Posted on Apr 21, 2015
Is heavy armor outdated on the modern battlefield?
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I am a former Tank Commander. The last of the heavy armor was moved from Europe about 2 years ago, now it is being moved back due to Russia's aggressive moves. Army command continues to tell Congress it does not want to continue production of heavy armor, but Congress continues to budget for it, most likely due to the economic impact on the cities where they are produced and upgraded. Does heavy armor have a place on the modern battlefield?
Armor Crewman
Officer
Enlisted
19A: Armor Officer
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 41
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As a former tank commander myself I can say that there will always be a place on the battlefield for armor. There is nothing badder and more of a force multiplier than am M1A2 rolling over a hill. Well unless it is an A-10 Warthog coming down out of the clouds for a strafing run.
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If our adversaries, near-peer or otherwise still have their tanks (and they do) then no, armor isn't outdated.
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Absolutely. Force on force is always going to be a requirement. Just because we haven't faced a peer conventional opponent doesn't mean we won't in the future. When that happens, we are going to have to re-learn a bunch of stuff that I, and many other Armor guys, have forgotten since 9/11.
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SSG Williams, thank you for your service. I'd rather call it reserved for future conflicts, the US Army Armor force has the latest technology in its vehicles to search, find, engage and destroy any adversary armor force, especially in a desert environment. As recent as OIF operations, however, employing them against Russia require a different strategy combined with other combat multipliers. But it's not outdated as other NATO countries that still operate M-60 series tanks, M-113s APC, Cobra helicopters, etc. Those are considered outdated however fitted with upgrades and updated technology. Good question though.
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It's not like they are still building them all you ever see now is old tanks with new gear and upgrades a few more batteries to power up the extra electronics and they slap a new name on like sepV2 which we are waiting till they come out with the sepV3 it should have a lot less problems
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SGT Mark Churning
Our technology may be better to shoot multiple targets at a faster pace but if the bad guys have 5 tanks and we can only kill 4 before they kill us then we don't have enough tanks.
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SGT Mark Churning
Door kickers (Infantry) and their immediate on site protection will always be needed.
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Tanks have played a role in every conflict since WWI. We, the US Army have always, until the cold War, have had inferior Tanks and until the M1 Series Tanks were outgunned. There are currently upgrades that when applied to the M1A2's will make them even more lethal. That is a good thing.
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