![]() ![]() Conventional combat, even in this era of precision warfare and advanced information networks, still requires enormous reserves of manpower, equipment, and ammunition. The war in Ukraine has only placed this problem in greater relief. The report said out loud many of the things that the French military itself was struggling to articulate, while also, unfortunately, providing ammunition to the military’s critics. The study made a large splash in France, where it was picked up by journalists and cited by the National Assembly and senior French officers. But it also lacked the depth and the mass to do anything on a large scale for any length of time before it simply ran out of stuff. We argued that the French military - now indisputably the most capable in Western Europe - could do a lot of things very well. Both vehicles are tracked and heavier than the AMX-10RC but have smaller main weapons, though they also carry anti-tank missiles.Is the current French model of warfare viable? In 2021, I co-authored a study with Stephanie Pezard suggesting that the answer was no. What's important is that the West is sending armored fighting vehicles.įrance's announcement was quickly followed by the US announcing that it would send M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Germany announcing that it would send Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Yet the military value of the AMX-10RC isn't really the point. Armored vehicles are still vital on the battlefield, but an armored car may have limited utility against swarms of anti-tank missiles, attack drones, and smart artillery shells. Indeed, Ukraine has shown that modern reconnaissance relies on drones and satellites. Fighting there has become trench warfare, with incremental gains rather than sweeping armored offensives in which fast, armored scout vehicles excel. ![]() ![]() In other words, the AMX-10RC was designed to be part of a light mechanized force that rides to the rescue of NATO forces desperately defending against a Soviet blitzkrieg. It often indicates a user profile.įrench troops back an AMX-10RC onto a ship in Toulon in June 1995.ĪNNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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