| Tango01 | 04 Aug 2020 8:48 p.m. PST |
"Here's a video clip of an entire battalion of Russian T-80U main battle tanks in a live-fire exercise. The clip is short on details but the exercise appears to take place somewhere in western Russia. A typical Russian tank battalion has 31 tanks—3 companies of 10 tanks each, plus the battalion commander's tank. The clip appears to show the entire battalion in action…"
See here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| Thresher01 | 04 Aug 2020 9:25 p.m. PST |
Depends upon the battalion, unit, type of tanks, and time period. The above chart shows 41 tanks. Some other companies have 13 tanks in them, e.g. 3 x platoons of 4 vehicles each, plus one in the HQ. Back during the Cold War, there were even a few independent tank battalions that had 50+ tanks in them, e.g. 5 x companies of 10 tanks. I think either 51 or 52 tanks, including those in the HQ. |
 Legion 4  | 05 Aug 2020 9:09 a.m. PST |
Depends upon the battalion, unit, type of tanks, and time period. Very true … None the less they had a lot of MBTs, etc.! 51 or 52 tanks, including those in the HQ. I believe it was 52, like our MBT Bns in the '80s. The last 2 are the Bn Cdr's & Bn XO's IIRC.  |
| Thresher01 | 05 Aug 2020 9:15 a.m. PST |
Yea, I couldn't recall for sure, but with that many tanks, 2 in the HQ seems a bit more reasonable to me. |
| Tango01 | 05 Aug 2020 12:11 p.m. PST |
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| Wolfhag | 05 Aug 2020 1:45 p.m. PST |
Here is how the Soviets planned on deployment and tactics: PDF link Wolfhag |
| Legion 4 | 06 Aug 2020 8:20 a.m. PST |
I had all the FMs and classes on the subject. They would have been a real muth'a if the  hit the fan !  |
| Wolfhag | 06 Aug 2020 10:23 a.m. PST |
It would be interesting hitting a formation like that with 155mm DPICM's. Then bring in the Cobras and Apaches at NOE popping up and firing ATGM from 3,000m while the armored units maneuver for a flank counter-attack of what's left. Wolfhag |
| ScoutJock | 06 Aug 2020 1:35 p.m. PST |
I spent a lot of hours in the cockpit rehearsing the exact scenario Wolfhag mentioned but he did forget the A-10s. It works too as a couple of rotations at the NTC and CMTC showed. Our opponents in the gulf wars never really gave us the opportunity to do it for real though using all the players, and thank goodness it never came to pass in Germany which would have been the real test. |
| Legion 4 | 06 Aug 2020 3:47 p.m. PST |
Yep that was a standard tactic, the Joint Air Attack Team[JAAT] we were trained to execute. The gunships hover under cover behind terrain. When the Russian/WP hordes closed the range. The gunships would pop-up and fire their TOWs, etc. Then go back under cover. Then A-10s would swoop in and blast away at them. As they pulled up the gunships would fire again … Repeat until you run out of ammo or targets … |
| Thresher01 | 06 Aug 2020 10:41 p.m. PST |
US military power is quite astounding, but my recollection is the Soviets were no slouches either in the artillery arena, not to mention attack helos, jets, tanks, IFVs, and all the other stuff they had arrayed for battle, and were thinking of doing the same thing to American/NATO units too. The battlefield with both sides doing that would have been very lethal indeed, even without tactical nukes, and chem and bio weapons being deployed. |
| Legion 4 | 07 Aug 2020 8:07 a.m. PST |
AFAIK you are correct the USSR/WP had a lot of Armor, SPFA, APCs, IFVs, etc. It would be no cake walk for either side. Chances are both sides may run out of ammo, replacements, etc., with the high losses in a few months. Even without NBC being involved. |
| Wolfhag | 07 Aug 2020 8:35 a.m. PST |
Ahhh. I can't believe I forgot the A-10's! Wolfhag |
| Legion 4 | 08 Aug 2020 7:59 a.m. PST |
The USAF keeps trying to forget the A-10s too … |
paints up some Israeli mortar vehicles.
