Some time ago, there was a very popular video of the Ukrainian army ambushing the mechanized column of the Russian army on the Internet, and the cutscene was roughly as follows:
A group of Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles marched along the road,
Suddenly, Ukrainian rocket launchers/anti-tank missiles in the woods on the side of the road opened fire,
Hit 1 Russian tank on fire, the hit tank fire extinguishing system starts, the tank turns to give way, the commander of the car escapes,
Russian infantry fighting vehicles maneuvered and opened fire on the other side of the road, and the infantry got out of the car to find cover,
The Russian tanks in the back fired high-explosive shells at the Ukrainian position.
Famous scenes
Various tactical analyses on the Internet will not be repeated here.
So the question is, which army's anti-tank tactics were followed by the Ukrainian army in this ambush?
Here we compare the tactical norms of the U.S. military and the Cold War Soviet army.
The norms of the Soviet Army
Some people on the Internet saw that the Ukrainian army was still equipped with many weapons left by the Soviet Union, and felt that the tactics of the Ukrainian army had also inherited from the Soviet army.
This is something the Pentagon has shown in a recent briefing: The United States and its allies have been training Ukrainian troops for the past eight years.
What were the Soviets' anti-tank tactics during the Cold War as an army of superpowers? However, it can still be compared with the performance of the Ukrainian army in this battle.
The Anti-Tank Tactics of the Cold War Soviet Army are not difficult to find, and the US Military has compiled the Soviet Army's tactical specifications into a collection of data, such as the following book:
Soviet tactics
The Soviets believed that the weapons used against tanks in conventional warfare were tanks, anti-tank guns and anti-tank missiles.
Due to the complexity of anti-tank missile operation and the many restrictions on their use, they should be used in conjunction with grenade launchers and other guns.
Reconnaissance groups should be deployed on the periphery of the anti-tank group, the role is to reconnoiter incoming tanks and armored vehicles, inform the anti-tank group in advance, combined with the Soviet tactics requirements for laying in the periphery of the anti-tank group, the Ukrainian army may not have arranged a reconnaissance group.
When engaging the enemy, the Soviet tactic is to first bombard the opponent's mechanized troops with curved fire, after shelling will cause confusion in the opponent's troops, forcing the tank soldiers to close the hatch to reduce the tank observation ability, and if the shelling is proper, it will isolate the opponent's tanks.
So what about their mortars, grenades, and even grenades if this Ukrainian army can't call for large artillery bombardments? They are not found to be used at all in the video.
Here are the highlights: several principles of the Soviet Army in anti-tank defense warfare: shooting from the side, overlapping firing boundaries, relying on circular fortifications, pulling out the spacing, and firing at medium and close range.
We took a closer look at the video and found that the Ukrainian army at best complied with firing from the flank and firing range overlapping each other.
The arrow is the firing position
The Ukrainian army has a number of anti-tank shooters to fire, not to mention the ring fortifications, not even the scattered pit is not good, just directly open fire?
The spacing requirements for anti-tank groups in Soviet tactics were:
The distance between the various missile launchers of anti-tank missiles is 30-300 meters,
Anti-tank guns are 100 meters away from each other, sometimes 300 meters,
The distance between the platoons is 500 meters,
The distance between the companies is 1500 meters,
Usually, there is a second firing position 200 meters away.
Looking at these anti-tank shooters of the Ukrainian army, the distance opened up avoids the possible damage caused by tail flames and smoke to comrades-in-arms, right?
As for the alternate position, it is not seen at all in the video.
It can be said that this salvo is very similar to the shots of inferior war films.
The most important point - firing distance.
The Soviet regulations were:
The anti-tank gun opened fire at a position of about 1.5 km,
RPGs and self-propelled guns should fire within 1,000 meters.
However, the Ukrainian army in the video may be less than 100 meters away from the firing distance.
Therefore, the Ukrainian army did not comply with the Soviet tactics at all in this anti-tank ambush battle.
