In fact, the heavy lessons of the Russian army's armored force also remind us of the fact that if one day the direction of the Taiwan Strait changes, our army's armored forces may have to face the tens of thousands of anti-tank missiles in Taiwan's hands. Then how to deal with it to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Russian army has become the issue we need to consider now. In this regard, only by starting from tactical and technical aspects can we find effective solutions.
According to incomplete statistics, from 1980 to 2021, the United States sold a total of 3,858 pottery series anti-tank missiles to Taiwan, 122 sets of javelin anti-tank missile launch devices and 1,124 anti-tank missiles to Taiwan. In addition, according to the budget submitted by the Taiwan Defense Department in 2021, starting from 2022, Taiwan will also purchase 1,700 Tao-2BRF anti-tank missiles and 400 javelin anti-tank missiles from the United States in batches. In addition to the large number of "Kestaffa" anti-tank rockets that the Taiwan Army has successively served in service in recent years, the number of anti-tank missiles/rockets in Taiwan will be close to 10,000. Moreover, considering Taiwan’s strategic significance and military value to the United States, if the Taiwan Strait changes in the future, the United States is likely to send a large number of anti-armored weapons to the Taiwan army before the People’s Liberation Army “locks the island”. Based on the performance of these weapons, if the war of unification begins, the pressure faced by the PLA armored forces is no less than that of today's Russian troops.
Among these anti-tank missiles, the biggest threat to our armored forces is the FGM-148 "Jaberlin" and the BGM-71 "Tao" anti-tank missile . Among them, the Javelin anti-tank missile and launch device weigh 22.5 kilograms, the length of the missile is 957mm, and it is propelled by two-stage solid thrusters, with a maximum range of 2.5 kilometers. The infrared imaging seeker used in this type of missile uses a gaze focal plane array and a 64×64-membered mercury cadmium tellurium material detector, which has the ability to detect targets in dense smoke and night environments. Moreover, this type of missile is equipped with an automatic guidance system. When launching, you only need to aim the crosshairs on sight at the target, and the target information will be automatically converted to the missile seeker. After the shooter presses the switch to launch the missile, it can quickly transfer or conceal it.
In addition, since the missile adopts thrust vector control method, during the flight attack, the missile also has two modes: top attack and frontal direct attack. Generally speaking, the top armor of modern main battle tanks cannot withstand the attack of the javelin missile two-pole tandem energy-energy-breaking warhead , and in the attack top mode, the missile seeker is easier to observe the infrared radiation of the rear engine of the tank. It is also true that the US military claimed that the average first hit rate of the javelin anti-tank missile system reached an astonishing 94%, which is also an important reason why Russian tanks are frequently "removed" on the Ukrainian battlefield.
and another Tao anti-tank missile can be regarded as the most famous anti-tank missile in the world. With its excellent performance, Dow anti-tank missile can be said to be a great show in the Iraqi battlefield and the Syrian battlefield. It has even recorded records of shooting down Ka 28, m 35, and 8 helicopters. According to relevant information, there are currently three main models of pottery anti-tank missiles in the hands of the Taiwan military, namely pottery 2A, pottery 2B and pottery 2B RF.
Among them, the Tao 2A anti-tank missile is a standard second-generation line of aiming semi-automatic guided anti-tank missile. In actual combat, it can be carried by ground squads or mounted on Hummer , armored vehicles and armed helicopter for use. This type of missile has a maximum range of about 3.7 kilometers and is equipped with a second-class tandem warhead jointly developed by the U.S. Army Weapons Research and Development Center and Hughes. During use, the main energy-concentrating charge with a double-taper funnel-type design located on the first floor of the warhead can detonate the blasting reactive armor on the opponent's tank in advance to better penetrate the tank armor.
However, with the Moscow Institute of Steel Sciences successfully developing the second generation of blasting reaction armor "Contact-5" to be installed on the T72B tank in 1986, the penetration capacity of the Tao 2A anti-tank missile has been greatly reduced. Therefore, Hughes Aircraft Corporation of the United States modified the software of the launch device based on the Tao 2A, so that the Tao 2B missile has the ability to attack the top, which is the new generation of Tao 2B anti-tank missile. In the following years, the United States developed the extended-range model of the Tao 2B areo with a range of more than 4.5 kilometers and the Tao 2B areo RF anti-tank missile with radio command transmission guidance.
