From the end of February to now, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has exceeded 100 days. For more than 100 days, its popularity has been making headlines around the world. In these more than 100 days, the fight for the Azov Steel Plant has become the headline among the headlines.
According to relevant reports from Global Network , this steel plant with multi-layered underground buildings and hundreds of secret passages is not only a stronghold of resistance, but also has "big fish" hidden inside. Before
"Big Fish" officially appeared, there were different opinions on its identity, and there was even speculation that biological laboratory was built inside.
However, according to the announcement issued by Russia on June 1, the true identity of the "big fish" has been confirmed to be American four-star general Eric Olson, the former commander of the U.S. Special Forces; in addition In addition, there are British Lieutenant Colonel John Bailey and 4 NATO instructors; as well as a large number of mercenaries.
For these big fish, the defenders of the steel plant put up a desperate resistance. Although it is not reported how tenacious the defenders' resistance was, if Russia can use the "carousel" tactics, the scene must be very tragic. So what exactly is Russia's original "carousel" tank tactic?
1. Sudden "Carousel"
During the "Eastern 2018" strategic military exercise held between my country and Russia, Russia suddenly displayed the "Carousel" tactic. Every three tanks were in a group, forming a circle, some moving forward, some retreating, and shooting continuously at the target, which looked very strange.
In 2018, our country witnessed Russia's original "carousel" tank tactic for the first time.
In that military exercise, the People's Liberation Army demonstrated its combined capabilities of various arms, collaborative assault capabilities, and a variety of new tactical armored vehicles. The Russian army has nothing but envy. In order not to be compared, Russia took the initiative to show its special skills.
"Carousel" is a ground version developed by the Russian army based on the huge losses incurred in the Chechen War and using the tank killing tactics that the Air Force had become proficient in before. Some authors of
prefix it with "Caucasus", which sounds grand and classy. In fact, the "Caucasus Carousel" tactic has a historical origin, which we will talk about later.
In addition to joint military exercises with China, the Russian army also demonstrated this tactic in the "Alliance Resolve 2022" with Belarus .
At that time, the armored force of the Russian Eastern Military District also used three tanks to continuously move around in a circle. When one tank fires at the target, the other two tanks are loading and preparing to fire at other locations. It is similar to the "three-stage strike" strategy used in ancient firearms warfare.
However, Russia compares it to a revolver , which fires shells like bullets. According to the Russian explanation, the purpose of the "Carousel" is to greatly increase the speed of firepower output to the target, implement uninterrupted firepower strikes, and theoretically enable continuous firepower suppression of the target.
High-density firepower in a short period of time can not only effectively reduce the losses of tanks in front of enemy anti-tank firepower, but also force the opponent to fight back, thus exposing its camouflaged position.
Generally speaking, 3 well-trained tanks can fire 24 shots in 1 minute, with an average of 1 shot in 2.5 seconds. With such intensity of firepower, no target can withstand the bombardment.
If it is broken down to each vehicle, it is also 1 shot in 7.5 seconds. Based on the average aiming time of the Russian tank sighting system, it can be said that there is no aiming at all.
may seem like crude tactics, but it actually requires a lot of hard training to achieve. Tank crews must have a tacit understanding of cooperation and skillful operation, and the commander's ability requirements are also very high.
For example, the driver must be able to frequently accelerate, decelerate and stop the tank. They also have to conduct high-speed operations in narrow streets, ruins and buildings to find opportunities to fire;
gunners must complete shooting in a short time;
commanders must grasp the environment near the battlefield and coordinate the actions of multiple tanks.
The most important point is that only tanks with automatic loaders can handle this tactic. Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve high-intensive firepower output by manually transporting artillery shells.
- The prototype of the "Carousel"
As mentioned in the previous article, the Russian "Carousel" tactic is the Air Force's tank annihilation method. This method can be traced back to during World War II and . The first person to pioneer this tactic was the Soviet attack aircraft "Black Reaper" Il-2.
