Armoured warfare

Armoured warfare in modern warfare is understood to be the use of armoured fighting vehicles as a central component of the methods of war.

Airborne threats

Tanks and other armoured vehicles are vulnerable to attack from the air for several reasons. One is that they are easily detectable - the metal they are made of shows up well on radar, and is especially obvious if they are moving in formation. A moving tank also products a lot of heat, noise and dust. The heat makes seeing them on a forward-looking infra-red system easy and the dust is a good visual clue during the day. The other major reason is that most armoured vehicles have thinner armour on the roof of the turret and on the engine deck, so an anti-tank guided missile (from an attack helicopter or ground-attack jet) hitting them from the top can be deadly even if it has a small warhead. Even machine guns and small automatic cannon are powerful enough to penetrate the rear and top sections of the engine compartment of a tank.

Related Topics:
Forward-looking infra-red - Anti-tank guided missile - Ground-attack jet

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A number of helicopter gunships have been designed mainly to engage enemy armoured vehicles. The AH-64 Apache, Westland Lynx, Mi-24 Hind and Denel Aviation AH-2 Rooivalk are examples.

Related Topics:
Helicopter gunship - AH-64 Apache - Westland Lynx - Mi-24 Hind - Denel Aviation AH-2 Rooivalk

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This problem has several solutions. One is air supremacy. This is what the United States relies on most, which is demonstrated by their distinct lack of effective short-range, mobile air defence vehicles to accompany armoured units. Most other countries accompany their armoured forces with highly mobile self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, short and medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, or both (sometimes on the same chassis).

Related Topics:
Air supremacy - Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun - Surface-to-air missile

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