Breaking the mold: tanks in the cities - Army University Press

[jgoodguy]

Breaking the mold: tanks in the cities - Army University Press

Freebie

Foreword

Few lessons are as prevalent in military history as is the adage that
tanks don’t perform well in cities. The notion of deliberately committing
tanks to urban combat is anathema to most. In Breaking the Mold: Tanks in
the Cities, Mr. Ken Gott disproves that notion with a timely series of five
case studies from World War II to the present war in Iraq.

This is not a parochial or triumphant study. These cases demonstrate
that tanks must do more than merely “arrive” on the battlefield to be suc-
cessful in urban combat. From Aachen in 1944 to Fallujah in 2004, the
absolute need for specialized training and the use of combined arms at the
lowest tactical levels are two of the most salient lessons that emerge from
this study. When properly employed, well-trained and well-supported
units led by tanks are decisive in urban combat. The reverse is also true.
Chechen rebels taught the Russian army and the world a brutal lesson in
Grozny about what happens when armored units are poorly led, poorly
trained, and cavalierly employed in a city.

The case studies in this monograph are high-intensity battles in con-
flicts ranging from limited interventions to major combat operations. It
would be wrong to use them to argue for the use of tanks in every urban
situation. As the intensity of the operation decreases, the second and third
order effects of using tanks in cities can begin to outweigh their utility. The
damage to infrastructure caused by their sheer weight and size is just one
example of what can make tanks unsuitable for every mission. Even dur-
ing peace operations, however, the ability to employ tanks and other heavy
armored vehicles quickly can be crucial. A study on the utility of tanks in
peace operations is warranted, and planned.

 

[5fish]

Stalingrad... Russian chose finally to fight street to street unlike earlier in the war... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13518040902918089

German attacks in the city routinely employed large numbers of tanks, forcing Soviet defenders to supplement their meager stock of anti-tank guns and rifles with improvised Molotov cocktails. Soviet tactics shifted to reflect the importance of anti-tank warfare, channeling German tanks towards anti-tank strongpoints of 2–4 anti-tank guns. 23 Chuikov himself stressed the power of a coordinated German assault using aircraft, tanks, and infantry; the key to stopping such an assault, he argued, was decoupling it. Separating German tanks from German infantry made both far more vulnerable. Leaving the Germans the advantage of combined arms meant disaster. Though Chuikov had very few tanks himself, his memoirs stress how important they were, either used as stationary firing points in the defense, or (even in minuscule numbers) as a shock force in the attack. 24

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Stalingrad... Russian chose finally to fight street to street unlike earlier in the war... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13518040902918089

German attacks in the city routinely employed large numbers of tanks, forcing Soviet defenders to supplement their meager stock of anti-tank guns and rifles with improvised Molotov cocktails. Soviet tactics shifted to reflect the importance of anti-tank warfare, channeling German tanks towards anti-tank strongpoints of 2–4 anti-tank guns. 23 Chuikov himself stressed the power of a coordinated German assault using aircraft, tanks, and infantry; the key to stopping such an assault, he argued, was decoupling it. Separating German tanks from German infantry made both far more vulnerable. Leaving the Germans the advantage of combined arms meant disaster. Though Chuikov had very few tanks himself, his memoirs stress how important they were, either used as stationary firing points in the defense, or (even in minuscule numbers) as a shock force in the attack. 24

A tank is just a tool it may or may not work in any setting depending on the opposition's weaponry and training. The Syrian Army lost plenty of tanks in urban areas. In one video a lone teen age boy threw an explosive down the barrel of a tank and killed the crew inside.
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[Kirk's Raider's]

Stalingrad... Russian chose finally to fight street to street unlike earlier in the war... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13518040902918089

German attacks in the city routinely employed large numbers of tanks, forcing Soviet defenders to supplement their meager stock of anti-tank guns and rifles with improvised Molotov cocktails. Soviet tactics shifted to reflect the importance of anti-tank warfare, channeling German tanks towards anti-tank strongpoints of 2–4 anti-tank guns. 23 Chuikov himself stressed the power of a coordinated German assault using aircraft, tanks, and infantry; the key to stopping such an assault, he argued, was decoupling it. Separating German tanks from German infantry made both far more vulnerable. Leaving the Germans the advantage of combined arms meant disaster. Though Chuikov had very few tanks himself, his memoirs stress how important they were, either used as stationary firing points in the defense, or (even in minuscule numbers) as a shock force in the attack. 24

There may well have been urban tank battle's during the Spanish Civil War as well.
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[5fish]

Here is an article about the Israeli and Russia have created urban urban tanks...

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...have-built-special-urban-warfare-tanks-103697

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

Here is an article about the Israeli and Russia have created urban urban tanks...