IL2 is to the "Carousel" what the Stuka bomber is to the "Death Scream". They are both tactics evolved by fighter aircraft based on their own strengths.
Many people may have seen photos of this Soviet aircraft during World War II. Because when a well-known domestic technology company encouraged itself, it used a photo of a scarred IL-2 as a poster with a red caption: Without scars, there would be no rough skin and thick flesh. Heroes have suffered many hardships since ancient times. .
Why can IL2 still fight tenaciously in the sky even if it is scarred? This is inseparable from its rough skin and thick flesh.
IL2 was designed by Sergei's team, which is the Ilyushin Design Bureau, and its representative work is the IL76 transport aircraft . As can be seen from their origins, they are good at designing heavy aircraft.
In 1938, Sergey's team proposed the concept of "armor to the sky", that is, large armor plates were installed at key locations on attack aircraft to improve their survivability.
Here, I have to say something off-topic. At the same time, Germany also had a number of outstanding attack aircraft. Its later designed EF126 was the prototype of the American A10 "Warthog". Why have countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States not thought of equipping attack aircraft with armor?
This is because the main business of attack aircraft is ground support and they are low-altitude aircraft. At low altitudes, they are vulnerable to ground anti-aircraft fire, and even squad machine guns can pose a threat. Therefore, the flexibility of the attack aircraft is very important.
armor severely limits the aircraft's flexibility, but increases its survivability. This is the main reason why Sergey's team went against tradition. But this concept is based on a strong industrial base.
During World War II, nearly 10,000 IL-2s were shot down. This data would have collapsed long ago in Germany, but the Soviet Union was fine because 36,000 IL-2s were produced during World War II.
Therefore, "scarred" is true, and "rough-skinned and thick-skinned" is relative. Especially the machine gunner in the back seat will die after performing an average of 7 combat missions. The damage was higher than the aircraft itself.
In order to make this armored aircraft stand out, the IL-2 is equipped with a powerful engine. The test aircraft reached a speed of 422 kilometers per hour on its first flight, leaving a deep impression on the Soviet military.
was later modified several times, and IL 2 was successfully put into service. This aircraft is characterized by high speed and heavy armor, which will inevitably lead to the problem of low ammunition carried by the aircraft and reduced range. If this design of
is applied to other people, it may be an aircraft with no performance advantages. But IL2 "exploited shortcomings and avoided strengths" and turned its shortcomings into advantages.
The pilot does not need to consider the time in the air and the amount of ammunition he carries. When encountering an enemy with a strong firepower output, the ammunition is used up and then returned to the base to replenish.
Due to limited ammunition, pilots pay special attention to the killing effect. They found that the machine gun and machine gun they carried could only kill ground personnel and soft targets, and had little effect on German heavy armored forces.
Ever since, IL-2 has been equipped with aviation anti-tank bombs. This submunition type anti-armor bomb can cover an area of 150х210 meters in one explosion, which is nearly 30,000 square meters. It was a nightmare for German tankers.
What complements the attack capabilities is the strong survivability of IL2.
Since key parts such as wings and fuel tanks are wrapped in armor, the Il-2 can withstand direct hits from small-caliber bullets, artillery fragments, and shrapnel . Even if it was chased by German aircraft for a long time, the aircraft could escape intact, thus earning the nickname " flying tank ".
In order to be able to annihilate armored clusters, IL-2 invented the formation attack tactic, which was the prototype of the "carousel". But there was a more domineering name at the time, called "Wheel of Death."
Four Il-2s in a formation were patrolling at an altitude of 800 meters. Once a German ground target was discovered, the aircraft would disband in an organized manner, and then circle the ground targets, taking turns to dive and pour firepower.
The aircraft will produce a sharp whistling sound during the dive, which is very similar to the German Stuka bomber. Its screams made the German troops on the ground fearful and frightened.
The Il-2's own firepower is very powerful. Basically, after the four aircraft have completed their rotation, there will be no moving targets on the ground.
