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Tank Tops And Heavy Metal On The Modern Middle Eastern Battlefield
NATIV ^ | Rand H. Fishbein

Posted on 12/22/2007 6:08:54 AM PST by Fennie

While some Western military strategists may be predicting the demise of the tank, there is little sign that this prophecy has taken hold in the Arab World. For over a decade, countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan have worked vigorously to modernize their heavy armored fleets. They have spent billions of dollars acquiring new, state-of-the-art platforms from the foremost tank manufacturers in America and Europe and billions more upgrading their old Soviet equipment with Western technology. Corresponding improvements in training, maintenance, command and control and air-land battle tactics have given the armored forces of the Arab World a potency they lacked in the past. This is particularly true for Egypt which has significantly improved both the lethality and survivability of its tank force. After many years in the technological wilderness, Egyptian armor is once again emerging as a powerful threat to Israel's security...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel
KEYWORDS: iran; iraq; israel; syria; tanks
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1 posted on 12/22/2007 6:08:57 AM PST by Fennie
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To: Fennie

Grossly overstated threat. US Army vs. Iraqi Army shows exactly what the situation would be with Israel vs. any of it’s Arab neighbors. Tanks are very destructive if you don’t have air dominance. If you do, they are dead meat. Israel’s airforce would dominate the battle, similarly to that of the US. That the Israeli airforce could invade Syria as they did recently just proves my point. Someone in Israel is looking for money is all this article proves.


2 posted on 12/22/2007 6:15:04 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: Fennie

tanks alot,,,


3 posted on 12/22/2007 6:15:19 AM PST by brivette
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To: Fennie

Threa to Isreal.No their air force would destroy them before lunch time.


4 posted on 12/22/2007 6:16:08 AM PST by TLEIBY308
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To: Fennie

Demise of armor only holds true with absolute control of the air.

In strategic terms, absolute control of the air = absolute control of everything.


5 posted on 12/22/2007 6:16:51 AM PST by bill1952 (The right to buy weapons is the right to be free)
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To: Fennie

Did they not see what happened to Saddam’s “invincible” tanks?


6 posted on 12/22/2007 6:17:26 AM PST by dljordan
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To: bill1952; Fennie; RKV
Demise of armor only holds true with absolute control of the air.

In strategic terms, absolute control of the air = absolute control of everything.

Tanks are very destructive if you don’t have air dominance. If you do, they are dead meat.

All very true, and no offense, obvious to anyone who stops to think about it for 30 seconds. You have to wonder why all these Middle Eastern countries are beefing up their tank forces without giving consideration to this issue?

7 posted on 12/22/2007 6:33:17 AM PST by Hardastarboard (DemocraticUnderground.com is an internet hate site.)
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To: Fennie
One Hell-Fire can really ruin your day.
8 posted on 12/22/2007 6:34:57 AM PST by Zman (Liberals: denying reality since Day One.)
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To: Fennie
Is this what the Russkies are selling to Iran?
9 posted on 12/22/2007 6:39:30 AM PST by Eye of Unk
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To: Hardastarboard

They expect to fight other Arabs is why.


10 posted on 12/22/2007 6:40:04 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: Fennie

...Did someone say “heavy metal”?

“...Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
“Once you provoke her, rattling of her tail
“Never begins it, never, but once engaged...
“Never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage

“Don’t tread on me

“So be it
“Threaten no more
“To secure peace is to prepare for war
“So be it
“Settle the score
“Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

“Don’t tread on me

“Love it or leave it, she with the deadly bite
“Quick is the blue tongue, forked as lighting strike
“Shining with brightness, always on surveillance
“The eyes, they never close, emblem of vigilance

“Don’t tread on me

“So be it
“Threaten no more
“To secure peace is to prepare for war
“So be it
“Settle the score
“Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

“Don’t tread on me

“So be it
“Threaten no more
“To secure peace is to prepare for war

“Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail
“Once you provoke her, rattling on her tail

“So be it
“Threaten no more
“To secure peace is to prepare for war
“So be it
“Settle the score
“Touch me again for the words that you’ll hear evermore...

“Don’t tread on me!”


11 posted on 12/22/2007 6:47:51 AM PST by RichInOC (The U. S. Armed Forces...MOVING 'ZIG' FOR GREAT JUSTICE since 1775.)
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To: RKV
"They expect to fight other Arabs is why."

There is hardly room enough to spread a prayer rug inside one of these things and the mandatory five prayer stops a day give infidels an unfair advantage.

TARGET RICH ENVIRONMENT


12 posted on 12/22/2007 6:49:27 AM PST by Iron Munro ( (Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.))
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To: Iron Munro

They’ll use the tanks on their own people if “needed.”


13 posted on 12/22/2007 6:50:43 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: Hardastarboard

“You have to wonder why all these Middle Eastern countries are beefing up their tank forces without giving consideration to this issue?”

Could be because tanks are cheaper than fighter jets and a lot easier to keep running. The enemies of America have the same negative politics in their bureaucratic entities as we do.


14 posted on 12/22/2007 6:53:34 AM PST by driftdiver
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To: Eye of Unk

Russian Military Analysis —

http://warfare.ru/?lang=&catid=244&linked=1776

http://warfare.ru/?lang=&catid=244&linked=1775


15 posted on 12/22/2007 7:06:27 AM PST by Fennie
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To: Fennie

Air superiority negates all the tanks in the world. Give me a few Warthogs, F-22s or just some plain UAVs - problem solved.


16 posted on 12/22/2007 7:07:49 AM PST by MarkT
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To: RKV

Why do you think Israel will have air dominance over its enemies? The IAF is very good with what it has but the Arabs haven’t forgotten the lessons of 1967 and 1973. They have done much to modernize their air power.
The French and the Russians will sell all of the advanced fighters that any Arab country wants to purchase and they will train the pilots of the aircraft.
Israel has very limited resources in both materiel and men. Tanks make perfect sense for use against Israel or any enemy.
How effective do you think our airpower would be against tanks if it was pitted against a viable air force that kept it occupied in the air?


17 posted on 12/22/2007 7:11:35 AM PST by em2vn
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To: em2vn

I already told you how. The Israelis obviously can defeat the Syrian air defense network, and I doubt that other regional nations have significantly better systems. Someone in Israel is printing this to affect defense appropriations. This is a political game, same as is played regularly in many countries, including the good old USA.


18 posted on 12/22/2007 7:19:03 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: MarkT

UAVs are cost effective and deadly. Of course the fighter pilot mafia that runs the AF has decidedly mixed feelings about them. We are on the verge of updating our air fleet with some GREAT hardware - and just in time given what’s happening to the F15 airframe. Only problem is the new planes (F22 and F35) are incredibly expensive. And the size of our naval fleet is down substantially. We’re going to need to make sizeable investments in our military, along with increasing the number of divisions we have in arms. And no, I don’t own defense stocks, except in index funds. Hmm, time to look at that;>)


19 posted on 12/22/2007 7:25:01 AM PST by RKV (He who has the guns makes the rules)
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To: RKV

Syria is a poor example to use.
A well organized and executed ground and air assault against Israel from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria would be hard to stop.
Tanks remain a major component of taking and holding ground. Air power can do neither.


20 posted on 12/22/2007 7:26:30 AM PST by em2vn
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