Is the Main Battle Tank Obsolete?

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In yesterday's post more than one commenter mentioned that the advent of the drone has made the tank as useless as horse cavalry. (Note, horsemen were used to some good effect in Afghanistan. Horses are still useful in getting people from point A to point B.)

I wanted to address that idea, that thought. While I thought about how I would answer the question, I turned to The Chieftain. I was quite sure that Nicholas Moran might have some thoughts on the subject. Better than mine, that's for sure.

And of course he does.

Now the video is three years old, back when people were starting to notice all the drones flitting about Ukraine destroying Russian vehicles (including tanks) and hapless infantrymen who were caught in the open. (Anyone who has survived infantry combat will tell you that it's a very bad thing to be caught in the open.)

So rather than try to argue the point myself (and I am no expert on armored combat) I'll let the SME do it. Take it away LTC¹ Moran!

Note: YouTube has been having some issues lately, if the video claims it's "not available at this time," just refresh your screen.

So yes, the tank ain't dead yet, probably won't be for quite some time.

And it isn't because they look cool, it's because they are still bloody effective.

As to what lessons we can learn from Ukraine and all of those videos on X and YouTube? Here's LTC Moran's take on that ...

He knows his stuff and he knows when not to opine. Good man that.

¹ Proper abbreviation for a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army.