LeGenD
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West has not been tested in a battle where the enemy has the same access to firepower as Ukraine.
US-led forces fought and defeated the Wehrmacht much like any other opposing force around the world where they could execute armored thrusts and/or apply combined arms doctrine. Where the political intent aligned with good planning if not outright technological supremacy.
As pointed out in here and here, Russian struggle(s) in a conventional war is NOT something new. USSR suffered significant losses in its war with Finland and also in its war with the Wehrmacht in times of WWII. Soviet struggle in Finland convinced Hitler to take his chances with USSR in 1941, but he didn't realize that the US will be willing to provide massive amounts of equipment and valuable supplies to USSR to plug crucial deficiencies in its war-fighting capacity. Decades later, [modern] Russia struggled in Chechnya, and now in Ukraine as pointed out in here.
To be fair, Ukraine has put up a much better fight than any country that [modern] Russia chose to fight since 1991. If WE count Soviet history than Ukraine has put up a much better fight than any adversary [after] US-led forces in the Korean War.
But pressing question is this: could Ukraine fight a war with Russia by itself? Doubtful.
NATO is making it possible for Ukraine to fight a war with Russia by providing massive amounts of equipment and valuable supplies to Ukraine to plug deficiencies in its war-fighting capacity. NATO is also allowing Ukraine to access its surveillance apparatus to observe Russian military positions and plan their moves accordingly. NATO has the necessary industrial capacity and technological prowess to fight and defeat Russia in a conventional war. But WE are not going to witness a blitzkrieg on Russian soil like in Iraq in 2003 due to obvious reasons.
If you use drones against armour then the western tanks would be butchered too.
Russian Armor losses in Ukraine are largely attributed to use of ATGMs and artillery pieces as pointed in here.
Using drones to strike at armored vehicles is "alarming development" for sure. Militant forces such as ISIL also demonstrated this capability in clashes with US-led forces in Iraq in 2017:
Battle for Mosul: ISIS drone obliterates Iraqi army tank
Amaq News, which acts as a semi-official news agency for the ISIS has released a new video showing a drone striking an Iraqi tank from the air. The footage
english.alarabiya.net
But US-led forces were learning from these experiences:
How the Army Out-Innovated the Islamic State’s Drones - War on the Rocks
A few short years ago, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s improvised attack drones were widely believed to be a threat so grave they could become
warontherocks.com
While WE can assume that ISIL does not have sophisticated drones like Turkish TB2, US is developing and testing relevant countermeasures for sophisticated drones as well:
Americans have developed and demonstrated different types of weapon systems to detect and shoot down different types of UAVs in various live-fire trials at home, and also had the opportunity to do so in Iraq.
Video Shows Missile, Vulcan Cannon Fire Reportedly Shooting Down Drones In Iraq
There have been two unsuccessful suicide drone attacks in as many days targeting facilities in Iraq that host American troops.
www.thedrive.com
Americans have also developed some of the most advanced UAVs in the world but they are not willing to EXPORT these machines to other countries. These state-of-the-art autonomous technologies are crucial to ensure American technological supremacy in the years to come.
You might be of the view that Turkish TB2 is formidable. It is on par with American MQ-1B in technical aspects at most.
The TB2: The value of a cheap and “good enough” drone
The Turkish Bayraktar TB2 is an effective, low-cost tactical weapon on the modern battlefield. While invaluable for all wars, it is not a game-changing technology.
www.atlanticcouncil.org
US prepares itself to fight the most capable of foes out there - always. Do I have to mention American defense budget?
Iraq and Lebanon showed that tanks are particularly vulnerable.
The merkava is a very well designed and protected tank bug against a determined and well equipped enemy the tanks were butchered. Numerous Abrams have been taken out in Iraq.
It is important to look at developments in proper context. Israeli Armor suffered losses in its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. This experience motivated Israel to develop Trophy APS.
MBT losses are EXPECTED in modern battlefields, but the word "numerous" is stretching it for the M1 Abrams design standard in comparison to Russian MBT design standard when all manner of conflicts are taken into account. American M1 variants are also much better protected than the Iraqi M1A1M variant as pointed out in here.