Using tanks in modern warfare situations. Aren’t they sitting ducks if the opposition is equipped with anti-tank weapons? What are tanks good for in modern combat?
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it is not as easy to hit a tank as it sounds and most of the reports of “tanks” being destroyed are not what people usually think of as a tank. most of them are armored vehicles of lesser types and sorts and even these are terrible weapons on the battlefield. even if your platoon has weapons capable of defeating one, it doesn’t mean you do, and so there is *very* little most soldiers can do against one.
unguided rockets are cheaper than missiles and can get the job done on most vehicles but are difficult to hit with. a heavy armored personnel carrier or a main battle tank might need multiple hits from one of these type weapons depending on how advanced a version. these weapons have no guidance other than manual aiming so the closer a team can get the better, but that makes them vulnerable to return fire, so ambushes are popular.
guided missiles are much more expensive than rpg but also much more capable because the guidance makes them more likely to hit and the greater range makes it more likely the fire team will survive. older versions have manual guidance, which means sometimes the crew gets killed before the missile reaches its target, but newer versions are fire and forget.
it is too early to say for certain, but the russian failures so far look like they have a number of factors. ukraine is putting up much stiffer resistance than expected by russia. low morale among russian soldiers who don’t want to fight ukraine and were told until very recently that they were just on exercises. very poor coordination among russian combat units and an inability to supply the combat units with fuel. none of those things are any commentary on the effectiveness of armor on the modern battlefield.
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