Steel thunder in modern war American and Russian Armored Warfare Since 1990

Agenda Concept of Thesis Research Question American Armored Warfare Russian Armored Warfare Conclusion Questions

Concept of Thesis Comparative study of US Army and Russian Ground Forces; specifically the use of armor Displays how two different organizations responsed to warfare from 1990 on; basic trends are similar, but experiences are very different. Historical experience, national goals, etc. Traces development of doctrine and equipment over a twenty-five year period.

Research Question How has armored warfare doctrine and use changed over the past twenty-five years in the US Army and Russian Ground Forces? Focus on combat experience and technology to reveal how doctrine changes.

Major Trends Research has shown the following trends: Adaptation of Cold War organization to new multipolar world Training of military and armored forces in particular to respond to 360° threat environment Improvements in equipment to confront conventional and unconventional warfare

M1 Abrams M1A2 MBT M1A1 MBT http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/M1A1_Abrams_Tank_in_Camp_Fallujah_retouched.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Mounted_Soldier_System_%28MSS%29.jpg

M2/3 Bradley http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ba/4a/80/ba4a80f4afac567287382d7e61d183bc.jpg

American Armor, 1990 - 2003 AirLand Battle Persian Gulf War, 1991 Attack second echelon Firepower and maneuver Persian Gulf War, 1991 Air and land forces 73 Easting http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/art/maps9b.gif

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1135118__ARCHIVED_THREAD____Battle_of_73_Easting.html&page=3

American Armor, 1990-2003 Full Spectrum Operations OIF Stability, focus on all-around threat environment OIF Drive to Baghdad Stabilization efforts http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Iraq-War-Map.png

American Armor, 2004 - 2014 OIF Urban Warfare Unified Land Operations Stability and Unconventional Warfare Baghdad erupts—whole new war Urban Warfare Fallujah Ramadi The Surge methods Unified Land Operations

Russian MBTs T-72 MBT T-80 MBT http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/T-72B3_-_TankBiathlon2013-09.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/T-80U_-_TankBiathlon2013-14.jpg

Russian MBTs T-90 MBT http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/T-90-ET_2010.jpg

BMP-3 IFV http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/2008_Moscow_May_Parade_Rehearsal_-_BMP-3.JPG

Russian Armor, 1990 - 2004 Operational Maneuver Groups Grozny 1994-1995 Show of Force Storm Groups ‘Local War’ Chechnya 1999-2004 Massed fires True A-I team. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2002/Grozny_Map_3.jpg

Russian Armor, 2004 - 2014 Rebuilding and Rearming Georgia 2008 T-64 and T-72 vs modern T-72 variants Need for improved APC The Brigade Structure An Advanced Force? T-90 disputes Armata Project http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Tskhinvali_battles_%288_August%29_%28en%29.svg/800px-Tskhinvali_battles_%288_August%29_%28en%29.svg.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Georgian_War#mediaviewer/File:2008_South_Ossetia_war_en.svg

Armata MBT—The Future? http://g.foolcdn.com/editorial/images/158915/armata_large.PNG

Other Developments Merkava Mk III and Mk IV performance in Israel Increased use in Ukraine Increased armor training in NATO Germany, Poland, Baltics Counterweight to Russian exercises? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/MerkavaMk4_ZE001m.jpg/1024px-MerkavaMk4_ZE001m.jpg

Conclusions US Army has recognized and adapted main force training to include focus on unconventional warfare, but at cost to conventional capability Russian Ground Forces have primarily been engaged in unconventional warfare, increasing hybrid warfare experience. No way to test superiority of equipment absent testing, but Russia currently leading in doctrinal superiority.

Questions?