This almost unsolvable dimensionality reduction attack severely destroyed the confidence of the frontline German troops. The Il-2 was also called the "Black Death" by German frontline officers and soldiers.
After World War II, the IL-2 was retired. However, the "wheel of death" tactic he invented to siege ground armor was inherited and improved.
- Highlights of "Carousel"
From another perspective, it is armed helicopter that can bring the essence of "carousel" to the extreme. This also triggered a revolution among the military services.
Take the Soviet Union as an example. Since helicopters are aircraft, their service organization was initially managed by the Air Force. During the Afghan War , the traditional war situation failed, and Afghan guerrillas caused the Soviet regular army to suffer a lot. Even artillery cannot be effective as the traditional "god of war".
Faced with flexible guerrillas, the Army can only apply for armed helicopter support from the Air Force. Due to the complicated communication process across the military services, often when the helicopter is ordered to take off from the base, the guerrillas have gone home for dinner.
After experiencing countless bloody lessons, the Soviet Union decentralized the use of helicopters to the army's regiment and battalion levels, and dispatched an air force personnel as a liaison officer to coordinate helicopter operations.
After continuous running-in, the helicopter force managed by the Air Force gradually transitioned to the Army. Since then, the helicopter force has become an extremely important part of the army, and the reform of this service has greatly improved the army's rapid response capabilities.
The arms revolution relies on the role of helicopters, especially armed helicopters. At that time, the -meter 24 armed helicopter under the jurisdiction of the Soviet army perfectly implemented the tactics of air support on the ground.
m24 is also known as the "Hind". Since 1973, it has been the main equipment of the Soviet army's ground fire support for a long time. In addition to the Soviet Union, more than 30 countries are equipped with this aircraft.
It can be said that the active figure of Mi-24 can be seen in all military conflicts around the world in the past 40 years. Even during the Iran-Iraq War, the "Hind" shot down an Iranian F4 fighter jet in the air, setting a record for a helicopter shooting down a fighter jet in the air.
Mi 24 has powerful firepower. It has 6 external hardpoints and has multiple options for ground support.
For example, under full load, it can carry 10 100kg bombs. Although it cannot bombard targets accurately, it can carry out regional fire coverage;
can be replaced with four 250kg bombs or two 500kg bombs if it is a large target. Bomb;
But for the guerrillas in Afghanistan, the UB series rocket launcher is the right way. 192 rockets , combined with a machine gun installed in the front, when hovering and diving from an altitude of 1 km, a woven fire net is an obstacle that the guerrillas cannot avoid. After
, the "Hind" can take advantage of the helicopter's flight characteristics to quickly pull up the aircraft at the end of the attack route and exit the battle through sharp turns. Then fly back to an altitude of 1,000 meters and repeat the previous action again.
This kind of repeated "cultivation" has become a nightmare for the Afghan guerrillas.
The reason why the Soviet army chose a height of 1,000 meters for modification was because it bullied Afghanistan's poor air defense capabilities at the time. Helicopters can hover or hover at will, and even directly drop troops nearby to attack targets that are difficult for helicopters to destroy.
What the Soviet army did not expect was that starting in 1980, the Afghan guerrillas, who looked like bumpkins, could actually afford advanced individual air defense weapons produced in the United States.
Hovering or hovering helicopters have almost become living targets under the threat of individual air defense missiles. "Hinds" who go out alone are often assassinated in the sky.
The Afghan guerrillas will seize the moment and take advantage of the moment when the helicopter attack stops and is about to make a sharp turn, and quickly launch missiles towards its vulnerable tail.
This trick works every time, and the "fee" is powerless to resist. Even if the Soviets later installed a machine gun on the tail of the Mi-24, the effect was not very optimistic.
The Soviet army was later forced to change its tactics and required two Mi-24s to form a two-plane formation to perform the mission. The advantage of the two-plane formation is that after one helicopter is shot down, the other can cover and perform rescue operations.
