Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to re: Answer: It's not good tank country

Achtung Panzer!

Your post is surprisingly cogent, I see no reason to add to it, but I did want to make some comments about tank warfare.

Tanks are off-road vehicles, but their effectiveness is quickly neutralized in hilly and mountainous terrain. Although armour can move in in rough country, it is usually transported into battle on carriers (big trucks, actually) since they break down under their own power quite often due to their weight. The less time they spend on their own treads, the better. They also rely heavily on fuel, ammunition, lubricants and spare parts which must be brought in by truck, requiring either roads or flat terrain. So do the auxiliary vehicles that service them, bulldozers that remove obstacles and build fortifications for them, engineering units to pave the way for them them, and infantry to provide security and support for the lot. This complex is almost impossible to transport by air in meaningful strength, it requires seaports or railroads.

As a valuable and delicate asset, they also place great demands on all logistic and support elements, such as supply, intelligence, medical, air cover, reconnaissance, etc.

"My men can fight with their fists and eat their belts, but my tanks need gas!"
--Gen George Patton

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