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Colonel, wouldn't you say that air superiority and tens of thousands of various types of missiles has made massive tank battles a thing of the past? I'm just an armchair admiral, so forgive me if my statement is overly ignorant.
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LTC Marc King
Sorry I would not agree. That is a commonly held belief by those who think air power is all that you need on the battlefield. Nothing can be further from the truth. Consider this... the Russians and Chinese have the technology and ability to match us aircraft for aircraft and missile... yet they have produced a main battle tank on average of every 18 months... either new or upgraded. In my short 40 years of service and post military service the tank has been declared obsolete no less than 3 times (wire guided Saggers made tanks obsolete)and yet every time we engage the first thing asked for is the Main Battle Tank. Not a Stryker, a tank supported by as much artillery as might be available. Further... the best anti tank weapon on the battlefield is another tank. In Iraq the Army took true tank off the legacy fleet list and put it back on the operational fleet list. Just ask the infantry that followed them down the streets of Iraqi towns... a 120mm direct fire weapon is a beautiful thing... 2 x 7.62mm machine guns and a .50Cal ain't bad either. We need some serious development work if we are going to have the best guns in a gun fight!
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