Existing comment:
The Armored Soldier's Fight:
The enemy generally avoided infantry assaults on positions occupied by US armor. Instead, mots combat engagements involving tanks, armored cavalry, and mechanized infantry resulted form meeting engagements (encounters on patrol), ambushes, counter-ambushes, or the reinforcement of embattled friendly units in contact. Ambushes using RPG-2s and recoilless rifles were particularly dangerous to the M113s and M551 Sheridans that lacked the heavier armor of the M48A3. The introduction of the improved RPG-7 also posed a lethal threat to the M48A3. However, the land mine proved the most dangerous weapon employed against American armor. Mines accounted for 75 percent of American armor losses. In a theater of operations with no front line, mine warfare was so prolific that frequently new mines would be placed as quickly as old mines were located and removed. Unfortunately, too many mines were discovered only when a vehicle drove over them. |