The Tank's Enduring Role: Lessons from Ukraine and the Evolving Nature of Warfare

Images of destroyed Russian tanks have become synonymous with the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This has ignited a global debate about whether the tank, once a dominant force on the battlefield, has now become obsolete in the face of modern weaponry.

While the losses suffered by Russian armored units are undeniable, a closer look suggests a more complex reality.

Vulnerabilities Exposed​

Ukraine has effectively deployed a combination of man-portable anti-tank missiles like NLAWs, drones, and precision artillery strikes to devastating effect against Russian tank formations.

These relatively inexpensive, easily deployable weapons have exposed the vulnerabilities of tanks, particularly when operating without proper support.

The Indian Perspective​

Interestingly, Indian Army officials offer a nuanced perspective on these losses. They argue that while Ukrainian tactics have been successful, the blame lies less with the tank as a platform and more with "poor tactics" employed by Russia.

The lack of coordinated infantry operations, artillery support, electronic warfare capabilities, and sufficient air cover left Russian tanks exposed and susceptible.

Combined Arms: The Key to Success​

The Indian Army's analysis underscores the enduring importance of combined-arms warfare in the modern era.

Tanks, despite their strengths in firepower, mobility, and protection, cannot operate in isolation.

To maximize their effectiveness, they require integrated support from infantry, artillery, airpower, and electronic warfare assets.

The Future: Adaptation and Integration​

While the war in Ukraine has showcased inherent vulnerabilities in armored warfare, it would be premature to write the tank's obituary. The future likely lies not in the obsolescence of the tank, but its adaptation and integration within a changing battlespace.

Technologies such as active protection systems (APS), which can intercept incoming projectiles, along with enhanced situational awareness and improved communication networks, can significantly boost tank survivability.

These technological advancements, coupled with a renewed emphasis on combined arms doctrine, could ensure the tank's continued relevance.

Lessons Learned​

The conflict in Ukraine offers crucial lessons for militaries worldwide. Key takeaways include:

• The Dangers of Complacency: The Russian experience highlights the peril of relying on past tactics and assuming technological superiority.
• Adaptability: Armies need to constantly adapt strategies and technological capabilities to counter evolving threats.
• Combined Arms Warfare Remains Vital: The synergy between different military branches is essential for success on the modern battlefield.

Conclusion​

The tank's role in modern warfare has undeniably been challenged but not eliminated.

The images from Ukraine highlight the need for tactical and technological evolution rather than the outright abandonment of a platform that still holds potential value when used strategically.

 

[sanket]

Couple of days ago US Tank was destroyed. All western Tanks which were over Hyped Lepard, Small Cat Big Cat Lion Tiger all were getting destroyed and Ukraine to Lost Avdiika in Latest. were did Ukraine Gain from Last 2 Year with western weapons support.

 

[Sathish Kumaram]

Tanks will be sitting ducks in modern warfare..lets first believe it. it can be used when there is no drone in air..thats not going to happen. Need to focus on electronic weapons and long range howtizwers + anti drone kits.

 

[Kira]

Tanks are certainly more vulnerable and face much more constrained operational usage,but they are still very much at the center of a battlefield especially in large scale offensive operations.
Just like with artillery,towed guns have become very vulnerable to drones etc,but nonetheless they are necessary,although they will steadily take a back seat in favour of self propelled guns and rocket launchers in the coming years.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

The whole concept of modern armored cavalry tactics revolves around Main Battle Tanks (MBT) and armored vehicles and that itself is unlikely to change. U still require tanks to physically enforce control over a territory. The present concept of tanks is about a century old, when the British first launched the Mark IV tanks against German defense lines during The First World War. Since the end of the Second World War, conceptually what defines a MBT has remained more or less unchanged.

However now that tanks face an array of different threats ranging from attack helicopters, anti-tank missiles, loitering munitions that concept itself may need revision. While the MBT itself may witness a conceptual evolution. We may witness modern next generation tanks to be integrated with not just remote weapon station, but start incorporating a rapid fire 20-30mm cannon while also featuring a more evolved Active Protection System (APS) which together can function as a CIWS. Also we could expect the tanks themselves to start incorporating an onboard loitering munition dispensing system, while also being integrated with drones for targeting and scouting targets.

Future tanks themselves could themselves evolve into driverless vehicles and have ability to network with other tanks in the regiment and share targeting data.

 

[Radha Ramanan]

at last some one has high lighted the importance of active protection system. todays tanks are sitting ducks to the russian drone that were very effective in taking out western tanks included. On the other side defenses against anti tank weapons is paramount with israeli trophy like systems. The trophy has a vulnerability in that anti tank weapons with tandem warheads fired at very closed quarters ,ie within 50 yards over came the trophy system , because the APS was not designed to be quick enough to react at that close range. I believe the Israelis are working on that .
How much ever armor that arjun tank has it will be vulnerable to top attack drones. even though the cost of An APS system is nearly 1 mill$ .... it is better to have 50 well protected tanks rather than 100 not so much protected tanks. we can expect a barrage of drone attacking our tank formations thanks to the chinese help to the pakistanis. Or china itself which is the world leader in drones as well.

