Quote:
"You can't take quite a lot, you can't take the latest gen APFSDS rounds to the sides, MILAN or SPIKE side or rear shots will also make you a wreck, top attack missiles and gunships as well as artillery will also make it a smoking wreck, there's a lot that can destroy an M1 in all variants, it just so happens Iraqis didnt have such weapons."
This is true, but this is also true for all MBTs throughout the world. Slap some reative armor on the M1 and it will mitigate a lot of these threats. Not to mention if we're going against a country that does have these weapons, than that means we are bringing our full arsenal to bear as well. I would imagine then that most of the air threats would have been mitigated over the battlefield for the Abrams considering the air support that would be provided to them via the US Air Force and the Army Helicopter Attack squadrons.
I think the fact that they're battle tested is more of a psychological factor for the crews. The crews can trust their equipment which is huge in combat. I'm not saying that the M1A2 is impervious, it most certainly is not, but it does an admirable job of protecting its' crews and minimizing the damage if it is hit catastrophically. Combat is the biggest crucible that man can experience, you find out many things about your equipment when you have engaged in combat, some good, some bad, and because of that measures can be taken to mitigate the problems and maximize the success. Think of it this way, would you take a super SF soldier that is not battle tested, or the regular grunt that is? In a pinch, you know that the grunt is going to perform. No matter how well trained a soldier is, until they have experienced combat, their ability to function in that environment is in question.
Quote:
"You misunderstood my point, your tanks came in with massive air support, total comms dominance and full set of logistics, you can't put their performance as a massive success if there was nothing to challenge them, thats what i'm trying to get across."
After the Ambush on the Apache squadron during the invasion, Apache support was limited. Almost every Apache in that squadron was damaged and almost half was damaged to the point of being grounded. It was basically a shock to the system because then you had commanders going "whoa whoa whoa...what just happened" Artillery assets were abundant, but most of the fighting was done in and around cities where the arty support was not used because of possible collateral damage. As for the logistics, by the time we got within 100 miles of Baghdad our supply lines were several hundred miles long, several units were engaged and honestly, there wasn't enough logistics support to go around. This became very apparent when we got into Baghdad and every battalion in the city was at least amber on ammo/fuel and most were red. Hell, in my battalion alone we were black on 25mm DU and HE /.50Cal / 120mm MPAT/ 120mm Heat /, red on 7.62 for the co-ax and 5.56 for our personal weapons. Air support was limited because, once again, in a city. It was only through the efforts of some ballsy transportation guys to run a gauntlet of enemy fire through several miles up highway 8 in soft soft skin vehicles hauling ammo and fuel for the entire BCT that we were able to stay in the city like we did. The idea that the fight was over before it happened is false and had just a few things gone differently it would have been one of the darkest days in recent US military history.
Fuel consumption is a problem and the price is high. Fact is, we can afford them, and in our eyes, it's an acceptable expence if it will keep more guys in the fight and bring more guys home. Once again, OPINION POLL, this all based on opinions. No matter what anyone says, the fact is that I've seen these beasts in action and they are some bad mama jamas!
Hopefully, we will never have to find out who really is the best in the world because to find that out....well, would mean the sh!t has hit the fan throughout the world and there would be much bigger things to be concerned about rather than who has the best MBT
"Good enough will always be trumped by better" A quote a Soviet Admiral had over his desk to remind him of the relative quality between Western and Eastern block countries.