Are Tanks as Obsolete as Battleships?
Tanks are useful not only in the technical capabilities they provide, but in a psychological role as well.
by Imran Shamsunahar
Since their debut in September 1915, tanks have become one of the defining images of modern warfare. Very few military tools provide ground forces with the necessary combination of firepower, survivability, mobility and breakthrough power required in today’s battlefields. Although previously conceived as a tactical tool to be used alongside the infantry to break enemy lines, from World War II onwards the tank became primarily strategic, to be concentrated and used to penetrate, outflank and encircle the enemy. Tank warfare is commonly characterized by aggressiveness, offensiveness, speed and panache. The campaigns fought in France, Russia and North Africa during World War II, as well the more recent Arab-Israeli Wars and Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, have been seared into popular memory as the epitome of armored warfare.
Definition
As posited by military historian Martin van Creveld, the character of modern war has shifted from the conventional to what he refers to as “low-intensity conflicts.” More commonly dubbed insurgency or guerrilla warfare, this supposedly “new” style of warfare has created dilemmas for the modern tanker in regards to counterinsurgency operations, also known as COIN.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/are-tanks-obsolete-battleships-22729