 

[Hari Sud]

Tanks will be less important in next ten years as the missiles, loitering ammunition takes over the battlefield. Hence it is right time to rethink battle concept with Tanks. Indian Army is a bit late in realizing it but finally they are aware of it.

 

[GMR]

Tanks will not be irreverent ever with their mobility & firepower. Only their technology needs to evolve to counter a new threat, which has started with integration of anti drone systems on tanks & other measures....
Nothing is more "sitting duck" than the soldiers on foot, so Infantry is irrelevant?? Or to be abandoned???

 

[agent provocateur]

Govt of India must order DRDO to completely localize the T72 and T90, BMP 1/2 amongst other Russian weaponry. From Engines to Transmission, suspension, ammunition nothing should be imported or built under licence. We have had these tanks and ICV for 40 to 50 years now. DRDO cannot make lame excuses like US sanctions on India etc etc.

Let them work on it and come up with a prototype of the completely localized version built by OFB in 6 months Max. Then look to export it to existing Russian hardware users.

DRDO should be relieved from Arjun MBT, FRCV and FICV. Their job is Russian equipment.

Time to get tough with DRDO and OFB. They have wasted enough time and money over useless things.

 

[agent provocateur]

Couple of days ago US Tank was destroyed. All western Tanks which were over Hyped Lepard, Small Cat Big Cat Lion Tiger all were getting destroyed and Ukraine to Lost Avdiika in Latest. were did Ukraine Gain from Last 2 Year with western weapons support.

Russian tanks are coffins because of how they store ready ammunition. Reason why Indian Army in its SQR for Arjun wanted western standards. Arjun designed by KMW has blowout panels protecting the crew.

Stop defending Russian Kabad.

 

[Anant]

See, it should be noted that the argument goes both ways. Yes, a lot of Russian tank losses have happened because of poor tactics and insufficient cooperation with other parts of the Army. However, there is also the fact that Russian tanks are particularly vulnerable due to their lack of active protection and the ammunition ring in the turret. This latter fact has been seen time and again over the last 30+ years.

Having a proper tank doctrine is one thing, and it is extremely important. What is also equally important is having good tanks. The T-72 and T-90 were good machines for their time, but in today's era, the T-72 is practically obsolescent, and the T-90 is starting to age.

While having good doctrine and taking good lessons from this conflict is a must, the Army should also come to the realisation that the time of the T-72 is already at an end, and we need a replacement at the earliest. At the same time, planning also has to start on replacing the T-90s.

 

[Anant]

Couple of days ago US Tank was destroyed. All western Tanks which were over Hyped Lepard, Small Cat Big Cat Lion Tiger all were getting destroyed and Ukraine to Lost Avdiika in Latest. were did Ukraine Gain from Last 2 Year with western weapons support.

Who said Western military equipment is invulnerable? It isn't. However, if you want a fair comparison, compare the relative losses.

Still not satisfied? Okay, here goes: Would you rather lose 5 T-72s and most of their crews, or would you prefer to lose a single (admittedly more expensive) Abrams or Leopard II with most of the crew making it out? I would prefer the latter over the former any day, even though it means my Army is more expensive to run.

Indian strategy for tanks from the 1940s to the 1980s was to have large numbers to counter Pakistan. However, thanks to our finances, we had to have an Army for cheap, which is why cheap Russian tanks (designed to be operated in large numbers and take disproportionate losses) made sense.

Today, however, things have changed. Our financial situation is much better, and so we have to take the more reasonable option of having a large fleet of good tanks. The fleet wouldn't be as large as the older tank fleets being retired, but this smaller fleet of tanks will be more effective than the larger, older fleet.

 

[Anant]

Govt of India must order DRDO to completely localize the T72 and T90, BMP 1/2 amongst other Russian weaponry. From Engines to Transmission, suspension, ammunition nothing should be imported or built under licence. We have had these tanks and ICV for 40 to 50 years now. DRDO cannot make lame excuses like US sanctions on India etc etc.

Let them work on it and come up with a prototype of the completely localized version built by OFB in 6 months Max. Then look to export it to existing Russian hardware users.

DRDO should be relieved from Arjun MBT, FRCV and FICV. Their job is Russian equipment.

Time to get tough with DRDO and OFB. They have wasted enough time and money over useless things.

No point in devoting more resources on the T-72. They are a tank that are already arguably obsolescent. Even the T-90 is aging, and it would be a better idea to instead find solutions to protect them better in evolving combat scenarios. Of course, certain critical components of the T-90 should be indigenised (if not already done).