As the difficulty of the mission escalates, the two-plane formation gradually turns into a 4-plane or even 8-plane formation. Multiple helicopters continued to explore tactics during the attack, and later discovered that the "death wheel" tactics of the Il-2 during World War II were the most effective.
Multiple Mi-24s maneuvered in concentric circles around a ground target to ensure continuous fire coverage without interruption. This tactic generally only requires 3 helicopters, with a maximum of 4 helicopters. Can
have 8 tasks at the same time? Is it possible to make two?
Of course the Soviet pilots would not be so stupid. In the end, they successfully upgraded the "Death Wheel" created by Il-2 to the "Death Sunflower" by constantly summarizing the battlefield situation.
So how did the "runner" become the "sunflower"?
The helicopter group first hovered over the target, constantly suppressing the opponent with firepower. After all members have determined the specific target location, the helicopters form a ladder formation, aim their noses at the target, and carry out fire strikes.
After the first round of strikes, all helicopters spread out in all directions like petals of "sunflowers". During its flight, it often performs S-shaped maneuvers, coupled with climbing or deceleration.
Such operations can effectively prevent being killed by anti-aircraft missiles. Because the aiming time of individual air defense weapons at that time was relatively long, the irregular maneuvers of the aircraft would increase the difficulty of aiming, thus increasing the chance of survival.
"Death Sunflower" is a specific tactics used in a specific period of time. The Afghan guerrillas used the first version of the "Stinger" anti-aircraft missile. Nowadays, the individual air defense systems equipped by major military powers are more advanced and can still successfully hit the target even when 8 interference bombs are deceived by .
In other words, under the defense of the modern air defense system , the "Sunflower of Death" tactics are almost useless, and the "Sunflower" has really become the death version.
However, the combat effectiveness of the Afghan guerrillas at that time was not overwhelming. They were so elusive that they could appear in unexpected places or set up ambushes at the same place twice a day.
If a 4-plane or 8-plane formation is adopted, dealing with flexible guerrillas is equivalent to anti-aircraft guns fighting mosquitoes, which only increases the logistical pressure. After constantly summarizing actual combat experience, the Soviets finally found that an attack group composed of three "Hinds" could basically handle about 75% of battlefield tasks.
Especially after the Mi-24 carries a mixture of bombs and uncontrolled rocket launch nests, the pilot can launch a rocket salvo at a distance of about 10,000 meters from the target, then sweep it with the machine gun he carries, and finally drop a heavy bomb. Basically there is no one who can get up on the opposite side.
4. The ground version of "Carousel"
Compared with the brilliant achievements of "Death Wheel" and "Death Sunflower", the ground version of "Carousel" was forced to invent because of self-protection.
Military fans are no stranger to the Chechen War. The war between Russia and Chechnya was divided into two times. In fact, the difference was the first defeat and the second victory. The "carousel" tactic is inseparable from a sad word, that is - Grozny .
Grozny is the capital of the Chechen Republic . Occupying it means that the Russian army has won the war.In order to quickly quell the rebellion, Russia also spent a lot of money and did not hesitate to invest a large number of troops in the spirit of "killing mosquitoes with anti-aircraft artillery".
After quickly gaining control of the air, the Russian army immediately launched an army of 40,000 troops. Before, they threatened to defeat Chechnya with two paratrooper regiments, but now the 40,000-strong army has shown enough importance. Of course, the later increase in troops to 80,000 was a remedy for the failure in the first battle.
Along with the 40,000 troops, there were more than 2,000 armored vehicles and tanks. The march alone covered more than 200 kilometers. But no one would have thought that this astonishing number would later become a joke.
The Chechen rebels, who did not have matching combat capabilities, pulled the battlefield into the city. In urban warfare , the huge body of the tank cannot be deployed, coupled with the poor coordination within the Russian army at that time, the lack of night vision equipment to carry out night battles, and military communication and other problems that have not been perfectly solved until now, all have become The straw that broke the camel's back.
