@Jat Boy
Whats your background to make such baseless statements ? Do you know anything about military warfare ? I will take the time to give you a equal response in minutes.
The Al-Zarrar Tanks are not our frontline Tanks, but the second line. While moving exposed in an urban environment, dismounted Pakistani infantry troops may be subjected to intense hostile fire, sources of which are difficult to locate. Normal small unit weapons lack adequate firepower for subduing well protected enemy bunkers and, especially, carefully camouflaged positions in buildings. Decentralized tactical movements through built-up areas results in severe difficulties in maintaining control and mutual identification. In this type of situation, the danger of fratricide casualties also becomes acute. This inferiority can be compensated for by using armored vehicles like the ones available Tank Al-Zarrar. Al-Zarar Tank are adequately protected by add-on armor or other protective suites capable of withstanding
Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG).
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The Pakistani Al-Zarar Tanks can be deployed as support weapons for infantry assaults, an infantry support weapon in the breakthrough of defence lines role. Once an attack supported by infantry, tanks had broken through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines, faster tanks such as Al-Khalid or T-80 UD can expected to use their higher speed and longer range to operate far behind the front and cut
lines of supply and communications or attack enemy Tank formations. Tanks and other armored vehicles are not invincible, especially in urban terrain, where they are vulnerable to attacks from close range by man-portable anti-tank weapons such as RPGs. Since the urban scenario has no "frontline", attacks can come not only from the front, where the tanks are heavily protected, but also from above, and from the flanks or the rear, aiming at the vehicle's weak spots. Attacks by IEDs and mines can also come from below the surface. The picture of the destroyed Al-Zarrar Tank seen above took a lot of hits and even then the crew survived. More importantly it served as magnate for TTP fire enabling other units to locate their ambush locations.
Although urban warfare is not exactly the tanker's dream, a significant number of future battles will inevitably take place in this environment. The value of tank support cannot be underestimated in this high-risk environment, in which a commander wishes to use all available combat elements in order to reduce casualties. Modifications to tanks for use in urban combat conditions will continue to make them indispensable partners in the future war fighting team.
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The advantage of such Independent Al-Zarrar Brigades is their Fast and close fire support which no other weapon in our inventory can give and that at LOW costs, while they can easily join the heavier and modern armored units as second attack line, here we come to the tactic which is called Panzerkeil.
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The
panzerkeil is an offensive formation used by armoured corps. The tanks would form into a
wedge-shaped formation, with the most heavily armed and armoured Tanks forming the tip, that are the Al-Khalid and T-80UD Tanks, ,T-85IIMP upgraded the base (where available), with the Al-Zarrar the wings.
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There are many other tactic and strategies why Pakistan armoured Corps did make the decision not scrap the
Type-59IIM but to give them a second live !
Khan was born in Quetta, Balochistan and was schooled at the
Karachi Grammar School where he was the editor of the school magazine, The Grammarian. He majored in Political Science and History from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where he reported for and edited
The Michigan Daily. He is also the first Pakistani to have been nominated as a fellow at
Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy,
Harvard University.......
