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