Does the Tank Have a Future?

Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by secondcoming on Wednesday June 15, 2022 @12:45PM (#31755651)

Have you watched any of the Ukraine footage? Tanks are being blown up from bombs dropped from COTS drones. Longer range semi-autonomous drones seem to be the future.

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Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by the_af on Wednesday June 15, 2022 @12:53PM (#31755786)

I agree tanks seem to be very vulnerable in the current Ukraine war.

That said, drones cannot replace tanks. Maybe something else will, but drones cannot make breakthrough advances, nor accompany and shield advancing infantry. Drones may be cheap tank killers, but I don't think they can replace tanks.

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Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by int_19h on Wednesday June 15, 2022 @03:22PM (#31758059)

Not every weapon system has a direct and obvious replacement when it becomes obsolete - the nature of the combat itself changes around what's viable given the tech.

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Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by the_af on Thursday June 16, 2022 @09:11AM (#31765653)

Agreed. I meant the role of tanks cannot be fulfilled by drones, and therefore they cannot be a replacement. The tech is irrelevant, the role is relevant.

Even an evolution of the tank's role, because all roles change, will not be fulfilled by drones.

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Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by lapsed_pacifist on Wednesday June 15, 2022 @12:58PM (#31755859)

Much of this has to do with Russian tank doctrine and the lack of sufficient infantry to provide mutual support to armor.

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Re:Does the Tank Have a Future? by namelessoracle on Wednesday June 15, 2022 @01:11PM (#31756053)

How well do long range drones work if the other side puts up a serious blockages of radio waves and decides that "no you dont get satellites anymore"?

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