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...have-built-special-urban-warfare-tanks-103697

Interesting to see if Iran and or it's allies can come up with a way to defeat the Trophy system.
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[Kirk's Raider's]

Besides the excellent Al Jezera series on the Israeli Merkeva tank Red Effect has an interesting video " on the problems of the Merkeva".
If and a big if the Russians and Israelis can render the ATGM obsolete due to sensors which in turn ignite small explosives that can intercept ATGM and rocket propelled granades such has the newer Russian RPGs that would be a game changer.
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[5fish]

If and a big if the Russians and Israelis can render the ATGM obsolete due to sensors which in turn ignite small explosives that can intercept ATGM and rocket propelled granades such has the newer Russian RPGs that would be a game changer.
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Here is this on the Russian ... they lost 400 armor vehicles in one night in 1994...

LInk: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russia-now-sending-terminator-tanks-syria-21465

The first version of the Terminator was designed in the late 1990s. It was a five-man vehicle based on the chassis of the T-90 tank, according to Russian media. It was armed with two hull-mounted thirty-millimeter automatic grenade launchers in addition to the other weapons, notes Jane’s 360. The Terminator 2, first unveiled in 2013, subtracted the grenade launchers and reduced the crew size to three.

The concept of the “tank support combat vehicle” arose after Russian experiences in Afghanistan and Chechnya, where numerous Russian tanks fell victim to insurgents armed with antitank rockets and missiles. The most notorious incident occurred in the Chechen capital of Grozny on New Year’s Eve, 1994, when large columns of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers were ambushed and wiped out in the city streets by Chechen fighters armed with antitank rockets. That terrible night alone may have cost the Russians as many as four hundred armored vehicles and a thousand dead.


Are prospects any better for the Terminator 2? This remains to be seen. While Russian media typically extols the virtues of Russian weapons, praise for the BMPT-72 is curiously guarded. RBTH cited a Russian military analyst who noted that while the Terminator 2 is “easier to operate, lighter, and cheaper” than the original, it also has “significantly less firepower. It can fire at only one target at a time, while the first Terminator could take down three targets.”

Conceptually, the Terminator 2 has merits. Much like the Israelis converting their older Merkava tanks into heavily armored troop carriers, a Russian support vehicle heavily armed with missiles and small-caliber cannon might be useful in engaging infantry while the main battle tanks like the T-90 go after big targets like enemy tanks. On the other hand, it’s a tank that isn’t a tank, which means using it will add more tactical complication on the battlefield.

 

[5fish]

rban tank battle's during the Spanish Civil War

Here is one but the tank crews were not trained well... once the tanks lost their infantry supported they retreated... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seseña

On October 29, 1936, the Spanish Republican Army launched an attack against the Nationalist-held town of Seseña. The Republicans attacked with a force of 15 T-26 tanks, armed with a 45mm cannon, led by a Lithuanian tank specialist, Captain Paul Arman, and driven by Soviets with Spanish gunners, and the 1st Mixed Brigade, a newly established mixed brigade led by Enrique Líster. Opposing them, the Nationalists had a force of cavalry led by colonel Monasterio, Moroccan regulares and some Italian tankettes. The Soviet tanks were mased together for a shock attack and entered in Seseña. Arman claimed that the Soviet tanks destroyed two infantry battalions, two cavalry squadrons, ten 75 mm guns, two tankettes and 20-30 trucks.[11] The tanks crossed Seseña and reached Esquivias,[11] nevertheless, the Mixed Brigade of Lister never entered into the town and the tank force had to retreat.[12] Mikhail Koltsov, a Russian journalist at Seseña said: "Lister...explained, a grimace upon his face, that his units, had been moving well at first, but after 1,500 metres, they had felt tired and sat down...".[13] Furthermore, the Nationalists managed to destroy three Russian tanks and damage three more with Molotov cocktails[13] and artillery fire.[11] The same day, the Republican army, led by colonel Ildefonso Puigdendolas, launched another assault against the nearby town of Illescas, but the attack was beaten off and Puigdendolas was killed in action.[14]The attack failed, because the Spanish Republican infantry had no training to operate with tanks,[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sese%C3%B1a#cite_note-:0-11'][11] but the Soviet tanks were shown to be effective. According to Thomas, one Soviet tank destroyed 11 Italian tankettes.[12] The same day a squadron of Russian Katiuska bombers attacked Seville. Because the arrival of the Soviet weapons Nazi Germany decided to increase their aid to the Nationalists and to organize the Legion Condor.[15][/URL]

 

[5fish]