The same argument that went for the T-90 goes for the BMP-2. However, we have already almost completely indigensied the BMP-2, so that helps. Let them work with private players on the FICV, FMBT, etc. as well, although mostly in an advisory role.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Couple of days ago US Tank was destroyed. All western Tanks which were over Hyped Lepard, Small Cat Big Cat Lion Tiger all were getting destroyed and Ukraine to Lost Avdiika in Latest. were did Ukraine Gain from Last 2 Year with western weapons support.

Western tanks are not invulnerable. Doesn't mean they aren't good.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

at last some one has high lighted the importance of active protection system. todays tanks are sitting ducks to the russian drone that were very effective in taking out western tanks included. On the other side defenses against anti tank weapons is paramount with israeli trophy like systems. The trophy has a vulnerability in that anti tank weapons with tandem warheads fired at very closed quarters ,ie within 50 yards over came the trophy system , because the APS was not designed to be quick enough to react at that close range. I believe the Israelis are working on that .
How much ever armor that arjun tank has it will be vulnerable to top attack drones. even though the cost of An APS system is nearly 1 mill$ .... it is better to have 50 well protected tanks rather than 100 not so much protected tanks. we can expect a barrage of drone attacking our tank formations thanks to the chinese help to the pakistanis. Or china itself which is the world leader in drones as well.

well, that tandem warhead issue at close range is only a factor in urban warfare. wars in which India will fight will not be in urban environment. It will be very large scale movement spread over large distances against a peer opponent in pakistan or china.There is big ? on effectiveness of APS, better option I think would be to have anti air systems moving along with tanks. Like german gepard or russian pantsir. They can take out drones from 1 or 2 km away, as they have radars. They can even fight while on the move. APS systems are very close range, 1 tank can only protect itself and not other vehicles. Also, if tank is attacked by multiple drones, that is problem also.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

I think best option would be mix in mobile SAM systems with tanks. Systems like pantsir and gepard, that can take out drones and loitering ammunitions while on the move are good ideas. Just have 2-3 of these in a group of 5-6 tanks.

 

[Pink Panther]

Couple of days ago US Tank was destroyed. All western Tanks which were over Hyped Lepard, Small Cat Big Cat Lion Tiger all were getting destroyed and Ukraine to Lost Avdiika in Latest. were did Ukraine Gain from Last 2 Year with western weapons support.

yes why only mention Russian tank, It is universal, tanks in general are vulnerable against modern warfare.

 

[Sanjay Shah]

Horses carrieages were replaced by cars. so tanks will be replaced or will have much less utility,future is written on wall.Accept it and move on.

 

[Harsh]

Active armor or passive armor, the fact is in the Ukee open battlefield any tank is highly vulnerable. The impressive deployment of Lancet and Shahed drones to kill Leopard, Challenger, T-72 and now Abrams tanks tells you the story. Lesson for any Army is FLEXIBILITY. For long duration wars, both aggressor and defending Armies need to have a range of weapons to exploit tank warfare strengths and vulnerabilities.

 

[alpha numeric]

Future tanks themselves could themselves evolve into driverless vehicles and have ability to network with other tanks in the regiment and share targeting data.

Finally somebody who actually pays attention.
We still need armored columns to physically pierce enemy defenses and solidify territorial gains to achieve and solidify tactical/strategic gains. Now as he mentioned nothing is stopping MBTs themselves from incorporating loitering munitions, portable drones for added battlefield awareness and especially the possibility of wider inclusion of Rows(which modern IFVs usually have) into MBTs(relying on passive cope cages) without the need for posting gunners and significantly increased rate of interception will most definitely reinforce existing APS measures.
We already have tracked UGVs, still might be a couple of decades away from actual unmanned tanks, considering the potential risks involved including vulnerability that added automation brings in the form of susceptibility to cyber threats.

 

[Baka007]

Tank designs are outdated now they need armour even at top and counter drone measures
But Indian army busy producing light tin cans which can be easily blown by cheap suicide drones costing u valuable money and more importantly trained men.

 

[Baka007]

Today, however, things have changed. Our financial situation is much better, and so we have to take the more reasonable option of having a large fleet of good tanks. The fleet wouldn't be as large as the older tank fleets being retired, but this smaller fleet of tanks will be more effective than the larger, older fleet.

Having larger/smaller fleet is not enough u should be able to mass produce quickly to compensate loses and indigenously

 

[alpha numeric]

well, that tandem warhead issue at close range is only a factor in urban warfare. wars in which India will fight will not be in urban environment. It will be very large scale movement spread over large distances against a peer opponent in pakistan or china.There is big ? on effectiveness of APS, better option I think would be to have anti air systems moving along with tanks. Like german gepard or russian pantsir. They can take out drones from 1 or 2 km away, as they have radars. They can even fight while on the move. APS systems are very close range, 1 tank can only protect itself and not other vehicles. Also, if tank is attacked by multiple drones, that is problem also.

