Perun | End of the Tank? - ATGMs and shoulder fired anti-tank weapons in Ukraine @PerunAU | Uploaded March 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the popular narrative was that the Russian armoured and mechanised forces would cut a swathe through Ukraine in a matter of days.
A few weeks into the war, that narrative has flipped 180 degrees, with memes about Russian tanks exploding, and the Javelin missile system as the saviour of Ukraine. So extreme has been the swing, that questions are again (aren't they always) being asked about whether tanks can survive on the modern battlefield.
I'm going to disappoint today by not advocating that all tanks go to the scrapyard. Instead, I'm going to give a brief history of the evolution of ATGMs, examine the evidence from Ukraine, and conclude that while missiles and shoulder fired rocket seem to provide tremendous opportunities, especially for smaller nations, the tank's role isn't done.
There are paths for future evolution for the tank, they're just likely to be expensive and require extensive investment.
For legacy systems and armies that can't manage the combined arms tactics needed to protect them however...yeah time is probably coming up.
Before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the popular narrative was that the Russian armoured and mechanised forces would cut a swathe through Ukraine in a matter of days.
A few weeks into the war, that narrative has flipped 180 degrees, with memes about Russian tanks exploding, and the Javelin missile system as the saviour of Ukraine. So extreme has been the swing, that questions are again (aren't they always) being asked about whether tanks can survive on the modern battlefield.
I'm going to disappoint today by not advocating that all tanks go to the scrapyard. Instead, I'm going to give a brief history of the evolution of ATGMs, examine the evidence from Ukraine, and conclude that while missiles and shoulder fired rocket seem to provide tremendous opportunities, especially for smaller nations, the tank's role isn't done.
There are paths for future evolution for the tank, they're just likely to be expensive and require extensive investment.
For legacy systems and armies that can't manage the combined arms tactics needed to protect them however...yeah time is probably coming up.
