Killing Tanks

Enemy tanks, infantry fighting vechiles and other hostile armour represent probably the greatest threat yuo'll face when defending your position on the European battlefield.
This threat more than anything else will dictate how you set out your defences.

But preparing to defeat an armoured attack doesn't mean that you should slip into a defencive state of mind. Your tactics should be agressive, imaginative and effective. This is when the enemy is at his most stretched and his most vulnerable - and you have a golden opportunity to inflict massive tank casualties on him.

Use your ground:
Use natural obstacles to hinder and impede the enemy, and canalise his approach - that is, make him travelalong the lines you want, to where you can ambush, harass or destroy him at will. Remember that armoured vehicles are very limited by the ground that they can use. They need bridging or snorkelling equipment to cross anything but the smallest river or streams. Marshy or swampy ground is impassable to main battle tanks, and close or wooded country, if not impassable, gives you an opportunity for tank ambush at close range.

Similarly, built-up areas delay and channel the movement of armoured vehicles and make them vulnerable to close-range infantry anti-tank weapons. You can of caurse thicken up all these natural anti-tank obstacles with minefields and, if you are defending a built-up area, with rubble, overturned buses and any other sort of artificial obstacle.

Use surprise:
Yuo can use 'dead' ground to conceal your defending, reserve and counter-attack forces. You can sight your anti-tank weapons in defilade positions (hidden from frontal observation) in order to provide enfilade fire (from a flank). You will then surprise the enemy from a flanknand hit him where his armour is thinnest. The tank is also a bigger and easier target in enfilade.

You can also use revese slopes. In other words, sight your anti-tank weapons several hundred metres back from the crest of a ridge or a hill: your positions are then invisible to the enemy until he crosses the crest. You will have been safe from his long range tank fire but, as he shows his belly when he crosses the ridgeline, you can engage him with maximum effect. Clever use of ground is probably the most effective counter to the tank threat.

Second, you must exploit to the full any conditions that favour you. Despite the the most modern night-vision equipment, tanks are more vulnerable at night. Despite the most up-to-date thermal-imaging equipment, tanks are more vulnerable in poor visibility. Finally, tanks do not like either close country or built-up areas. Use these conditions when you can.

The weapon for the job:
Well-planned and coordinated use of your anti-tank weapons will enable you to defeat enemy armour. In every battle group there is a combination of weapons systems for anti-armour operations.

In the first category are hand-held infantry weapons: the 66mm LAW, the 84mm MAW and MILAN anti-tank guided missile (ATGW) system.

The second category are vehicle-mounted infantry anti-armour systems, the 30mm Rarden Cannon mounted on the new Warrior APC or the Scimitar recce vehicle, and MILAN mounted in the MILAN compact turret (MCT) fitted to the Spartan APC.

In the third category are Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) anti-armour systems: these are the Swingfire ATGW mounted on Striker, the Rarden cannon mounted on Scimitar, the 76mm gun mounted on Scorpion and, most inportant, the 120mm main armament of Chieftain or Challenger - the most potent tank killer of them all.

The fourth category consists of anti-tank mines laid by the engineers: these are mostly designed to make a tank immobile, usually by blowing a track off.

The fifth category, and one that is showing enormous potential, is the British anti-tank helicopter: in the British Army this is the versitale TOW/Lynx system, which is capable of firing eight TOW missiles out to 3 750 metres without reloading.

Big Guns:
The sixth category is artillery: large-calibre guns (155mm and upwards) can be most effective against a massed tank attack. A concentrated artillery bombardment can ruin optics, destroy radio antennas, dislodge and set fire to external fuel tanks and disorient and disconcert tank crews. Multi-barelled rocket systems such as MLRS can fire rockets that scatter bomblets designed to penetrate the weaker top armour of tanks. Ground attack aircraft such as the Harrier and A-10 are most effective tank destroyers: they are capable of either rocket or bomb attack against tank targets.

