Death of the Tank: Exploring the Ukraine War's Biggest Myth

40 Comments

1. Great video – well reasoned and on point – thanks!

2. Prediction, before watching more'n a minuteish of the video: "the tank is dead" in Ukraine because Russia is using old bad shitty tanks, poorly maintained and undersupplied, operated by soldiers with abysmal morale with inadequate screening from allied infantry and drone units…against a Ukrainina field force with home terrain advantage using the most advanced and effective anti-tank weapons in the world.

   /Effin' doy/ that's not gonna go great for Russia.

   EDIT: All right, finished video. I was wrong in the particulars, but right in the essence. Russia is losing tanks in job lots because Russia is bad at using tanks, not because tanks are themselves bad.

3. Good info , great job. Grt from Algarve, Portugal.

4. "There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent!"
   – Laozi

   Italians when invading Greece.
   Soviets when invading Finland.
   British when they attacked Crimea.
   British when they attacked Galipoli.
   Austro-Hungarians when they attacked themselves instead of the Ottomans.
   Romania in 1916 when they invaded Transylvania.

   Preparation, logistics, good equipment and tactics alongside estimation and anticipation of danger were apparently absent from those examples.

5. Tbh I think its less of Death of the Tank and more of "Death of the Russian Tank Tactics by Kremlin" at the beginning of the war….Russian tanks unironically included. 😅

6. "The tank will die the next century. For now it's here to stay!"

7. Tanks won't die. They will evolve. The task will change.

8. Russians just marched the tanks so recklessly into Kiev because Putin genuinely thought Ukrainians will see the tanks and immediately surrender and Zelensky would flee the country. That tank convoy wasn't meant to fight at all, it was supposed to be the victory parade after Ukraine would supposedly surrender

9. I read how US tanks were the key to toppling Saddam Hussein quickly and without suffering many casualties.

10. If the tanks were electric Elon would be rubbing himself.

11. Anyone saying tanks are obsolete is certified armchair general

12. Yes, tanks are obsolete. That's the exact reason why the West is shipping tanks to Ukraine. Because they're useless.

13. The moment Musk did that tweet, one though went through my mind faster than a bullet from a sniper. “Shit… we need more tanks!”

14. Boris. That guy is off with Natasha "chasing moose and squirrel." He figured out they're an island nation that possesses nuclear weapons and tanks aren't boats. So they kept a few tanks. "Peppa Pig goes Vroom Brah." Cocaine The Sherman and the T55 were the best.

15. It's not only poor tanks, it's poor leadership!! They lost over 100 vehicles, including tanks, trying to cross ONE bridgehead on the Irpin!! An entire battalion of tanks was lost in one spot!!!
    Slava Ukraini!!!!
    Heroyam Slava!!!

16. I’d be interested in more long form videos from you Simon, the ones you put out about Ukraine and Iraq were very engaging and I liked the deeper dives into every aspect of a conflict
    Anyways keep up the excellent work 🙂

17. What makes me laugh so hard is the fact that drones are easily neutralized by things like signal/ cell phone jammers. Look up that most people can't figure out that they're still technically radio-controlled shows a fucking stupid people nowday are. What a fucking joke

18. To say, "A destroyed tank constitutes the Death of the Tank" is as imbecilic as stating, "A killed soldier signals the end of infantry".

19. Maybe Elon could design a better design of tank, given what he's done with cars/space, he may well be able to.

20. #1 Myth: Ukraine is winning.

21. I guess my big questions are… how is it possible that Russia is able to continue after such devastating losses? That is, how many soldiers do Russia have left? And when will the tide turn on Russia?

    On the Ukrainian side, it's going to be interesting to see how the modern western tanks perform in the coming months.

22. 7:47 least delusional armchair drone operator

23. Love your videos! I’m really glad someone did an in-depth look at this claim.

24. I mean I kinda agree,still feel the mbt is too expensive, you can do what it does with much cheaper options today.I am sure the navy woudnt aknowledge that their expensive battleships were utter trash now, decades ago.Ukraine also cant do a fully combined arms offense anymore, for the same reason their TB2s dont dare attack anymore, there is a front line now, full of AA and artillery.They can still do it better though.And speaking of cost effectiveness of one missile or drone blowing an expensive tank up,Ukraine is now facing the same problem with those damn Iranian drones.Yes they shoot em down but the missile costs 10 times more than the drone.