In short, due to a mixture of wrong factors, Russia suffered a disastrous defeat in the first Chechen War. The biggest failure was the 131st Brigade, which was the fastest to attack Grozny. Under the guerrilla warfare style attack, this unit was almost wiped out.
Compared with the 131st Brigade, the situation of other troops is not optimistic. The 74th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade also suffered heavy casualties and lost all its armor when supporting the 876th Parachute Brigade in capturing the Chechen Parliament Building.
At this time, a captain named Nemtsov in the 74th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade received an order to block the Chechen reinforcements coming from the direction of the "Caucasus" Hotel and the Presidential Palace Building so that they could not cross the Sunza River and block the mission. Up to two days.
At that time, the company commander only had 4 T72B tanks in his hands. How could he block the Chechens who had rocket launchers within two days?
Captain Nemtsov, out of a hurry, imitated the model of the Il-2 "Death Wheel" and deployed the tanks at multiple angles around the "Caucasus" hotel. When an enemy attacks, the four tanks always maintain rapid lateral movement and then fire at the target in sequence.
Due to the continuous fire suppression and high-speed maneuverability, the hit rate of the opponent's anti-tank firearms has been greatly reduced.
During the two days of fire blockade, only Nemtsov's mount among the four T72B tanks was hit once by RPG7, and there were no casualties.
This ground-based version of the "Wheel of Death" is famous for its operation similar to a carousel. It was also dubbed the "Caucasus Carousel" because it first appeared near the "Caucasus" Hotel.
However, it is a pity that in this year's Russia-Ukraine conflict, the 74th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade suffered heavy losses, and the two battalions were almost wiped out. This battle was widely publicized around the world by the United States as a model for Ukraine to annihilate its enemies. I don’t know if there was Captain Nemtsov in these two battalions. After
, this strategy was imitated by everyone. Subsequently, in the battle for the "February" station in Grozny, the Russian army used five tanks to implement a "carousel" tactics.
due to the increasingly mature application technology and the large number of tanks. The Russian army found inspiration from the "Death Sunflower" upgraded by the Mi-24 that year. It constantly changed its route around the target point during the attack, and it was no longer a simple horizontal maneuver.
In just 15 minutes, five tanks destroyed two strong firepower points and wiped out nearly a hundred enemies. Five tanks cooperated with each other and surrounded the station, classifying nearby residential areas and streets as maneuverable areas.
The tank circled in the maneuvering area, fired at the target and then quickly left to avoid enemy anti-tank fire. Fight and move like this, constantly using the terrain to cover yourself. According to post-war calculations, Chechnya fired a total of 16 anti-tank missiles and more than 30 rockets at these five tanks, all of which missed and none hit.
5 tanks escaped from the battle unscathed.
The main core of the "carousel" tactic is for 3 to 6 tanks to cooperate in action and spread out around the target point. Instead of using a frontal force attack as a means, they carry out rotating and mobile attacks.
Multiple tanks fired in cycles between frequent maneuvers, causing the enemy to lose sight of one thing.High-speed maneuvers can seriously interfere with the targeting of enemy anti-tank weapons and increase the psychological pressure on the enemy.
There is another objective factor that cannot be ignored, that is, this can only be achieved by tanks that can automatically load ammunition. At present, except for a small number of T62 tanks , all the main tanks of the Russian army have automatic loaders.
Although the paper performance data of Russian loaders are weaker than those of NATO opponents, in actual operations, the combat effectiveness of the Russian armored forces is still among the best.
5. Other Russian tank tactics
"Carousel" represents an anti-tank era. The firepower used by Chechnya at that time was basically RPG7. Even if a tank like T72 is equipped with reactive armor , it is not a problem to challenge RPG7 head-on. If it encounters concentrated fire, there is no way. The problem is the well-trained Chechen rebels, who often attack the T72 with multiple RPG7 sets of fire.
In other battlefields around the world, advanced anti-tank weapons can be seen everywhere. Firepower represented by the "Tao" style is cheap, plentiful, and easy to use. Just use sight to aim at the target, and the missile will fly by itself.
