Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE 1 Maneuver Center of Excellence - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE 1 Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE Dr. David Johnson Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Our pacing threat—Russia—is • ahead of us in many critical areas While we have understandably • been training, organizing and equipping for “the wars we are in” Until recently, we have • neglected preparing for the “wars we could be in” This is a problem not only • against Russia, but against their clients Our materiel modernization • efforts are not closing the gaps And will not without more • investment and a threat-based approach to the problem 3

• Faulty U.S. concepts for armor drive technology – Use tanks in long-range thrusts deep into the enemy's rear where they can chew up his supply installations and communications – Tanks will not fight other tanks—that is the role of tank U.S. M-4 Sherman Medium Tank destroyers – Air support not critical to concept • Logistics concerns also influential: – Weight limited to 30 tons, 103 inches width until late 1944 to facilitate shipping and use of existing portable bridges – Low velocity gun to reduce demand for replacement U.S. M-3 Stuart Light Tank barrels • Army ignored or misinterpreted enemy capabilities “We’ve got the finest tanks in the world! We just love to see the German Royal Tiger [Tiger II] come up on the field.” –General George Patton U.S. M-10 Tank Destroyer

American tanks have to fight German panzers—and are inferior • Western Front a battle of attrition: won by combined arms, particularly the use of • tactical air power and artillery General Omar Bradley’s 12 th Army Group tank losses (6 June 1944-12 May 1945): • 3,256 medium tanks and 838 light tanks General Eisenhower not aware of problem until after the Battle of the Bulge— • pushes decision to field M-26 with 90mm gun M26 arrives late in January 1945—only 20 see combat service • Sherman 75mm vs. Tiger II 88mm—The tank the Army wanted and the one it had to figh t “Another noteworthy example of German superiority was in the heavy tank. From the summer of 1943 to the spring of 1945 the German Tiger and Panther tanks outmatched our Sherman tanks in direct combat.” -George C. Marshall

• M26 a crash program to address M4 Sherman failure—an “Urgent Operational Need Statement” by General Eisenhower • Absent this failure, and in the face of post-war demobilization and budget cuts – M4 Sherman would likely have remained the Army’s main battle tank long after World War II • It did serve in the Korean War, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and elsewhere If the M4 Sherman had the same modernization and service life extension plan as the M1 Abrams, it would have been in service until 2012 and probably beyond 6

• We face the real prospect of fighting competent state adversaries with modern weapons—have not done this since WWII • Combat vehicles matter— a lot —but SS-26 SRBM T-14 Armata Tank S-400 SAM their development is driven by concepts • We need to improve what we have to close current gaps . . . but move T-15 Infantry Fighting Vehicle SA-15 SAM BM-30 MLRS forward to overmatch • Three attributes matter in sustainment and new systems: lethality, survivability, combat mobility SU-25 CAS Aircraft Pantsir-S1 ADA TOS-1 MRL • Everything else—fuel efficiency, air transportability, human factors, back-up cameras, etc.—is secondary • All Army combat systems should be 2S35 152mm Howitzer SU-50 Attack Helicopter 9K333 MANPADS measured by the same ruthless Russia is modernizing to counter our capabilities and has standard: can they overmatch our home field advantage adversaries in a combined arms fight

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE MG Eric Wesley Maneuver Center of Excellence Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE RNGW Study 9 Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE MG Cedric Wins U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE LTG (R) Bob Lennox General Dynamics Missions Systems Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE Mr. Kevin Fahey Cypress International Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!

Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE Moderator: BG (R) Peter Palmer Panelists: MG Eric Wesley, MCoE MG Cedric Wins, RDECOM Dr. David Johnson, CSBA Mr. Kevin Fahey, Cypress International LTG (R) Bob Lennox, General Dynamics Mission Systems Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!