Soviet tank desant drill, on a BT-7 Model 1935

Tank desant (Russian: танковый десант, tankovyy desant) is a military combined arms tactic, where infantry soldiers ride into and attack on tanks, then dismount to fight on foot in the final phase of the assault. Desant is the Russian word for airborne or parachute drops, but it can be used more generally, describing amphibious landings or "tank desant". Image File history File links Bt7_6. ... Image File history File links Bt7_6. ... The Bystrokhodniy Tank (Fast Tank), was a series of Soviet light tanks which were produced between 1932 and 1941. ... Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. ... Military tactics (Greek: TaktikÄ“, the art of organizing an army) are the collective name for methods for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I Infantry or footmen are very highly disciplined and trained soldiers who fight primarily with small arms(rifles), but are trained to use everything from their bare hands to missle systems in order to neutralize... The Vozdushno-Desantnye Vojska or VDV (ВДВ), English for Airborne Troops, is a Russian military corps. ... Airborne Military parachuting form of insertion. ...

The tactic was institutionalized by the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War. Tank desant troops (tankodesantniki) were specialist infantry, trained in the technique. From WWII until the 1970s, Soviet tanks were built with hand-holds for this purpose. In the northern winter, similar tactics were used by Soviet infantry riding the skids of aerosans, or towed behind them on skis. For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... CCCP redirects here. ... NKL-26 armoured aerosan An aerosan (Russian: , literally aerosled) is a type of propeller-powered snowmobile, running on skis, used for communications, mail deliveries, and border patrolling in northern Russia, as well as for recreation. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Riding on tanks during actual combat is very dangerous; soldiers are very vulnerable to machine gun and high explosive fire, and the high silhouette of most tanks would draw enemy fire. Smoke and covering fire may be used to reduce the hazards, but this tactic is mostly used by forces with a shortage of motor transport or armoured personnel carriers, as it enables troops to move about the battlefield faster than on foot. Suppressive fire is a military term for firing weapons at the enemy with the goal of suppressing their ability to return fire or to move without cover, such as during an enemy assault. ...

Today, tank desant is considered a wasteful and human-costly improvisation, adopted by the Soviets because they failed to appreciate the problem of tank–infantry co-operation.^[1] Almost universal mechanization has rendered this tactic mostly obsolete, with infantry riding special-purpose armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles into battle. The use of explosive reactive armor, which creates a danger zone around an armoured vehicle by detonating an explosive charge when the tank suffers a serious hit, makes tank desant impossible. Motorized forces or military units are those that have trucks, or other wheeled, un-armoured transport as an integral part of their organization. ... East German BRDMs on parade during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of East Germany in 1989 Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. ... An M2 Bradley Infantry fighting vehicle. ... This article or section should include material from Explosive reactive armour Reactive armor or explosive reactive armour (ERA), is a type of armour used primarily on tanks to lessen the damage from explosions caused from missile warheads, exploding shells, grenades, or dropped bombs. ...

Riding armoured vehicles

Other military forces, including U.S. troops in Vietnam, Soviets in Afghanistan, and Russians in Chechnya have chosen to ride atop their carriers while on patrol or routine movement, rather than inside them. The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... There have been two Chechen Wars: First Chechen War (1994–1996) Second Chechen War (1999–) 1991-1994 In September, 1991, militants of Nationally Congress of Chechen People (NCChP) have taken control over Chechnya (they have seized republics parliament and killed chief of the PCUS of Grozny, Vitali Kutsenko). ...

In contrast to the offensive Soviet tank desant tactics of the Second World War, these were troops who wanted to be able to quickly move from their vehicles in case of ambush (which often turned their transports into death traps). Fearing land mines and rocket-propelled grenades widely used by guerrillas, these servicemen refused to stay inside the personnel carriers—contravening normal standing orders for several reasons: “Minefield” redirects here. ... A rocket propelled grenade (RPG) is a man-portable, shoulder-launched weapon capable of firing an explosive device longer distances than an otherwise unassisted soldier could throw. ... “Guerrilla” redirects here. ...

• The infantrymen on the outside represented more eyes and rifles at the ready to locate and fire upon a small force or single ambusher.
• Explosive concussion inside the personnel compartment, caused by a rocket propelled grenade or the land mine hitting the armour, was said to be more dangerous than enemy fire on the personnel mounted outside. Many of these soldiers wore body armour, which reduced their fear of small arms fire.
• Wounded soldiers trapped inside were very unlikely to be extracted safely, especially if the vehicle was on fire.

The aluminium armour of U.S. M113 carriers was reputed to be highly flammable, although this reputation was likely due to the gasoline engine of the earliest version. Some American soldiers went as far as to improvise controls allowing the driver to be raised up out of the vehicle. See M113 modifications. An RPG-7 captured by the US Army RPG, or Rocket propelled grenade is a loose term describing hand-held, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided rocket equipped with an explosive warhead. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Firearms redirects here. ... The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. ... The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. ...

Soviet troops also adopted the tactic of riding the roofs of their BTRs (armoured personnel carriers), BMPs, and BMDs (infantry fighting vehicles) and, rarely, tanks. Recently, during the Chechen War and other local conflicts of post-Soviet era, the units of the Russian Army and law enforcement acquired the tactic, making it a routine. However, riding the vehicles outside is still prohibited by Russian army doctrine, so it is not used during training and maneuvers. BTR may mean: BTR abrv. ... BMP is an abbreviation for: Basic Multilingual Plane, the 16-bit base of the Unicode character set. ... The BMD-1 is a Soviet airborne infantry fighting vehicle, which was introduced in 1969 and first seen by the West in 1970. ... There have been two Chechen Wars: First Chechen War (1994–1996) Second Chechen War (1999–) 1991-1994 In September, 1991, militants of Nationally Congress of Chechen People (NCChP) have taken control over Chechnya (they have seized republics parliament and killed chief of the PCUS of Grozny, Vitali Kutsenko). ... The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: ) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. ... A maneuver (spelled manoeuvre in Commonwealth English) is a tactical or strategical move or action. ...

Notes

1. ^ Zaloga, 1999: "Infantry mechanization remained one of the singular failures of Red Army tactics in World War 2, and forced the adoption of wasteful and humanly-costly improvisations such as the use of tanks to transport troops into battle, so-called tank desant. The problems with tank-infantry cooperation in Spain could have acted as a catalyst to a debate on infantry mechanization, but the dilemma was not appreciated by the Red Army."

References

• Zaloga, Steven J. (1999). “Soviet Tank Operations in the Spanish Civil War”, in Journal of Slavic Military Studies vol 12, no 3, September 1999. Available online at the New York Military Affairs Symposium web site (URL accessed 2006-11-13).

See also

• Human wave attack