You will see from this brief gallop though the systems available to you, or in direct support of your battalion, that there is a vast array of weapon systems capable of defeating a tank attack. It is precisely because there are so many systems that they must be carefully coordinated in order to avoid duplication and waste.

Hands-on:
Closest to you will be the hand-held weapons. They are designed for use under 1950metres. Milan reaches out to this range, and the 84mm MAW and 66mm LAW reach out to 600and 350 metres respecively. Each system is designed to be used progressively as the enemy gets closer.

MILAN is fitted with a thermal imaging system, so that you can use it 24 hours a day and in bad weather. Milan and the 84mm/66mm systems are complementary. You can use them to provide close anti-tank protection for isolated MILAN crews or at distances below MILAN's minimum range.

Weapons on wheels:
In a mechanised battalion you will have your vehicles near you in your defensive position. Site them so that you can use their weapon systems to best advantage. Use the 30mm Rarden cannon on Warrior and Scimitar to engage enemy APCs and other lightly armoured vehicles, and concenterate the firepower on tanks and long-range ATGW, on enemy tanks. Rarden is effective on out to about 1 500 metres. You may also have some Spartan vehicles fitted with the MCR in your vicinity. This system has exactly the same capability as ground-fired MILAN but provides a measure of protection for the crew.

Tank Support:
When you operate in a mechanised battlegroup you will be supported by tanks. The tank is the most effective tank-killer of all. It can fire its armourpiercing discarding SABOT (APDS) rounds out to 2 000 metres with great accuracy, and at a rate of up to eight rounds a minute.

However, tanks are best used to achive surprice. You will find that the Royal Armoured Corps no longer use tanks as static gun platforms. That would be a waste of their mobility. Keep them in reserve, ready to cut off and destroy  any enemy tank penetration. You are equipped with MILAN and perfectly capable of defending your position against tank attack without wasting your own tanks in static defence.

Armoured Reconnaissans Regiments are equipped with the Scorpion recce vehicle and with Striker. The highly accurate Swingfire ATGW is mounted on Striker and gives the ability to engage tanks out to a range of 4 000 metres. This allows reconnaissance troops to cause early attrition.

Mines and Choppers:
The next component of your anti-tank plan is the minefield. This is a subject in itself: at this stage all you need to know is that the anti-tank mine plays an important part in the overall plan to defeat an enemy armoured attack.

There are several categories of anti-tank mine: the most common are the conventional cylindrical pressure mine (such as the British MK-7), the bar mine, the off-route mine, (designed to attack the side of a tank) and the scatterable mine which can be fired from a gun or launched from a system mounted on an APC. Well-planned minefields covered by fire from your defencive positions can cause havoc among an enemy armoured formation.

Anti-tank helicopter are also a subject in themselves. TOW missiles fired from Lynx have a range out to 3 750 metres. They are likely to engage massed enemy tank attacks of over 60 armoured vehicles well out to the front of you. Your role will be to  mop upwhat is left.

A fighting chance:
Add to this arrayof weapon systems the anti-tank capabilities of both artillery and offencive air support, and you will see that you stand a very good chance of blunting, stopping and destroying even the most concentrated armoured threat. The tank is still a potent weapon system but it is no longer queen of the battlefield: the armoured helicopter is emerging as a contender for that title.

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5 points for Tank-Killing:

  1. Choose a firing position where you are firing into the side of enemy tanks, but protected and concealed from the dirction of enemy approach.
  2. Camouflage your position well, and use atleast 45cm of overhead protection over the weapon position.
  3. Fire in support of the anti-tank weapons should also be able to cover most, if not all, of the ground they cover.
  4. Use mines and obstacles to channel the tanks into an area ideal for you to engage them in.
  5. Choose your target carefully; concentrate on command tanks and the ZSU 23-4, which provides air defence.

