Why buy a book on Modern Armor Technology? Because sometimes a hard or soft cover reference on the current state of Modern Ground Force Systems is more useful than 1000 military sites on the internet in understanding how much the Armored Combat has changed in the decade of the 2020s.
Yes ground combat tactics always change but the rate of change is never constant. Decades, even Centuries can pass before a new significant change emerges that makes old tactics and technology obsolete. Battlefield changes can be sparked by battlefield necessity – an action / reaction cycle, by new weapons technology, even the geography and terrain of conflict zones.
One such change occurred with Operation Torch, the Allied Landings in North Africa in November 1942. US Army Infantry Forces came ashore equipped with a new weapon, the M1 2.36-inch rocket launcher. For the first time an infantry squad possessed a portable weapon with a shape charge warhead capable of destroying any German tank at close range. An American low cost weapon met a Germany high cost, powerful combat vehicle and the low cost weapon (in the hands of an American Infantry man with guts) won.
German copies of the Bazooka – the Panzerschreck and later Panzerfaust came rapidly. When they did, any World War 2 Tank leading the assault against any position suspected of being occupied by opposing infantry risked their own destruction. A new, small light weapon class had forced a change in tactics. Tanks could no longer race ahead, they had to advance with infantry, often mounted in armored vehicles themselves, supported by artillery fires to suppress enemy fire.
Press onto October 1973 in the Sinai Peninsula and the Yum Kippur War. Israeli Armored Forces had proven their superiority against their Arab adversaries in the conflicts of 1956 and 1967. As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) 14th Armored Brigade began its assault against Egyptian defensive positions they encountered small anti tank teams equipped with RPG-7 and far longer range Soviet-designed 9M14 Malyutka (AT-3 Sagger) Anti-Tank Guided Missile. Israeli tanks were for the first time, destroyed at ranges up to 3 km. After an initial phase of heavy losses, the IDF was able to regain the initiative, by adapting tactics to a new battlefield. Tank Commanders constantly scanned for missile launch plumes and used machine gun and high-explosive shell fire against any suspected ATGM sites. Tanks kicked up massive dust clouds to break the operator’s line of sight and executed rapid, erratic turns to out-maneuver the joystick-controlled Sagger missiles.
Modern Armor – The Visual Survey of Next War’s Land Vehicles does not retell the Armored Battles of the 20th Century. It starts its story with battlefield dynamics of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020. That conflict served as its own watershed moment. In a 40 day war, Azerbaijan, using mainly Turkish and Israeli supplied drones and loitering munitions, systematically destroyed dozens of Russian made tanks, artillery pieces, and air-defense systems operated by the Armenian army. In doing so Azerbaijan achieved its territorial objectives and won the war.
As the first in a series of three books that describe the current state of Land, Air and Sea military technology in the decade of 2020s, Modern Armor… Land Vehicles concentrates on Mobile Armored Forces and the offensive and defensive systems and tactics they use to maintain their place on the battlefields of tomorrow. Consider it both a primer and a map of the territory of today’s ground forces.
What’s covered:
- Russian, Chinese and US Army Armored Brigade overviews – numbers of men, equipment and logistics requirements, Track versus Wheeled System Requirements and Mechanics – and why both vehicle types have a place in today’s wars are covered in the first section of the Books.
- Next up are Communications, Electronic Warfare and Air Defense Vehicles, why these vehicles are needed in a Combined Arms Force, and what they are able and unable to do on the Modern Battlefield. The placement of this vehicle category early in the book indicates the priority the author gives to these systems. Simply put – if enemy drones and attack aircraft cannot be neutralized, if enemy communications cannot be infiltrated and denied, and if Blue Force comms networks cannot be maintained in the face of severe electronic attacks – then the success of any US/Allied Forces anywhere in the world is very much in doubt.
- Infantry Vehicles is the third section of the book. Here you find a more detailed discussions of Tracks vs Wheels Mobility Dilemma, IFV Cannons and ATGMs, NATO STANAG Protection Levels, Top Attack vulnerabilities and Cope Cages and Platoon Level Mounted and Dismounted Attacks. 27 Infantry Vehicles from 13 Countries are surveyed in this section. The vehicles in this category range from Trucks to Battle Taxis to Infantry Fighting and Reconnaissance vehicles. Common vehicles such as the Bradley, AMPV, Stryker Dragoon, JLTV and Infantry Squad vehicle are detailed – as well as lesser known vehicles including the Israeli Eitan and Namer IFVs, the South Korean K21, the Australian Redback and the PRC ZBD-04/08s. For each vehicle images, technical performance data, development history and costs estimates are provided.
- The Main Battle Tank / Assault Gun section is next. Topics covered in this section include lessons learned from Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine armored operations, Tank Armor, Cannon and Ammunition Types and Tank Vision Systems. 21 Tanks from the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, PRC, Japan and South Korea are surveyed.
- The Artillery and Rocket Systems section is next and it covers Self Propelled Artillery, Mortar, Rocket and Missile systems. 17 vehicles including US MLRS/HIMARS, the Swedish Archer, US Paladin, Germany’s PzH2000, Finland’s AMOS, Israel’s PULS and the PLA’s PHL-16 Rocket/Missile Launchers are included here.
- The Final Section of the book is perhaps the most interesting. It is focused on Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) developments and proposed tactics under the US Army’s Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) doctrine. Included here are descriptions of the US Ripsaw and GDLS, Russian Uran-9, Estonia’s Mileem and Themis and South Korea’s Arion-SMET systems as well as additional RCVs and UGVs from Israel and Germany. This section ends with a discussion of the operational concept for a Semi Autonomous RCV Recon Squadron composed of AMPV or Stryker control vehicles and 6 types RCVs for Breacher Assault, Direct Fire, Indirect Loitering Munition, SHORAD Laser, Cannon functions with additional vehicles for Reconnaissance, Communications, Power Generation and Autonomous Resupply missions.
There are few if any text only pages in Modern Armor… Land Vehicles. Almost every page is a combination of pictures, tables, text and infographics. Modern Armor… Land Vehicles is a fast pace read covering the tactics, function and details of 100 plus modern military vehicles from 18 nations. It deserves a place on the book shelf of the Military History Reader and others interested in the dynamics of modern warfare.
Modern Armor… Land Vehicles.
Note: The second volume of the Modern Armor Series, Combat Aviation – the Manned and Unmanned Air Vehicle in Today’s Wars is also now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IngramSpark.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HB3GZP7V?binding=paperback&ref_=saga_sdp_cft_dsk
