The latter half of the 20th century saw improvements in armour protection and firepower for tanks and the upgrading of antitank weapons' accuracy and effectiveness. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, holdover technology prevailed on the battlefield, although there were innovations such as the American Super Bazooka with its 89mm HEAT round.
The Cold War gave rise to a new generation of aircraft that served as ground-support weapons in their primary roles, and ground support most definitely included the ability to defeat enemy tanks. The American A-10 Thunderbolt entered service in 1977 and remains active today, famous for its survivability demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and for its 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger auto-cannon that fires a depleted uranium armour-piercing round.
In 1981 the Soviet Union deployed the Sukhoi SU-25 Frogfoot as a ground-attack aircraft with a 30mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSjh-30-2 auto-cannon, rocket pods and an array of missiles. (The aircraft has recently appeared in the skies over Ukraine). More than 1,000 were manufactured during a 40-year production run.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 111-utgaven av History of War.
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COUPS & CHAOS
How the French armed forces lost the war in Algeria and almost destroyed French democracy in the process
BATTLE OF ALGIERS
When the Front de libération nationale FLN) took its war to the streets of the capital, France’s military responded with merciless wrath
THE RISE OF ALGERIAN RESISTANCE
How the anti-colonialist struggle around the globe helped inspire Algeria’s liberation movement to organise and fight back
ROOTS OF REVOLUTION
A century of French occupation led to a genocide in Algeria that provoked one of the bloodiest showdowns of the modern age
DWIGHT W BIRDWELL
In the opening hours of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, this Specialist Five led his armoured cavalry detachment in repulsing a fierce communist assault against Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon
THE FIVE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Phillips O’Brien discusses how this quintet of national leaders impacted the course of the Second World War
Great Battles FLODDEN
On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James lV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day's end he would lay slain and his army shattered
FERDINAND 'THE BLOODY'
Known for his brutal martial punishment and execution of his own men, Ferdinand Schérner’s ruthlessness was matched only by his devotion to Nazi ideology
AIRBORNE UNDER SIEGE ARNHEM
For nine days the heroic 1st Airborne fought desperately, waiting vainly for relief that never came
SCANDINAVIA UNDER ATTACK
Hitler’s forces smash through Denmark and Norway ina grim foretaste of the terrible fate awaiting the rest of Western Europe