25. The Russians and Ukrainians are fighting WWI. They did not learn from the first Iraq war.

26. It's simple, if the tank is useless. Why does the Ukrainian keep asking for them?

27. If tanks are deathtraps, it's due to their design. Looking at how Russian MBTs and AFVs pop their turrets so easily you can see why those not in-the-know can make such broad assumptions.

28. Who'da thunk that muskrat's "hot take" would age like tepid milk?

29. Even though it's a game, anyone who has played Hell Let Loose or Squad can tell you the utility of a tank when it's supported.

    A tank can hang back and hit hard targets at range, which makes it extremely difficult to counter your maneuvering infantry. Machine gun opens up? It eats an HE shell. Someone pops out with an anti tank weapon, he gets killed by infantry.

    A tank that has overextended past its infantry can be reliably kept tabs on until you can bring significant firepower to bear.

    Again, infantry cannot easily or reliably blow a dug in defensive position apart from over a kilometer away, game or otherwise. A tank can. Sure, so can a jet, but they're vulnerable to long range surface to air and MANPADS if they fly low enough.

30. If Musk says something with 100% certainty, it's usually either "not so simple" or "just plain bullshit."

31. Let's send those Abrams,we need Russia outta Ukraine before xi moves on Taiwan 💪💪💪💪💪

32. the importance of tanks is best resumed by Jean Baptiste Eugene Estienne, considered one of France’s most visionary artillery commanders, when he said in August 1914: "Gentlemen, the victory in this war will belong to which of the two belligerents which will be the first to place a gun of 75 [mm calibre] on a vehicle able to be driven on all terrain."

33. Sponsor: War of Tanks

34. Ah yes, Elon musk, that well known military expert!!
    The reality is if you go to war with out of date equipment and tactics against modern equipment and modern combined arms warfare you will lose, as was demonstrated very clearly in the first gulf war.
    It is my belief that despite their superior numbers had it come to an east west war anytime since the late 70s the east would have lost.
    The main reason countries have reduced tank forces is because they aren’t suited to the types of warfare it was envisaged we would partake in.

35. In the pocket of "Big quote" I see 😂

36. Any dead of the tank can only come from people being tired of war, and military budget getting smaller and smaller, but from a tactical point of view, no way the tank is dying, in other words, when "the aliens come", I want my tanks!

37. Out of ammunition in a fight to the death in a museum? The answer is halberd. Big stick with axe on the end? Fuck ya. Halberd all day from the cradle to the grave. Shit's a long range head remover with a proven 4 century stretch of dominance. I'm tired of all this shit-talk about halberds. Get that Poleaxe, Bardiche, Guisarme, Partisan, Voulge bullshit out of my face. Halberd.

    My point is: Nothing is truly obsolete given the circumstances. The task dictates the tools you need to be successful. Also — war is essentially shooting at shit with camping every night. And just like when you go camping — it's always wise to talk to your friends and figure out who's doing what before you go. Shit goes sideways real quick if someone forgets the graham crackers for the smores.

38. Tanks are not the death traps on the battlefield. Hubris is.

39. Its worth noting that the first tanks came in two varieties, one of which had a big gun, and the other of which bristled with machine guns… the equivalent of the infantry fighting vehicle. From the very first, people have doubted that tanks need to be as heavy as they are.

40. You can bleed an enemy with anti tank weapons but if you want to retake ground from a force with enemy armour you need to have armour of your own supported artillery and air support for best results. When you're building an army you need to consider what you want it to be able to do. If you're not projecting power you don't need an aircraft carrier. If you're acting as a peace keeping or anti insurgency force you don't need an armoured fist capable of large scale breakthroughs. This war has been a great sales opportunity for the Abrams X and panther programs as it's shown the need for active protection and hard kill systems for tanks in a modern near peer conflict

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