Moreover, the missiles have developed to specialize in the most vulnerable top of the tank, making the originally indestructible tank a living target. Nowadays, many tanks even need to be equipped with reactive armor on their roofs.
In this extremely harsh living environment, the Russian army used the "carousel" as the basis to develop more unique tank stunts, such as the "revolver" mentioned below.
"Revolver" is equivalent to the city wall version of "Carousel". That is, an encounter occurs on a wide plain without the cover of urban buildings. How can a tank protect itself in the context of contemporary anti-tank firepower that is highly intelligent?
The Russian army chose to build a thick earth wall to block the tanks from behind. The height of the parapet should be higher than that of the tank, and some lower openings will be cut into the parapet to facilitate tanks to shoot.
The tank formation (at least 3 vehicles) goes to the gap and fires in turn. After the fight, it runs to the hiding place and replaces the next tank to fire. This creates an extremely dense firepower. Of course, the more tanks involved, the more intense the firepower.
Based on 3 tanks, a total of 8 to 10 rounds can be fired per minute. This is a 125mm caliber artillery, and continuous firing can suppress any target point.
Some people will say that if you use anti-tank weapons to aim at the gap, as long as the tank shows up, it will kill it.
But the problem is that the appearance time of tanks is uncertain, and after hitting and running, you don't have time to aim at all, and the firepower density is still high. Moreover, only the barrel and part of the gun shield are exposed at the gap.
If we fight back, it means having to withstand a bombardment of 10 shells per minute. It’s good to be alive.
Facts have also proved that during the confrontation, anti-tank missiles often hit the earth wall or flew directly from the top of the earth wall.
Even if a hit is made, the remaining tanks can open new gaps and continue shooting.
If you think of the gap as the muzzle of the gun, and the tank as the bullet. It shoots like a revolver. Therefore, this method of warfare is called "revolver". It can be seen how much Russians who love "roulette gambling" love revolvers.
Based on the "Revolver", Russia has developed a more standardized "Syrian Breast" strategy.
The "Syrian Breast Wall" is famous for being the first to be used by the Russian army in Syria . In fact, this strategy is the "revolver" mentioned earlier. However, the fundamental difference between the "Syrian breastworks" and the former is that the latter can also defend against beach landings.
"Syrian Breast" has demonstrated its role in the "Caucasus 2020" exercise, simulating attacks on landing craft and amphibious armored vehicles seizing the beach. The T72B3 tanks used are more mobile, the earth walls are built stronger, and there are more gaps in the earth walls.
Originally, the parapet was a circle of sandbags around the outside of the trench. When soldiers were shooting, they could cover the chest below, thus strengthening the protection. It is more demanding than ordinary earth walls.
Syria has a short coastline. Due to its limited offshore defense capabilities, tanks can only be used as the main firepower for anti-beach landings.
Moreover, the "Syrian breastworks" requires higher coordination capabilities, because multiple tanks may fire at the same time. If the coordination is not in place, one will accidentally hit the target, and the other will have the problem of "aiming at A and hitting B".
After years of civil war, the Syrian government forces have also created some advanced tactics, which inspired Russia, a master of traditional armored tactics.
For example, the "swing" tactic was first invented by the Syrian army. Many readers and friends should have played " World of Tanks ". If you are an old player of this game, you must be very familiar with "retracting".
"Telescopic" is a necessary skill for players. When one cannot kill with one shot, using rugged terrain and solid buildings to advance and retreat repeatedly is the basic skill to annihilate the enemy and protect oneself.
Through actual combat, the Syrian army has explored the ability for tanks to use bunkers to telescope. At the same time, in order to deceive the enemy, the tank will choose to suddenly appear in another place after retreating.
This operation not only increases the survivability of tanks, but also creates an illusion for the opponent that there are many tanks.
After Russia intervened in the Syrian war, it was inspired by the Syrian army's tactics and standardized them, that is, first building tank bunkers on the position.
