he Leopard 2A6 is too expensive and complex to maintain at the front.
That excerpt is a retelling of the story of German armaments and materiel in WW II.
Slightly different, but in the run-up to WWI one of the areas of contention between Germany and Great Britain was that Germany was trying to build a big, powerful navy. Britain didn’t like the competition and wanted Germany taken down a bit. WWI saw only a small number of serious naval engagements because both Britain and Germany had spent so much money on their precious little navies that neither country really wanted to risk their ships in battle. Jutland was the only serious battle that really resulted in the loss of ships. And neither country wanted to repeat that by using their ships again. Too expensive to risk.
European countries sometimes lose wars because they are afraid of losing the war.
The United States (once upon a time) and Russia are two countries that really go “all in” and take risks because they have no intention of losing.
This is always the rule. Cheap and durable has the advantage in the dirt and rigor of war. Western militaries have been building a lot of fancy expensive prom dresses for the last 40 years.
Sounds like the Panther. Mechanical reliability coupled with a lack of spare parts.
Next tactical iteration has recently entered use and may change that. We've added a laser guidance package to (already existing in large numbers) 2.75" Hydra 70 rockets so they can shoot them down. Already compatible with multiple launcher options. Greatly increases the number of targets one aircraft can take out and greatly decreases the cost per shot to either not much more expensive or even less than the cost of the drone. The initial version APKWS has already been in use against Houthi drones, but requires keeping the target lazed until hit. Next version adds an infrared seeker which takes over once laser points out its target, increasing rate of fire without adding much to cost. It should be operational next year. So fight cheap drone swarms with cheap short range anti-drone smart rocket swarms launchable from most friendly planes, helicopters or ground.
Bttt
Sooner or later everything “breaks” in war.
The more basic a weapon is the longer it will last.
The more complex and technical weapons will fail soonest.
East German engineer spies did their jobs well when posted to the post war West German armaments industry.
Yep. Technology rules. It will be a long time and many brave young Americans will die before the battleship admirals and the calvary generals come to the realization that the era of naval surface combatants and land armored vehicles is over. Soon piloted aircraft will be obsolete.
German engineering tends to elevate performance at the expense of tolerance for abuse (Stihl chainsaws being the notable exception). Pushing the envelope beyond specifications usually results in catastrophic failure.
Funny...I’ve been reading from lots of Europeans (esp. Germans) that they don’t need the USA anymore...because they ‘have the tech’ and that they ‘just need to ramp up manufacturing’ which they claim is ‘easy to do’.
LOL.
“The days of massed armored attack are over regardless of the quality of the equipment.”
Doubtful. What is more likely is anti drone tech. Also the success of the drones is due to the overall poor tactics of both sides. It’s hard to imagine a US force operating at the ponderous pace, degrading into WWI trenches, not gaining air supremacy etc. Drone operators would get annihilated.
Bkmk