Drones have really reduced the effectiveness of armor on the battlefield.
Ukraine pulls US-provided Abrams tanks from the front lines over Russian drone threats
Five of the 31 tanks have already been lost to Russian attacks.
The proliferation of drones on the Ukrainian battlefield means “there isn’t open ground that you can just drive across without fear of detection,” a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.
Control of the skies remains essential for military success. Drones are the latest wrinkle. Especially numerous inexpensive ones.
Anti-drone defenses must be a priority many places. Jamming their controls. Can they be blinded with lasers? Can radar detect them?
Fifty years ago, man-portable anti-tank rockets were declared to be the end of tanks. I remember an article talking about the Egyptian advance into Sinai in 73, and the toll taken on Israeli armor. I remember the journalist writing about touring a battlefield, and finding the wires from the Russian supplied rockets the Egyptians were using laying all over the ground.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Israelis developed a countermeasure for AT rockets. The US was looking at buying it, due to the toll being taken on US vehicles in Iraq. Raytheon promised it could deliver a system of it’s own, and spread around enough “protected free speech” to make sure the Israeli system was not bought. Raytheon has yet to deliver anything, while the Israeli system has been combat proven and saved Israeli lives.
Steve
Wasn’t it the Yom Kippur War where Israelis first used drones to light up enemy radar so they could be attacked and taken out.
Everyone has had lots of time to develop both new attack strategies and defenses. Smaller electronics make much more possible.
Yes, politics and industry profits are part of the equation. But it has always been so. Certainly Lincoln thought so during the Civil War.
Had not heard that one. In Nam, the USAF had specialized units that sought out SAM sites.
Sounds like more a problem of the tanks operating outside of their design parameters.
My understanding is that current US tanks are presumed to be operating in areas where we already have air superiority. Ukraine doesn’t have that, so the US tanks they are using are at risk of air attacks. Attacks they were not designed to withstand.
Yep the tanks were pulled for later use. JMO
Tanks are also designed to be mobile. An article I read about the losses said the Ukrainians were using them as artillery, parked for extended periods. That made it easy for the Russians to figure out where they were, and target them with drones.
Tank armor is also thin on top, because the presumption was they would be taking fire from ground level. During the war, the Soviets developed the IL-2, with cannon armament, to exploit this weakness. For the last few decades, the USAF has had the A-10, for the same purpose. The drones are simply following in the steps of these older aircraft.
Steve