Tactics of the U.S. military
The US military's tactical manual can also be found on the Internet, I don't know if it is the latest is difficult to find or the latest is not published at all, what can be found on the Internet is the 2002 version, which also writes the tactics of infantry anti-tank combat.
The basic principles were similar to those of the Soviets, emphasizing overlapping firing boundaries and firing from the side.
Of course, this manual is not to let the U.S. military understand the tactics of the opponent but to teach the U.S. infantry how to fight, and some aspects are explained in more detail.
U.S. tactics emphasize that anti-tank forces must cooperate with infantry.
At a minimum, it was up to the platoon commanders to plan the defenses of these troops, especially on the flanks and rear.
If this plan is omitted, the cost will be very high, and 1 vehicle of the enemy army may destroy the entire anti-tank group and even part of the platoon, or even the total annihilation of the defensive force.
Schematic of the deployment of the U.S. military
Anti-tank forces must fight jointly with infantry.
Infantry units alternated cover with anti-tank units using squad machine guns, Humvee-mounted heavy machine guns, or grenade launchers.
In addition, the commander of the anti-tank force must participate in a high-level curved firepower battle plan, coordinate call frequency, call sign and fire priority, and have the right to call directly to curved fire.
For this purpose, it is necessary to contact battalions belonging to mortar platoons, artillery battalions and various artillery/aviation guidance groups.
The role of curved fire is to suppress and delay the enemy, destroy the enemy formation, kill and injure the enemy, and cover the movement of anti-tank troops with smoke bombs.
So, what about the curved firepower of the Ukrainian army? Why is this small force alone?
The U.S. military stipulates that anti-tank teams must cover each other in addition to overlapping firing ranges.
Specifically, the anti-tank forces are deployed horizontally or in depth, making it difficult for the opponent to suppress all the anti-tank groups at the same time. One group is attacked, and the others can continue to fire to kill and disturb the opponent.
If infantry use stand-alone anti-tank weapons instead of vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons, the fortifications must be excavated.
The fortifications were to be defended by 18 inches (about 45 cm) chest walls in front of and on the sides against fragments of light weapons fire, mortars, and curved artillery.
The depth of the fortifications was at least 24 inches (about 61 centimeters), and the firing range of anti-tank weapons was between 500 and 900 meters.
The U.S. military's manual emphasizes that cover and concealment are critical to the survival of anti-armor weapon systems.
Not to mention, the U.S. military manual also describes some of the features of Soviet/Russian tanks.
According to the manual, the T-80, T-90 series, modern models of older tanks, BMP infantry fighting vehicles can fire artillery missiles to destroy anti-tank weapons, tanks can fire high-explosive bombs at a distance of 4000 meters, and the BMP-3 100 mm main gun can destroy anti-tank positions at 4000 meters with high-explosive shells.
So the Ukrainian ambush forces also violated the tactics of the Us army.
Therefore, is it the Ukrainian army that the cadet did not learn well, or the instructor of the US army who did not teach well?
I am afraid that only the Ukrainian army and the US army know this.
It is also possible that this Ukrainian army only has some old-fashioned anti-tank weapons in its hands, so it is possible to penetrate modern tanks by firing at such a close distance.
Your anti-tank weapon performance is not good, then change tactics. See how the anti-US armed forces in the Middle East are fighting?
It is estimated that they will not consider, after all, "starvation is small, and loss of control is big."
As a result, everyone also saw that only one Russian tank caught fire briefly, and the fire extinguishing device of the tank itself quickly extinguished the flames.
Moreover, the commander of the gun was not shot after jumping out of the car, and it is estimated that the Ukrainian army did not have other units to cooperate with the anti-tank group.
At the end of the video, the tank behind the Russian army did fire high-explosive shells at the Ukrainian anti-tank team with a 125 mm main gun.
Fire the lens
The explosive effect of the large-caliber high-explosive bomb is not that of some war films, the actor bows his head, and the uniform is stained with soil.
Perhaps this ambushed Ukrainian army would not even have a whole corpse.
Therefore, whichever unit fools tactics in peacetime, war will fool the fate of this unit.
Pay attention to the Guards Infantry Division, pay attention to the military