Can't rule it out though. Islamabad has quite a lot of urban area we might at some point have to press into. But yeah no need to consider the possibility of urban war with China considering the hostile terrain, cant even get MBTs to properly function at that altitude . Also your suggestion I think is a bit too risky having AA systems moving in tandem with an armored columns just to deal with drones means those armored columns become that much more valuable prize for the adversary. AA systems aren't cheap and India will need LOTS of them considering Indian Airforce has a trash record against Pakis. Its the Army that has always carried the day. Not to Diss our aviators(we have material superiority and our geography is a net +ve) but Airforce is the one thing Pakis surpass us in as their whole schtick is to have a qualitatively superior air force to counter our numbers in air and on the ground. Their pilot's performance in the wars on the subcontinent and elsewhere proves this.

 

[Baka007]

The whole concept of modern armored cavalry tactics revolves around Main Battle Tanks (MBT) and armored vehicles and that itself is unlikely to change. U still require tanks to physically enforce control over a territory. The present concept of tanks is about a century old, when the British first launched the Mark IV tanks against German defense lines during The First World War. Since the end of the Second World War, conceptually what defines a MBT has remained more or less unchanged.

Why not add a radar and a SAM too, also sea and air capabilities with stealth features 😅
Probably some sonar and anti sub technologies

 

[NSR]

Entirely new paradigm shift in Tank/APC/AFV/WhaP fighting.
Ukraine/Russia war shows that there is no effective defenses against any of the drones being used against them at all.

If one bunches the tanks together for air and missile defenses deployment, then they will be vulnerable to guided missile rockets or precision armor attacks.

Wakeup call for IA to find a solution.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Can't rule it out though. Islamabad has quite a lot of urban area we might at some point have to press into. But yeah no need to consider the possibility of urban war with China considering the hostile terrain, cant even get MBTs to properly function at that altitude . Also your suggestion I think is a bit too risky having AA systems moving in tandem with an armored columns just to deal with drones means those armored columns become that much more valuable prize for the adversary. AA systems aren't cheap and India will need LOTS of them considering Indian Airforce has a trash record against Pakis. Its the Army that has always carried the day. Not to Diss our aviators(we have material superiority and our geography is a net +ve) but Airforce is the one thing Pakis surpass us in as their whole schtick is to have a qualitatively superior air force to counter our numbers in air and on the ground. Their pilot's performance in the wars on the subcontinent and elsewhere proves this.

india and pakistan wars have largely avoided civilian areas and casualties. Battles have been fought between armies head on in open areas. Airstrikes on airbases and military targets. Attack on cities or civilian areas can lead to escalation leading to nuclear war.

 

[Ajay]

With suicide drones, Tanks today have become what an Aircraft carrier is to the Navy. Tanks and even artillery need an air defence system, either integrated or accompanying.

 

[ABHIJIT APSINGIKAR]

Tanks will be less important in next ten years as the missiles, loitering ammunition takes over the battlefield. Hence it is right time to rethink battle concept with Tanks. Indian Army is a bit late in realizing it but finally they are aware of it.

Not quite. As I said before, Tanks are still indispensable to enforce physical control of the battles pace. That aspect will not change and no matter the risks is unlikely to change anytime soon. However we may nevertheless witness a radical change in the definition of role of Tank in battles pace and also expect a major change in equipment.

 

[Sandeep]

Most of the tanks used were older Russian T72 tanks and they can easily be destroyed by modern ATGM which was supplied by the USA and Europe. Also most of the tanks supplied by the USA, UK and European countries were destroyed by Russian ATGM and they had an even stronger, thicker and modern armour with the latest technology but they still ended up being destroyed.

India has upgraded the T72 tanks with the latest technology which increased its armour protection, ERA, fire control system, thermal imaging, laser warning system, stronger engine, modern NBC protection, navigation system, fire suppression system, modern communication etc etc. Although India needs to replace these tanks with the FMBT which should be ready by 2025.

Russia did use bad tactics with no adequate heavy artillery, attack helicopters or IFV and had they moved in as an integrated force then they wouldn’t have lost so many armoured vehicles. Also NATO military officials did advise Ukraine on what they need, tactics, supplying its military and how to hold back Russia by placing anti tank blocks, mines and this allowed them to use the latest ATGM supplied from USA, UK and Europe on a sitting target as they try and go through it or around it.

 

[SuvarPakisareHomos]

Having larger/smaller fleet is not enough u should be able to mass produce quickly to compensate loses and indigenously

India definitely needs to make in India....we have a long way to go still. We still dont have our own tank engines....or aircraft engines...that is what needs to happen first.