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Fighting the anti-armour battle:
Tanks combine firepower, mobility and armoured protection to produce what is known as 'shock action'. The quality and quantity of Warsaw Pact armour, combined with their massive indirect firepower capability, forms a serious threat, and with this in mind all defence on the NATO central front is designed around the anti-armour plan.

  1. Counter-mobility:
    The engineers can create anti-tank obstacles or improve existing natural obstacles to further channel the enemy into the killing zone.
  2. Reverse slope positions:
    Always consider a reverse slope position first. Not only does it provide a degree of protection from direct and indirect fire, but it also gives a better chance of preserving surprise. But you will need OPs forward to provide adequate warning of enemy approach.
  3. Fighter ground attack:
    As well as Lynx anti-tank helicopters, there may be ground attack aircraft such as the A-10 or Harrier GR.Mk 3 available for tank-busting.
  4. Priority target:
    Warsaw Pact radio radio procedures is very strictly controlled: only battalion or company commanders are alowed to speak! Everyone else simply maintains a listening watch and passes no information, so if a command tank is knocked out then confusion regins.
  5. 84mm MAW:
    An old but extremely solid piece of kit, there are moves to retain it with an improver ammunition while the new 80mm LAW is perfected. The 84mm has a massive blast signature and is almost as impressive at the firing end as it is on the receiving end. If there is time, it is well worth digging secondary, alternative positions and perhaps dummy positions. The essential thing is, you can't afford to miss very often!
  6. 66mm LAW:
    Great for short-range work on BMPs, BTR-60s etc, LAW could be used against tanks in a desperate situation. If you are taking on a tank with this weapon, fire volleys rather than one short after another; you are bound to get atlest one round on target.
  7. Mines:
    There are four types of minefield: the tactical large-area minefield, usually laidby the engineers, for tactical  use on the battlefield (i.e. to canalise the enemy into killing areas); the protective minefield, the sort that you will plant in fron of your position for defence purposes; the nuisance minefield, designed to hamper and disrupt enemy movement; and the dummy minefield  - a wired-off area suitably marked can be as effective as  the real thing.
  8. Weapons siting:
    In anti-tank warefare your siting of weapons is all-important to minimise you vulnerability to the enemy's direct and indirect fire.
  9. Milan:
    Quick to deploy and devastating in positional defence. Milan would normally be fully dug in. The long flight time of the missile means you must be able to see the target for a full 12,5 seconds at maximum range, and the missile can be decoyed by other infra-red sources on the battlefield, like burning tank hulks. Milan must be deployed with short-range anti-tank protection (84mm MAW) and with infantry in a position to defend it.
  10. Small-arms fire:
    7,62mm rifle and GPMG fire will force tanks to close down, making target acquisition more difficult. 0.50 calibre rounds will dammage the BTR-60 and similar vehicles.
  11. Chieftain:
    In positional defence, it is normal to fight in mixed teams of tanks and infantry with dedicated artillery support, as well as some signals and engineers. If you have tanks with you, then make sure the anti-tank plan is coordinated to include them. Each tank will have a number of fire positions prepared, the idea being to fire two or three shots and move; this will give the tank a better chance of ssurvival.

 

British Army infantry anti-tank weapons ranges:

  1. LAW 66; can shoot out to 250 metres.
  2. MAW 84; sight range is 600 metres but effective range is 500 metres for static and 400 metres for moving targets.
  3. MILAN; can shoot out to 1 950 metres, Missile flight time is 12,5 sec. yuo must be able to track the target for the whole time.

US Army infantry anti-tank weapons ranges:

  1. LAW 66; same as British, but a more realistic range for engaging a tank would be 150 metres or less, and volly fire is recomended.
  2. MAW DRAGON; can shoot out to 1 000 metres, and has a minimum range of 65 metres. This gap is covered by LAW.
  3. TOW; can shoot out to 3 000 metres, and must be carefully sighted to take advantage of this.

 

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