Since that is 20 -30% of their modern equipment ( although not necessarily the very best ), the real effect will be greater than the numbers show.

EDIT: Just realised that we don't know if that comment takes into account all the stocks of T62 etc.

More intercepts from the Russian trenches… not going well…

In light of the Russian experience, are tanks still a valid proposition for modern combat?
At $10mm apiece, they seem more ceremonial than combat effective. Perhaps Russia will learn from this, hopefully us as well.

It depends on what you are trying to achieve and what the terrain/fight is all about. For example, I don't think we sent any tanks into Afghanistan. There were MRAAPs and Strykers there at various points.
The US Marines are, apparently, now out of the Tank business.
A tank is a very effective direct fire platform; tanks have some uses in MOUT (Urban combat) but in that case they work best as part of a combined arms team with infantry, and you want overhead/air support as well. Trying frame it as "tank, pro or con" in isolation isn't a very useful question.

I would have thought everyone would be looking at ways to prevent drones taking out tanks and systems to take down those drones, once they have established a credible protection system, tanks will again have their place on the modern battlefield. At the moment Ukraine has opened everyone's eyes to the threat and they will take time to respond to that threat.

There were M1's in Afghanistan and Leopards too

Tanks in Afghanistan – Army Tanks

Do you think drones are a big threat ? At $ 2 m each they are expensive and vulnerable: the 100 infantrymen with a $ 20 K NLAW each, represent a much more dispersed and - likely - less observable threat that is difficult to counter in top-attack mode.

I should have added them into the equation too, but as the west developed them one would have assumed probably wrongly that the west would thus equip their armour to protect it against similar systems, it is probably the use of cheap off the shelf drones with DIY bomblets that is probably the most significant change in tank warfare.

Ah, thanks for the correction Nutty.

I don't really know the likelihood that someone could build a DIY shaped-charge, and a kilo (say ) of C4 exploding randomly isn't likely to do much more than destroy the 50 cal. The Switchblade 600 weighs 25 kg and carries the Javelin ATGM warhead with 8.4 kg of explosive.

See


https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-chea.../31835434.html


Plus $3000-4000 ish for the drone?

https://www.dronesforsalereview.com/best-drones-guide/octocopters/


..

[QUOTE=NutLoose;11247104 with DIY bomblets .[/QUOTE]

I was taking your phraseology at face-value i.e. someone cobbling together their home-made bomb/shell, not re-purposing an anti-tank grenade.

:O easily understood.

Frightening though, isn’t it, there you are in your multi million pound tank wiped out by some spotty school kid with $4000 dollars worth of drone dropping a grenade on you.

A 15 yr old found the Russian advance in Kyiv enabling its destruction.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1534500741674672128

Something Military and Aviation related for a change.

Dropping a bomb from a hovering drone seems unlikely to hit a moving target.
Even a stationary tank looks pretty small from 100 feet up, so hits will be infrequent.
That said, sensors are getting really cheap, so these systems will have all the needed abilities shortly.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...-kf51-panther/

Germany’s Badass New Tank Could Outmatch Every Other Tank in the World

…The KF51 can launch four reconnaissance quadcopters from the turret, allowing the tanks to conduct their own local reconnaissance. A drone launcher is built into the turret, capable of launching four Hero 120 loitering munitions. The Israeli-made Hero 120 has a flight time of 60 minutes and packs a nine-pound warhead. Hero 120 will allow Panther tanks to engage targets beyond their line of sight, such as behind hills and tree lines.

Top-attack weapons like the Swedish NLAW and American Javelin have proven devastatingly effective in Ukraine, firing an explosive charge down into a tank’s thin roof armor. Most Western tanks are similarly vulnerable, and Panther’s top-attack defense system is the first-known system devoted to tackling top-attack weapons. It’s not clear how the new defense system works, with rumors it may involve the quadcopters moving to intercept incoming rockets and missiles.….

Well ...rumours. Great and cheap form of marketing.

Next stage in drone tech would be autonomous drones. Drones that can seek out and recon or destroy the enemy on their own.
Drones launched in packs who communicate to each other and work as a team.

Defence secretary of Slovakia Jaro Naď announced today:
122mm ammunition to Grad launchers plus 4 Mi-17 and 1 Mi-2 helicopters were donated to Ukraine, all of this was safely delivered and is already in use by Ukrainian armed forces.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....13dc1a7e25.png

Some aviation-related content on Russian plane intercepts. It's on the BBC, so will be "fake news" for a couple of the posters here I guess...

www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-61834997

Reports of the tug Vasily Bekh carrying SAM systems being hit by two Harpoons this morning on its way towards Snake Island..

Possibly related , but either way an "interesting" flightpath being displayed on ADSB Exchange for US P3 "LK32".

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4541eef0eb.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d324fdc809.jpg