U.S. deploying heavily armored battle tanks for first time in Afghan war

wapo ^ | 11/21/10 | Rajiv Chandrasekaran

[Nachum]

The U.S. military is sending a contingent of heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, defense officials said, a shift that signals a further escalation in the aggressive tactics that have been employed by American forces this fall to attack the Taliban.

The deployment of a company of M1 Abrams tanks, which will be fielded by the Marines in the country's southwest, will allow ground forces to target insurgents from a greater distance - and with more of a lethal punch - than is possible from any other U.S. military vehicle. The 68-ton tanks are propelled by a jet engine and equipped with a 120mm main gun that can destroy a house more than a mile away.

Despite an overall counterinsurgency strategy that emphasizes the use of troops to protect Afghan civilians from insurgents, statistics released by the NATO military command in Kabul and interviews with several senior commanders indicate that U.S. troop operations over the past two months have been more intense and have had a harder edge than at any point since the initial 2001 drive to oust the Taliban government.

[elcid1970]

I flew with A/229th AHB supporting TF Garry Owen 1971-72. 11th ACR was nearby but they left FB Black Horse in Dec 1971.

During Easter Offensive in 1972 we saw lots of knocked out T-54s around An Loc. That military genius Vo Nguyen Giap sent tanks in en masse where the M72 LAW plus close air support junked most of them. BTR-50s and PT-76s, too.

Our armor had been mostly withdrawn by then.

[Paladin2]

The skiing can be exceptional nearby.

[Little Bill]

I was with D/3/4 Cav, AirRifles Platoon 1967-1968, I remember the Gary Owen guys, out going, in December, 1965 when I was coming in on my first tour, the people were wired, Camp Zama.

[elcid1970]

I was at Camp Zama as an Army brat 1957-58.

[Little Bill]

It was a rather strange introduction to a War Time Army, in my case. A bunch of wild eyed people telling us all that Charlie was going to get us. When I went out they kept us loonies separate from the newbies probably a good move.

[A.A. Cunningham]

How’d they do against the insurgents in Iraq?

[NYFreeper]

The perfumed princes of the Pentagon strike again.

That was an interesting post, but just FYI, a C-5 can carry two M-1's.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

I don't know what you've read but we used very little

armor in the Nam’,,,

Think “air war”,,,(AC-130/A-10/B-52/MLRS/105-155mm guns),,,

Tank guns would be nearly worthless in A-Stan,,,

Then,,,How are ya’ gunna get fuel to them ?,,,

If it breaks the only way to haul it is on a HETT,,,

Arty is needed for the range and to be able to arc the

rounds over those “hills”,,,

Problem area ?,,,Arc-Light it...

[centurion316]

I don't know what you've read but we used very little armor in the Nam’

I guess that depends on the meaning of "very little armor" and the field of fire of your particular foxhole.

The United States Army used an entire Armored Cavlary Regiment and several mechanized brigades that included at least one tank battalion each with M48 tanks. Divisional Cavalry Squadrons had M551 Sheridans and some used M48's. The Marines also used M-48s and the ARVN used M-47's quite effectively.

Most commanders would have liked to have had more Armor, but the staff wizards at the Pentagon didn't think that they were suitable. Operations in many areas proven them wrong and in some places they were essential to maintaining lines of communication. But, of course, Vietnam wasn't an insurgency. It was a war against the Regular Army of North Vietnam augmented by regular force of the Viet Cong and supported by insurgent auxiliaries. The insurgents were largely destroyed by 1968 and in 1975, South Vietnam fell to a conventional attack by North Vietnamese Armored Columns. Some of us remember those "insurgent" tanks.

[centurion316]

I don’t think that PanzerKardinal has that game.

[centurion316]

During Easter Offensive in 1972 we saw lots of knocked out T-54s around An Loc. That military genius Vo Nguyen Giap sent tanks in en masse where the M72 LAW plus close air support junked most of them. BTR-50s and PT-76s, too.

They had better luck in '75 after our Congress had withrawn all air support and cutting off funding to the South Vietnamese. I'm surprised that all of those that supported that vote weren't awarded an Order of the Red Star, they deserved it.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

I drove Hwy 1 from Dong Ba Thin(N) and out Hwy 2 nearly to

Laos(W) (Camp Townes),,,”Evil Eye”,,,8/26 Arty,,,

We had “Dusters” at Town Town,,,

They were the only thing with tracks-n-gunz that I saw,,,

That armor must have been south of me...

[Hoodat]

That worked so well for the Russians.

Exactly. The Soviets lost almost 150 tanks in Afghanistan during their 'occupation'. Anti-tank missles have improved considerably since then. What our soldiers need are better infantry weapons.