in Sep 2023 that the US-made M1 Abrams tank is at last in Ukraine, and while it has its limitations, it's more than just another piece of Western weaponry. It's heavy-duty, combat-proven armor that was built with a very specific mission in mind:
killing Russian tanks.
Improvements in antitank weapons and techniques to suppress armour such as "Top Attack Mode" are leading to Armor designs better able to withstand them and vice versa, with pendulum swings marking the temporary advantage of one or the other.
In recent years, the balance rested firmly on the side of well-trained infantry with both advanced guided missiles and unguided rockets.
The greatest of these capabilities are fire-and-forget, guided, top-attack missiles—the premier model being the American-made Javelin.
This weapon allows a single soldier to target and destroy even the most heavily armored main battle tank with an almost guaranteed kill rate, at great range and with minimal risk.
Infantry units will need new TTPs—tactics, techniques, and procedures—to defeat APS-equipped tanks. Development of these TTPs should begin now, and leaders at the small-unit level—commanders of light infantry companies, for example—should take the initiative to do so. Lacking large-caliber kinetic weapons (such as the sabot round delivered from an M1A2 Abrams), it could prove necessary to reduce the effectiveness of the APS before a kill can be guaranteed.
[Above: Recently Russian MOD published a video showing a Russian tank destroying a Ukrainian tank with the fire support of the combat vehicle (BMPT) “Terminator.”]
The critical weaknesses of an APS are an upper limit on its ability to handle volume of fire, its vulnerability to degradation by external forces, and the arc of its detection system and countermeasures—each of which should be considered as new TTPs are explored.
Attack helicopters such as the American AH-64E Apache Guardian and the Russian Ka-52 Alligator are very effective anti-tank weapons, often carrying long-range missiles with shaped charge anti-tank warheads such as the Hellfire missile.
Attack helicopters whizzing at treetop level can swiftly respond to reports of enemy tanks and set up deadly anti-tank ambushes. Attack helicopters, however, are vulnerable to surface to air missile systems: in thirteen months of war, Ukraine and Russia have lost more than sixty attack helicopters, mostly to ground fire. They are also expensive, with the AH-64E costing $33.6 million each.
Top 10 Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missiles | MilitaryToday.com
Which is the best anti-tank guided missile in the world? This Top 10 analysis includes the deadliest man-portable missiles from all over ther world.
www.militarytoday.com
T929 ATAK-II Performed Its First Flight Successfully
Türkiye’s first heavy attack helicopter, T929 ATAK-II, which was designed and developed specifically to meet the needs of the Turkish Land and Naval Forces Commands, successfully conducted its first flight test on April 28, 2023, following ground tests. The helicopter was developed under the...
www.defenceturkey.com
PTL02 Tank Destroyer | MilitaryToday.com
The PTL02 tank destroyer is also known as the Type 02. This artillery system is based on the 6x6 IFV chassis.
www.militarytoday.com
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