It is worth mentioning that due to the long time Taiwan has purchased Dow anti-tank missiles, many of the Taiwan military's inventory of Tao 2A/B anti-tank missiles are currently facing the problem of expiration. In the "Tianma Exercise" held by the Taiwan Army in 2017, 8 of the 40 Tao 2A anti-tank missiles launched by the Taiwan Army in target shooting had technical failures. They either did not explode, or exploded in advance, or exploded after landing in the sea. It is precisely because of this that in 2021, Taiwan has transferred 1,700 Tao 2B areo RF anti-tank missiles to the United States.
In December 2019, the Taiwan Army
"Gendarmerie Command" stated in the annual budget report submitted to the Legislative Yuan that in order to strengthen the anti-armor capabilities of Taiwan's key departments, the Taiwan Army will deploy 400 "Kerfar" anti-tank rockets in important areas of Taipei City. It is reported that this type of anti-tank rocket is a one-time shoulder-fired single-shot anti-armor rocket developed by the "Taiwan Chinese Academy of Sciences". According to " Chinese Academy of Sciences ", the Kestrel attack warhead has the ability to penetrate 400 mm armor. In addition, it can easily penetrate 30 cm thick brick walls or 20 cm thick reinforced concrete walls in actual combat. That's why the Taiwan Army also calls the "Kestaffa" a weapon for street fighting. Although the performance of Kestrel anti-tank rocket launchers cannot be compared with authentic anti-tank missiles such as javelin and pottery, our army should not underestimate the threat of this type of anti-tank rocket in actual combat, with the advantages of being thrown after launch, easy to carry, low cost, and large-scale production.
At present, in order to effectively reduce the damage of anti-tank missiles, the common practice of the Russian army in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is to install steel fences above the main battle tank, the purpose of which is to be able to detonate the warhead of the javelin missile in advance. However, since the Javelin anti-tank missile uses a second-level tandem warhead, even if the "iron fence" detonates the first-level warhead, the other-level warhead of the Javelin missile can also penetrate the top armor of the main battle tank. Therefore, to effectively reduce combat losses, we must start from tactical and technical aspects.
On the one hand, due to limited vision, hidden launch positions of anti-tank weapons such as Javelin and Pottery 2B that can be attacked in the top mode can only be set in open areas. Therefore, in actual combat, a multi-army coordinated combat method can be adopted to deploy an infantry unit equipped with mortar , grenade launcher , and large-caliber sniper rifle in front and on both wings of the tank to strengthen the reconnaissance capabilities of the front and flanks of the tank armored vehicles.
Moreover, with the development of domestic artificial intelligence technology, the People's Liberation Army also serves a large number of cruise missile systems such as CH-901, ZT-5, S570, and Blue Heron 30. The effective combat radius of this type of cruise missile is more than 10 kilometers and the air stagnation time can be within several hours. Under actual combat conditions, infantry units located on the flank or in front of the armored forces can be equipped in large quantities such cruise missile systems to clear hidden anti-tank missile positions on the other side from a long distance.
On the other hand, since the infrared seekers of most anti-tank missiles rely on capturing infrared radiation sources released by the tank engine and exhaust system to lock the target, in addition to installing blasting reactive armor or thickened armor plates above the tank, heating smoke bombs can also be installed above the tank to provide technical interference to incoming anti-tank missiles.
At present, there is another view that our army can also install a large number of retired Type 59 tanks with unmanned control systems and convert them into unmanned tanks. Before our armored troops launch a large-scale attack, they can send some to attract enemy firepower through the improved 59 series unmanned tanks, exposing the opponent's firepower position and consuming the opponent's anti-tank missiles. Moreover, during the charge of the Type 59 tank, our army can also send a large number of reconnaissance drones and attack drones to cooperate with the Type 59 unmanned tank. As soon as the opponent's anti-tank missile position is exposed, the drone will immediately destroy it. In this way, the combat loss rate of our main armored forces will be greatly reduced.
Summary: As the saying goes, all things are mutually rebellious. As long as we find the right method, our army is also able to deal with the threat of nearly 10,000 anti-tank missiles in Taiwan. If one day changes in the Taiwan Strait, as long as our army’s tactical cooperation is appropriate and new technologies are applied in place, it can effectively avoid repeating the mistakes of the Russian armored troops in Ukraine.
