13
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World! 1
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World! 1
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
Dr. David Johnson
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
• Ourpacingthreat—Russia—isaheadofusinmanycriticalareas
• Whilewehaveunderstandablybeentraining,organizingandequippingfor“thewarswearein”
• Untilrecently,wehaveneglectedpreparingforthe“warswecouldbein”
• ThisisaproblemnotonlyagainstRussia,butagainsttheirclients
• Ourmaterielmodernizationeffortsarenotclosingthegaps
• Andwillnotwithoutmoreinvestmentandathreat-basedapproachtotheproblem
3
• FaultyU.S.conceptsforarmordrivetechnology
– Usetanksinlong-rangethrustsdeepintotheenemy'srearwheretheycanchewuphissupplyinstallationsandcommunications
– Tankswillnotfightothertanks—thatistheroleoftankdestroyers
– Airsupportnotcriticaltoconcept
• Logisticsconcernsalsoinfluential:
– Weightlimitedto30tons,103incheswidthuntillate1944tofacilitateshippinganduseofexistingportablebridges
– Lowvelocityguntoreducedemandforreplacementbarrels
• Armyignoredormisinterpretedenemycapabilities
U.S.M-4ShermanMediumTank
U.S.M-10TankDestroyer
U.S.M-3StuartLightTank
“We’vegotthefinesttanksintheworld!WejustlovetoseetheGermanRoyalTiger[TigerII]comeuponthefield.”
–GeneralGeorgePatton
• AmericantankshavetofightGermanpanzers—andareinferior
• WesternFrontabattleofattrition:wonbycombinedarms,particularlytheuseoftacticalairpowerandartillery
• GeneralOmarBradley’s12th ArmyGrouptanklosses(6June1944-12May1945):3,256mediumtanksand838lighttanks
• GeneralEisenhowernotawareofproblemuntilaftertheBattleoftheBulge—pushesdecisiontofieldM-26with90mmgun
• M26arriveslateinJanuary1945—only20seecombatservice
Sherman75mmvs.TigerII88mm—ThetanktheArmywantedand theoneithadtofight
“AnothernoteworthyexampleofGermansuperioritywasintheheavytank.Fromthesummerof1943tothespringof1945theGermanTigerandPanthertanksoutmatchedourShermantanksindirectcombat.”
-GeorgeC.Marshall
• M26acrashprogramtoaddressM4Shermanfailure—an“UrgentOperationalNeedStatement”byGeneralEisenhower
• Absentthisfailure,andinthefaceofpost-wardemobilizationandbudgetcuts– M4Shermanwouldlikelyhaveremained
theArmy’smainbattletanklongafterWorldWarII
• ItdidserveintheKoreanWar,the1967Arab-IsraeliWar,andelsewhere
6
IftheM4ShermanhadthesamemodernizationandservicelifeextensionplanastheM1Abrams,itwouldhavebeeninserviceuntil2012andprobablybeyond
• 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 their development is driven by concepts
• We need to improve what we have to close current gaps . . . but move forward to overmatch
• Three attributes matter in sustainment and new systems: lethality, survivability, combat mobility
• Everything else—fuel efficiency, air transportability, human factors, back-up cameras, etc.—is secondary
• All Army combat systems should be measured by the same ruthless standard: can they overmatch our adversaries in a combined arms fight
Russiaismodernizingtocounterourcapabilitiesandhashomefieldadvantage
S-400 SAM
BM-30 MLRS
Pantsir-S1 ADA
9K333 MANPADS
T-14 Armata Tank
TOS-1 MRL
SS-26 SRBM
2S35 152mm Howitzer
SA-15 SAMT-15 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
SU-25 CAS Aircraft
SU-50 Attack Helicopter
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
MG Eric Wesley
Maneuver Center of Excellence
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World! 9
RNGW Study
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
MG Cedric Wins
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
LTG (R) Bob Lennox
General Dynamics Missions Systems
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
Mr. Kevin Fahey
Cypress International
Fort Benning, Home of the MCoE
Maneuver Center of Excellence - Team of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians from the Best Army in the World!
Moderator: BG (R) Peter Palmer
Panelists:MG Eric Wesley, MCoEMG Cedric Wins, RDECOMDr. David Johnson, CSBAMr. Kevin Fahey, Cypress InternationalLTG (R) Bob Lennox, General Dynamics Mission Systems
