ABSTRACT
Battle tanks possess only modest levels of operational mobility suggests that armoured formations operating in the open will represent easy targets for long-range strike systems. The experience of the Gulf War suggests that deep strikes against armoured targets are feasible, and are likely to become more so with the development of systems such as Army Tactical Missile System. The future requirement will be for armoured vehicles which can concentrate from dispersed positions, and destroy the enemy by means of direct fire before re-dispersing. Tactically and operationally, a more satisfactory alternative might be to produce a tank hull specifically designed to accommodate future developments in gun mountings, armour technologies, and possibly automotive components as they are proven. The application of increasingly sophisticated information technologies to military operations is likely to provide the ability to see, and to strike, targets located at any point within a vastly extended ‘battlespace’.