The tank rushes out of the bunker to shoot, and then quickly returns to the bunker to reload. This reduces the exposure time and avoids being attacked by the enemy. Because this kind of back and forth, up and down, BABA's repeated operations are like swinging. Hence the name "Swing" strategy.
The above is about the tactical operation of a single tank. What if there are multiple tanks? What I want to talk about next is the variant and upgraded version of the "swing", the "trousers".
"Pants" requires more than two bunkers, and trenches are used to communicate between the bunkers. After the tank opened fire from one bunker, it quickly moved through the trench to another bunker and continued to fire. This multi-location firepower does not give the enemy time to react.
Imagine that a tank enters from the waist (trench), first goes to the left trouser leg (left bunker) to fire, then reverses back to the waist, and then goes to the right trouser leg (right bunker) to fire. The entire movement process is similar to a "Y" shape and looks like a pair of pants, hence the name "trousers".
If multiple tanks are involved, the left and right bunkers can be retracted and retracted at the same time, which increases the intensity of the firepower and leaves the opponent helpless.
- expanded topic: Are main battle tanks really useless?
The tactics introduced above are all Russia’s special skills in armored tactics. In the final analysis, this is the sublimation of the Russian military's "Steel Torrent" tactics during the Cold War.
The war between Russia and Ukraine not only represents the strategic contest between Russia and NATO, but is also the best place to justify the traditional armored road.
During the Cold War , the Soviet Union’s steel torrent represented crushing and deterrence. Western European countries are not at the same level as the giant bears in the north, and the former do not hesitate to resort to artillery-launched nuclear bombs to compete.
At that time, the Soviet armored forces and the United States' aircraft carrier fleet represented the military strength and political will of the two superpowers. Basically, whenever their tanks or aircraft carriers move, it will affect the nerves of the whole world.
But who would have thought that the once unparalleled torrent of steel would become synonymous with "backwardness" and become a joke in modern military affairs. A Gulf War allowed the United States to interpret the importance of air superiority to the extreme.
The self-proclaimed "fourth largest" military power in the world, Iraq, was sent into the Stone Age by the United States overnight. Unconventional tactics, dazzling tactics, frequently dispatched fighter planes, and "sitting on the sidelines" ground troops made the huge tank cluster a joke. At that time, someone was asking: Are main battle tanks lagging behind?
was the first to initiate discussion in the United States.When they were studying how to rely on air superiority to restrain tank clusters, they were discussing: Is it still necessary to develop main battle tanks?
Just when the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Armed Services Committees set the tone to cut back on main battle tank research and development projects, an open letter from an Army captain broke all this.
The captain said in the letter: You guys in Congress only care about military spending. You only care about whether tanks cost taxpayers a lot of money. But we completely ignore the thoughts of frontline soldiers;
As a veteran who has been on the battlefield, we believe that tanks will never go out of style. Especially when being pinned down by enemy machine guns on the streets, our first thought is when the damn tanks are coming!
This US military captain revealed the true role of main battle tanks in the eyes of soldiers. The tank's powerful body and powerful firepower are not only a deterrent to the enemy, but also provide peace of mind and security to one's own people.
Even if the tank is destroyed, its thick body can become a bunker or a marching hub for soldiers. Being able to cooperate well with soldiers is the real mission of the tank.
Afterwards, the subsequent upgrade plan of the M1 "Abrams" tank will become extremely smooth.
It was during that time that Russia, which had just been established, tried its best to launch its own new armored work-T90.
If we say Armata T14, as the world's first fourth-generation main battle tank , it best represents Russia's current advanced technology. Then the T90 series is the strongest armor of the previous generation Russian army.
Due to the low reliability of the T80U's power system, Russia transplanted the advanced technology of the T80U to the first-generation sacred car "T72BM", and the new product is the T90.
In 2011, based on the T90 and borrowing some technologies from the Armata T14, the T90M, the latest technology tank representing Russia's manned turret, was born.
