Will the U.S. Marine Corps Require a Main Battle Tank in the Twenty-First Century?
Abstract: The main battle tank has revolutionized modern warfare since World War I by strengthening land forces’ ability to conduct violent, offensive operations. Today, the tank serves the Marine Corps in a variety of ways at all three levels of warfare: strategic, operational, and tactical. Will the Marine Corps of the 21st century require a main battle tank? This paper attempts to answer that question. It will determine whether the requirement for tanks in the Marine Corps still exists by first defining what a tank is in terms of capabilities. It then describes the context of the future strategic environment and the National Military Strategy (NMS) that has been devised to cope with that environment. The Marine Corps of tomorrow must retain the capabilities currently found in the main battle tank. Moreover, the tank of the future, or future combat system, will require even more capabilities than today’s main battle tank. Survivability, lethality, mobility, shock, strategic agility,
