Carlton Meyer
As tank guns became larger, their potential as artillery was usually ignored.
As artillery guns became self-propelled, their potential as tanks was ignored, despite success during World War II. General George Patton enthusiastically declared in his book, War As I knew it:
"At three hundred yards the 155 shell will remove a pillbox for every round fired."
The modern German Army did mount a turreted 155mm howitzer on a Leopard tank chassis, but it lacks heavy turret armor necessary for direct engagements. Modern armor divisions can double their firepower by fielding an Artillery/tank "Artank" vehicle with heavy armor and a 155mm gun.
In a direct fire "tank" role, an Artank could fire much larger projectiles at far greater ranges. Although a 155mm howitzer cannot match the muzzle velocity of a tank gun, the large projectile can stop any tank. With an internal laser designator, an Artank could fire laser-guided "Copperhead" munitions and score direct hits at twice the range of modern
tanks. It could also devastate nearby infantrymen with ICM "bomblet" rounds, white phosphorus, or FASCAM mines.
The tactical advantages are revolutionary. Artillery support would never "fail to keep up" or be unavailable because of coordination or communication problems since Artanks could lay down their own artillery barrage. An armor battalion with Artanks engaged in direct combat could call for indirect fires from nearby Artank battalions. This would allow an armor division the flexibility to fight as 12 multi-purpose battalions which can support each other, rather than 9 maneuver battalions supported by 3 artillery battallions. In addition, training, supply, and maintenance would be less complex with the
merger of two major combat systems into Artanks.
Artanks do not require the development of new technology, only the merger of direct and indirect fire controls systems into a modified turret. For the U.S. Army, this simply requires the marriage of the Abrams tank with the Paladin howitzer. The question is not whether Artanks will work, but why they weren't fielded 20 years ago.
Carlton Meyer
21st Century Weapons
e-mail Feb 1999