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Tanks vs. Drones Isn’t Rock, Paper, Scissors
https://thediplomat.com ^ | October 07, 2020 | By Jacob Parakilas

Posted on 10/09/2020 1:18:02 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19

Unmanned combat air vehicles have notched up kills against armored fighting vehicles all over the world. Does it mean the end of the tank

In the first days of the new war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Azeri military claimed a number of destroyed tanks and other armored fighting vehicles. Those strikes seem to have been made — and filmed — by a Turkish-designed armed drone, the Bayraktar TB2. With armed drones bearing anti-tank ordnance increasingly cheap, accessible and capable, does it spell the end of the tank’s century of battlefield dominance?

Two decades ago, the U.S. rushed the first armed drones into service for its post-9/11 campaigns. They carried no more than two Hellfire missiles and were propelled by an engine producing less power than a contemporary Toyota Camry. But what they had was endurance: a drone could circle its target for hours on end before striking, whereas a high-performance jet or attack helicopter would have to return to base for fuel and crew rest in a fraction of that period. This was a crucial factor in the irregular campaigns the U.S. employed them in, where the targets had little or no anti-aircraft capability. Most strategists, however, assumed that in a high-end war, drones flying lower and slower than a Second World War fighter plane would be shredded by an adversary with integrated air defenses.

(Excerpt) Read more at thediplomat.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aviation; drones; men; theend; warfare
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To: Spktyr

That’s going to be more than a stretch for the Tunguska, but the SA-11 can certainly handle it. Not what I’d call cheap, though. Armenia has them, but I don’t know how many.


21 posted on 10/09/2020 3:01:01 PM PDT by The Pack Knight
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To: Spktyr

APS is great technology. But Trophy costs nearly $1 million per tank. You can buy a lot of missiles for the cost of outfitting just one company of tanks with those.

At some point, the cost of protecting the tank outweighs the benefit of having it in the field at all.


22 posted on 10/09/2020 3:08:28 PM PDT by The Pack Knight
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To: TexasGator

The current 2K22M1 carries the 9M311-M1, which tops out at an advertised 6km ceiling, which is roughly 20k feet. The previous 9M311-no-suffix has the 3.5km ceiling.

https://www.deagel.com/Defensive%20Weapons/9M311/a000996


23 posted on 10/09/2020 3:18:12 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: The Pack Knight

Yes, but Trophy isn’t a one-and-done system - it can fire repeatedly and even when it’s empty, it’s not a million dollars to reload it.


24 posted on 10/09/2020 3:20:17 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: The Pack Knight

By the way, various flavors of APS are likely to be put on all NATO combat vehicles in the future.


25 posted on 10/09/2020 3:21:48 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: DesertRhino

You can kill a drone with another drone


26 posted on 10/09/2020 3:28:13 PM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
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To: Spktyr

Right, but that’s still $1 million per tank on top of the already high cost of the tank’s Chobham armor, to protect one 120mm gun and three machine guns. Not to mention the logistics of transporting, fueling, and maintaining it all. Also, while it is reportedly very effective against individual missiles, how well will it handle saturation by larger number of cheaper missiles or drone swarms, which aren’t too far off in the future.

Tanks are not yet obsolete, but they are well into their senility.


27 posted on 10/09/2020 3:30:45 PM PDT by The Pack Knight
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To: The Pack Knight
"...I don’t know much about the going price of Soviet surplus SAMs these days..."

Haven't checked Cheaper Than Dirt lately, but probably get one for less than $500...🙄

28 posted on 10/09/2020 3:45:56 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is Sam Adams now that we desperately need him)
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To: RomanSoldier19

I have to agree. Drones have changed the battlefield.


29 posted on 10/09/2020 3:47:56 PM PDT by McGruff (Polls are for dancing)
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To: The Pack Knight

One indicator of how well various APS may do against missile swarms is provided by the Second Chechen War. The Chechens found that against tanks with the then latest Arena APS, they had to fire at least six heavy ATGM in a saturation attack to have a reasonable chance of getting just one hit.

It is also likely that with the APS, tanks will evolve to be lighter and less expensive/less heavily armored. At least in the latter case, it will echo naval development, where anti shipping missiles have made armor above the level needed to repel small arms and maybe 40mm fire pretty much pointless.


30 posted on 10/09/2020 3:55:40 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Rural_Michigan

I saw that they were thinking about that.

I think they are going back to their beach landing basics.

Everybody likes Light Infantry until the artillery starts falling.


31 posted on 10/09/2020 3:59:17 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: DesertRhino

“...A drone chugging along at FL25 at 130kts will be/is helpless.”

What about 2000 drones?


32 posted on 10/09/2020 4:00:35 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: DesertRhino

One drone, maybe. 500 drones....that’s a different problem.

L


33 posted on 10/09/2020 4:03:39 PM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: RomanSoldier19

34 posted on 10/09/2020 4:08:18 PM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: RomanSoldier19

I can’t think of anything better for making an occupation stick. The occupying soldiers need a safe and moveable base.


35 posted on 10/09/2020 4:16:16 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: Spktyr

“The current 2K22M1 carries the 9M311-M1, which tops out at an advertised 6km ceiling, which is roughly 20k feet. The previous 9M311-no-suffix has the 3.5km ceiling.”

Literature says -M1 is downgraded export version. I will do a fly-over tomorrow and let you know which is correct.


36 posted on 10/09/2020 4:36:31 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: The Pack Knight
Several of the capabilities that you mentioned are either existing or in development. At least some of the existing drone types can and do carry Stinger missals as an example. The Army and I believe Marines are developing mobile AA systems to better act on current and future drone adversaries plus be rugged enough to survive at or near the front line.

On the offense side, drone development is drilling down to the platoon and squad level. Deployed now is a drone recon system in a backpack for platoon level recon and fire spotting. At the squad level, field testing is going on with drones smaller than a hummingbird for CQB and to see around that next corner.

Drone swarm devices are in advanced development. These can be autonomous or man-in-the-loop. Think of a swarm of inexpensive and expendable drones that’s that are are a mix of anti-armor, anti-personnel, radar homing, electronic jamming, etc. and are delivered by cruise missile or aircraft. For these, think of a clusters bomb dispenser that releases a mass of small drones with several hours of loitering time.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone

37 posted on 10/09/2020 5:54:41 PM PDT by Hootowl99
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To: TexasGator

It’s either the -1 or the -M1, but it’s advertised as having the 6km engagement ceiling.


38 posted on 10/09/2020 6:19:29 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: The Pack Knight

No, for the Hellfire.


39 posted on 10/11/2020 9:27:19 AM PDT by steve8714
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To: steve8714

That would be APS, like Trophy. It works by all accounts, but it’s expensive.


40 posted on 10/11/2020 9:30:27 AM PDT by The Pack Knight
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