viability of strong point based defense in desert??

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
desert operations are usually armor dominated and fast; is it viable to have strong point based defense??
context?

why wait for an enemy to come to you unless you're defending a static point or you have managed ti secure an advantage by sacrificing mobility etc.....???
 

W82DIE

New Member
Setting a trap in a desert with specially trained commandos could be an option. But I don't see why you should retreat all the way back to a desert in general.


Admin. You've been banned for one day because you're posting so fast (aka post whoring) that its not possible to interrupt you in time.
Please read the forum rules before and if you come back in 24 hrs. Post whoring is not acceptable (ie rapid one line posting across a raft of threads just to get your count up)

Introduce yourself first in new members, and pace yourself. You don't need to shotgun your presence on here with multiple responses in such a short time.
 
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My2Cents

Active Member
desert operations are usually armor dominated and fast; is it viable to have strong point based defense??
Not really.

Typically you would be limited to using non-mechanized infantry in dispersed dug in positions with mutually covering fire positioned to protect minefields in an attempt to channelize the enemy attack, but with terrain that open you will be spread very thin and they can punch a hole just about anywhere they want without much trouble, as was demonstrated in Kuwait during Desert Storm.

You might want to read the http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/military-strategy-tactics/fortress-modern-day-possibility-9050/ thread for a previous discussion along these lines. :type
 

My2Cents

Active Member
It worked in Tobruk...
The defense of Tobruk did not take place in the desert, but in the escarpment area south of Tolbruk that separates the Libyan coast from the inner desert area. This is complex terrain well suited to defense, not the open desert.
 

assymmetric

New Member
managed ti secure an advantage by sacrificing mobility etc.....???
Fortresses, with fortress walls, were effective up to civil war times. In order to be effective, the armor has to be stronger than the artillery. The stone walls used to survive repeated hits with cannon balls.

I think the question is whether there could be a leap in armor development that would allow for a strong fortress wall that could withstand strikes from the air and is greatly strong/more cost effective than reinforced concrete. They talk about new nano armor being 5 times stronger than steel. That is not enough. Maybe in the future, if something was developed that was 10 or 100x stronger than reinforced concrete, and cheap, then the fortress could return.
 

My2Cents

Active Member
Fortresses, with fortress walls, were effective up to civil war times. In order to be effective, the armor has to be stronger than the artillery. The stone walls used to survive repeated hits with cannon balls.

I think the question is whether there could be a leap in armor development that would allow for a strong fortress wall that could withstand strikes from the air and is greatly strong/more cost effective than reinforced concrete. They talk about new nano armor being 5 times stronger than steel. That is not enough. Maybe in the future, if something was developed that was 10 or 100x stronger than reinforced concrete, and cheap, then the fortress could return.
The topic of this thread is strong point defensive systems.

You want the thread for http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/military-strategy-tactics/fortress-modern-day-possibility-9050/

:coffee
 
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