Such a tank, which has been highly anticipated by the public, performed very poorly on the Ukrainian battlefield. After all, the reason is because the T90M placed a bunch of shells on the back of the turret.
Compared with the T90, the T90M's turret has undergone major changes. The extra space was used to place the artillery shells inside the car body in the turret tail compartment. The purpose of this design is to prevent the entire vehicle's ammunition from "detonating" after the vehicle body is penetrated.
In actual combat, Ukrainian soldiers often do not attack the T90M head-on. Instead, they use anti-tank equipment to attack from behind while it is away from the rear tanks.
In this way, the T90M, which was originally designed to prevent the front from being "exploded" by ammunition, was successfully "exploded" by the enemy's ammunition from behind.
T90M designers are not unaware that the tank will be attacked from behind. The "fossil" explosive reactive armor, the steel wire mesh around the turret, and the grille armor around the rear engine compartment all enhance the protection capabilities. .
No matter how thorough the protection is, it cannot withstand the continuous attacks of anti-tank firepower.
What’s more, Russia mistakenly appropriated Syria’s battlefield experience to Ukraine. After actual combat testing in Syria, the active infrared jamming system carried by the T90M itself is powerless against fourth-generation anti-tank missiles such as the US-made "Hellfire". Therefore, T90M canceled this device.
But in Ukraine, the Ukrainian army is mainly equipped with "Javelin" and "TOW" anti-tank missiles . The active infrared jamming system equipped by the T90M also has the power of to fight , but it is a pity that the tank is not installed.
In fact, what happened to the T90M in Ukraine is a very representative problem that the mainstream tank industry needs to face today. The equivalent of how to solve the problem of Achilles and his own heel.
As the god of war, Achilles was held by his mother by his heels and soaked in the water of the Styx since he was a child, so he was invulnerable. Only at that time, his mother ignored that she was still holding the child's heel in her hand, and this became Achilles' only weakness.
Main battle tanks also face this problem. While the front is getting stronger and stronger, a small group of personnel can kill the entire tank from the rear. This deal is not cost-effective.
Therefore, some people say that the era of main battle tanks has passed. To put it bluntly, it is denying the core of Russia's traditional tactics.
The answer given by Russia is the fourth generation main battle tank T14. Its cabin separation, unmanned turret and other designs just make up for the T90M's dilemma.
Moreover, Russia is currently developing a brand new weapon-the Uran9 unmanned tank.
, a tank that debuted in 2016, is mainly designed for combat in urban environments. The tank is small and can be used for long-range reconnaissance and fire support. It is also equipped with various weapons and sensors to improve the combat effectiveness of infantry personnel and provide logistical support.
This 10-ton "tank" has only steel armor plates for defense and can only run 35 kilometers at its fastest. No matter how you look at it, they are just unmanned land robots.
However, on the Syrian battlefield, Uran9 still performed well. The vehicle-mounted remote-controlled 30mm cannon can deal with ground and low-flying air targets;
tanks are coming, with 4 "Ataka" anti-tank missiles waiting;
medium-range solid fortifications can use 6 93mm calibers of propelled flamethrowers. Because
is unmanned, it has no fear of the opponent's firepower. If it's damaged, switch to the next one and get on!
As long as a difficult bone appears at three distances: near, medium and far, Uran9 will appear in time. Using cannons, machine guns, missiles, and flamethrowers, the tactical effect is even better than that of ordinary infantry fighting vehicles.
On the battlefield in Ukraine, under the endless "supervision" of traditional official media and self-media, the Russian army practiced novel tactics such as "carousel", "trousers" and "swing" to avoid civilian casualties. In the battlefield, it can hardly exert its due power.
Does this mean main battle tanks are useless?
The definition of a main battle tank is a tank that undertakes the main combat mission. There is no requirement for manned or unmanned, or light or heavy duty. Mainly just being able to complete combat missions.
Unmanned tanks such as Uran9 on the Syrian battlefield may be an option.
