The death of tanks is greatly exaggerated

Is the tank still the ‘king of the battlefield’? The sight of burnt out Russian vehicles littering the highways outside of Kyiv has led some to question their effectiveness in modern-day warfare. But don’t be deceived: the death of the tank has been greatly exaggerated. There is a reason, after all, why Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is pleading with Nato to send him as many as possible.

The tank’s detractors claim they are now too heavy, too slow and too easily picked off by anti-tank missiles fired by drones, helicopters and infantry troops. This belief is likely influenced by last year’s defence cost-cutting programme, the Integrated Review, which was designed to make the armed forces better equipped to face threats of the future such as cyber and space warfare.

‘Instead of mass and mobilisation, this future force will be about speed, readiness and resilience, operating much more in the newest domains of space, cyber and sub-sea, and working to prevent conflict, as well as winning it,’ Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence said. The