More details... http://www.gutenberg-e.org/kod01/frames/fkod21.html

At six-thirty in the morning on 29 October, Arman's tank column entered the village of Seseña. According to Republican intelligence, the village remained a Loyalist town. As Arman rolled toward the central plaza, however, he found the road blocked by a group of soldiers manning an artillery gun. Calling out to them in French, the polyglot Arman asked that they clear the road and let his column pass. The reply was a question: "Italiano?" Arman quickly realized that the town had been occupied by the Nationalists. He ducked his head back into the vehicle and ordered his gunner to fire on the artillery unit. Thus began the Soviet tankers' participation in the war. 10 5

The company made quick work of the town's occupiers, and soon advanced due west toward the next village, Esquivias. It was here that Soviet and Italian tanks squared off against one another for the first time in the war. The crew of one T-26, commanded by Semen K. Osadchii and his mechanic-driver I. Egorenko, became the first Soviets to successfully destroy a foreign tank, in this case an Italian Ansaldo. 11 Rapidly, Arman's group advanced some 20 kilometers forward. The unexpectedly bold action of the tanks, however, was not matched on the ground by the Republican infantry, much less supported in the air by the Loyalist air force, which never arrived. In what would become a common pattern throughout the war, there was little tactical coordination between the infantry, mechanized forces, and the fighter wing. 12 According to Krivoshein, the tanks sped into the fray at high speeds, leaving the infantry behind—indeed, forgetting them completely. Kol'tsov, however, in a manner consistent with classified after-action reports, blamed the Loyalist infantry for shrinking back at the sound of fire. 13

Meanwhile, on their own and deep in enemy territory, Arman's group inflicted serious damage on rebel targets, but the tank crews became disoriented in the unfamiliar terrain. 14 Several of the hastily trained Spaniards lacked the basic skills required for the assignment, and their mistakes in the use of the motor transmissions, guns, and safety devices ended disastrously for entire crews. 15 Low on fuel, their ammunition depleted, and with no support behind them, the Soviet tanks scrambled to return to their initial position. In this manner, momentum was lost and the counter-attack collapsed.

The retreat notwithstanding, from any objective viewpoint the day belonged to the Loyalist side. Reports to the Defense Commissariat boasted that the rebel offensive had been checked and that Franco's advance on Madrid suffered its first setback. 16 The presence of the superior T-26 had clearly caused some consternation among the rebels, who would subsequently scramble to develop new tactics for confronting the Soviet armor. A detailed telegram sent from the central front to Voroshilov indicated that the Soviet tankers had scored a substantial, if inconclusive, victory. According to the report, Republican tank forces "destroyed two rebel tanks, thirteen artillery guns, two artillery batteries, two supply vehicles carrying infantry, and six legionary vehicles carrying officers." The tanks also "scattered or destroyed 600 infantrymen, three cavalry squadrons, and captured one artillery gun." 17 Arman himself was jubilant and not a little hyperbolic

There is much more to the article about tanks and the Spanish Civil War...

 

[jgoodguy]

Red Effect has an interesting video " on the problems of the Merkeva".

the excellent Al Jezera series on the Israeli Merkeva tank

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

My man!
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[jgoodguy]

My man!
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From these videos, I learned that the human factor can trump tech.

 

[Kirk's Raider's]

From these videos, I learned that the human factor can trump tech.

No doubt. A good example was the Hungarian Revolt of 1956 where the Soviets lost tanks due to Molotov Cocktails.
The Trophy system may or may not be the bees knees but for sure Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas among others are going to at least try to figure out how to defeat it. If they succeed we will find out.
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[Kirk's Raider's]

Good video actually well balanced as Al Jezzera is owned by the Government of Qatar which has very limited diplomatic relations with Israel. In 1996 Israeli Prime Minister Simon Peres did visit Qatar. In 1996 to 2000 there was an Israeli trade office in Qatar but due to Israel's harsh response to the Palestinian revolt it was closed . Today only Israeli athletes can officially enter Qatar.
There is very modest trade between the two nations.
It is surprising that the Israelis who brag about the efficiency of the Mosaad didn't know about the tunnels. Any student of the Vietnam War knows about the tunnels of Chu Chi. More likely then not Syria had military attaches to North Vietnam certainly there then Soviet allies did. So the tunnels of the Communists in Vietnam were no secret.
It is also surprising the Israelis who themselves had purchased anti tank missiles from France almost twenty years before the 1973 Yom Kippur War were surprised by Soviet made anti tank missiles.
By 2006 the Israelis had formal diplomatic relations with Russia for almost twenty years and no doubt military attaches so the new Russian ATGMs should be well known. It was also well known that Syria and Iran were major arms clients of Russia and backed Hezbollah as an important proxy force.
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