WW2 Tanks.... A question....

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

All I really know about tanks is that NATO should pool their resources and send about 40 000 of the fuckers to Ukraine.

Boru

You want to be on the pointy end of the stick this time?

Sorry, what?

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

You want to be on the pointy end of the stick this time?

Sorry, what?

Boru

You're good with sending troops into the shit. Do you want to lead them into battle or are you going to be on a lawn chair with a cooler like a good REMF?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Oh.  Lawn chair and cooler, definitely.

Look, Ukraine and Russia are going to be at war soon.  Ukraine has the personnel but not the equipment.  There's going to be a war (ar at least annexation) regardless, the least the West could do is lend material support.

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Different from sending the marching meat to war.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Which was what I suggested - sending tanks.  Ukraine already has trained tank crews, but their tanks (about 6000 or so, if I remember correctly) are 1960s vintage and aren't going to be able to put up much more than token resistance to the Russians - and we all know how much Russian LOVE their tanks.

Boru

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If they're not trained on the tanks they will be operating they're pretty much going to be somebody's lunch. The learning curve in combat is cruel.

[The Grand Nudger]

Ukraine is an urban state.  Tanks aren't going to be any more use there (for either side) than they were in Chechnya. If interested parties were worried about russian tanks, they'd be better off sending two phase rpgs and small surface to surface missiles.

[Minimalist]

What they need are anti-tank rockets.  Nothing like shooting down at a tank from a second or third floor window.  Aim for the engine grating.  That usually makes a nice explosion.

[Anomalocaris]

Ukraine is an urban state.  Tanks aren't going to be any more use there (for either side) than they were in Chechnya.  If interested parties were worried about russian tanks, they'd be better off sending two phase rpgs and small surface to surface missiles.

Hmmm, I thought Ukraine was a open country of flat topography interspersed by few rivers and ideal for mobile operations by large armored formations with river crossing skills.

[The Grand Nudger]

They'll be able to cross open fields to get from battle to battle..but that isn't where the battles will take place.  Take a look at the spread of the pop. I suppose that they could occupy a few beet farms with their tanks, but beyond that, not so much.

The desert is a great place to move with your tanks too.....and yet.....

The idea of the classic tank battle is WW2 mindset. Even then it was pretty rough, but since then, in conflict after conflict, tanks have proven to be more of a liability than an asset to an invading force.