Steel in the Storm: Recent Wars as Guides for Armor Transformation
Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral and Nicholas Drake
July 21, 2025
Steel in the Storm: Recent Wars as Guides for Armor Transformation
Drones turning tanks into bonfires might make great YouTube content, but the real story of armored warfare’s future is going to be much different than you might think.
Some observers and analysts openly question whether the advances in precision-guided munitions, drones, and anti-tank weaponry seen in wars that have dominated professional military analysis over the last five years — Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the war between Israel and Hamas — have made the tank and armored formations into prohibitively expensive, ineffective anachronisms. While they are correct to point out that almost all belligerents in these conflicts have struggled to employ their armor effectively, these critics jump to conclusions which miss the essential function the tank and armor formations can and must perform on the modern battlefield. As leaders of III Armored Corps, we see how the armor force will retain an indispensable role on the battlefield. However, in order to do so it will need to adapt to meet contemporary challenges. Under the framework of the Army’s Transform in Contact initiative, the armored force will need to integrate new technological capabilities, adapt organizational designs, and evolve its training to ensure it continues to fight as a combined arms team.
As the champions for the future armor force, we are seeking to learn the right lessons from these cases of armor employment in recent wars to guide the development of a more lethal and effective fighting force. Furthermore, we will also need to assess the applicability and limits of these lessons when applied against the war the United States does not want but must be ready for: one against China.
https://warontherocks.com/2025/07/steel-in-the-storm-recent-wars-as-guides-for-armor-transformation/
