For a detailed look at the Russian brilliance at tank design:

Air-Mech-Strike Ground Vehicles

And their integration into Airborne 3D Warfare:

Kazmierski's thesis on Airborne Warfare

Light Tanks that can swim have important tactical and operational Mobility

Legendary combat tanker, Ralph Zumbro writes:

"Mike;

In early 1968, shortly after TET, the SF camp at Plei Mi, was besieged by NVA with a few PT-76s...We were called and sent a platoon of M-48s and broke the siege. The fleeing PT-76 were amphibs and crossed a river. We had to find a ford and lost them. And suddenly found ourselves in Cambodia. That platoon which I'd better not ID, spent a week wreaking havoc on the Trail. Another platoon of ours, commanded by an officer who recently retired as a brigadier, acted as our artillery support, using the 90s for indirect fire.

You want ground search capability, send out armored cav. A screen of 113s with sensors and dismounts, backed up by enough DIESEL tanks to bail them out. The drill is to sweep, emplace magnetic, thermal and siesmic sensors, and move on. When the sensors report activity, THEN you send in a stealth patrol. The ground units can be supplied by air, with offset airdrops or helidrops, IE the air comes in to a point and the ground goes to that point, rather than the ground forces setting up a laager in injun country under hostile observation.

The trick is that you have to have some manner of controlling the politicians and pentagon brass who would instantly try to block operations like this.

Ralph