Content
@
0 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
Mac Budkowski ᵏ
@macbudkowski
2013 Polish light tank concept Would be cool to have more futuristic looking tanks
25 replies
3 recasts
31 reactions
Cameron Armstrong
@cameron
@dwr.eth @macbudkowski The primitives of all modern warfare are Fire + Movement Over the past 20 years, we've basically entered an era where the definition of "Fire" has gotten significantly broader and more dynamic It's no longer constrained to the elements immediately in the battlespace and there's every reason to think this will only accelerate with other new vertical attack vectors (tungsten rods from space anyone?) The big question rn is that no modern military has really figured out the Movement part for today. Tanks in US doctrine ofc aren't a standalone unit - they are part of a "combined arms battalion" with mounted + dismounted infantry as screening + support against most low-ish tech "tank killers". This includes dudes with shotguns shooting drones out of the air (yes this is real). Additionally, the top is usually the least armored part of the tank and as such tanks have always been weak in urban environments. Cheap drones have just extended that weakness into non-urban environments. 1/
5 replies
2 recasts
25 reactions
Cameron Armstrong
@cameron
People aren't going away soon because most warfare isn't "blow everything up" bc we live in a society and you can't clear even a mildly complex objectives with a robot yet, maybe one day tho. I expect new versions of tank-like vehicles to be more uniformly armored, lighter weight aka built more for maneuvering, and be moddable with fight-specific capabilities (anti-troop vs AA vs anti-drone kits) I also expect future doctrine updates to be even more rigorous in its treatment of multi platform coordination (aka all tank battalions get primary and backup drone control channel jammer units etc) https://potomacofficersclub.com/articles/10-anti-drone-weapons-used-by-the-u-s-military/ 2/
1 reply
0 recast
14 reactions
Cameron Armstrong
@cameron
It's also imo much more interesting + impactful to think about this in the context of naval warfare. Land based ware is cool and all, but global power is projected at sea. We already knew that you can fire 10 cheap antiship missiles at 1 very expensive aircraft carrier and be extremely cost effective in your warmaking. Imagine how fast we're racing to the bottom with drone driven sea warfare https://www.twz.com/sea/the-compelling-case-for-arming-u-s-navy-warships-with-drone-swarms We should also keep in mind that the reality of Ukraine fight too is a lot of isolated, untrained units using really shitty tank tactics as they don't have a deep bench of professional soldiers 🤷 https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2019/March/Russian-ncos/ Tanks are nerfed for sure, but all the media we see is also only partially representative of modern near peer army exchanges
5 replies
0 recast
12 reactions
Mac Budkowski ᵏ
@macbudkowski
Thanks for this deep dive, very interesting! Re: Russian tanks in Ukraine, this is the same thing I heard from friends who spoke with Ukrainian soldiers - Russian infantry is not protecting the tanks the way they should, so they're more vulnerable to drones and RPGs
1 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
Cameron Armstrong
@cameron
Yea any time you see a tank or bmp cautiously rolling in partially wooded terrain without an infantry squad in the vicinity, they're super fucked up if it's open-ish terrain and there's no wingman within 500 m ish they're also super fucked up
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
