Armor in the Insurgency: The Steel Beast

This document establishes the official doctrine for the acquisition, classification, employment, and preservation of captured Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs). The successful integration of armor provides an asymmetric advantage, enabling our forces to transition from harassment to decisive offensive action. However, these assets are finite, irreplaceable, and magnets for enemy retribution. Their misuse guarantees not just tactical failure, but strategic loss.

As an insurgency, our relationship with armor is defined by a fundamental paradox: the enemy's greatest ground-based strength becomes our most potent, and most vulnerable, asset upon its capture. It is both the primary threat we face and our single most powerful conventional weapon.

We are scrappers, not manufacturers. Every AFV in our arsenal is a battlefield prize won with blood. We possess no factories for replacement, limited depots for repair, and finite caches of ammunition. The preservation of captured armor is a strategic imperative equal in importance to its effective employment.

Our armor doctrine is built on a single, non-negotiable principle: The Combined Arms Team. An AFV operating without infantry is a blind, clumsy giant waiting to be slain. Infantry operating without armored support against a fortified foe is sacrificial. The relationship is symbiotic and mandatory.

(1) The Breacher (MBT/IFV): Used against static, fortified positions. The AFV advances methodically behind its infantry screen. The infantry identifies threats (mines, AT teams), and the AFV eliminates them with precision fire from its main gun or autocannon. It creates the breach through which the main assault element storms.

(2) The Hammer and Anvil (MBT/IFV/SPAA): A classic maneuver. The AFV serves as the “anvil,” fixing an enemy force in place from a hull-down or concealed support-by-fire position. The enemy becomes decisively engaged with the AFV, allowing our infantry “hammer” to maneuver, unobserved, onto their flank or rear and annihilate them.

(3) Shock and Awe (IFV/LAV): Used to shatter enemy morale and cohesion during a fast-moving, violent assault. Best deployed against disorganized or “soft” targets (e.g., a retreating enemy, a lightly defended convoy). This tactic requires precise timing to prevent the AFV from outrunning its infantry support and becoming isolated.

Not all armor is created equal. Misunderstanding a vehicle's intended role is a fatal error. A commander must employ each AFV according to its specific strengths and weaknesses.

1. Use for: Spearheading assaults on bases, forming a base of fire, and hunting enemy armored columns.

1. Do NOT use for: Routine patrols or as a battle taxi. Its fuel consumption and high profile are prohibitive.

1. Use for: Aggressive flanking maneuvers, urban combat support, and destroying lighter vehicles.

1. Do NOT use for: Engaging MBTs head-on without a decisive ATGM advantage.

1. Use for: Rapidly deploying squads, providing a mobile HMG base of fire, and casualty evacuation.

1. Do NOT use for: Assaulting positions. Its thin armor will be shredded by anything heavier than small arms.

1. Use for: Reconnaissance, QRF duties, and hit-and-run attacks on soft targets.

1. Do NOT use for: Any form of direct, sustained engagement. Speed is its only true armor.

1. Use for: Area air defense, and secondarily, for psychological terror and shredding massed infantry in the open.

1. Do NOT use for: Any anti-armor role. It is a high-priority target for all enemy ground forces.

1. Use for: Area denial and destroying static enemy fortifications from extreme range. A strategic asset for softening up a target before an assault.

1. Do NOT use for: Anything other than indirect fire. If an enemy sees your SPA, it is already dead. Requires a dedicated security element.

Capturing an AFV is a specialized ambush focused on disablement, not destruction. (1) Immobilize: Target the tracks or engine with LAT or MAT launchers. A stationary vehicle is a potential prize; a burning wreck is a failure. (2) Isolate: Immediately eliminate or suppress any supporting enemy infantry. (3) Intimidate: Use heavy machine gun fire to suppress the vehicle's crew, forcing them to button up or bail out. (4) Initiate Recovery: Once the crew is eliminated and the area is secure, the designated engineer must move in immediately to repair the vehicle for extraction to a pre-planned hide site.

Gunners must engage threats in a specific order to ensure the survival of the AFV and the success of the mission: (1) Known ATGM Teams / Launchers. (2) Enemy MBTs. (3) Enemy IFVs / LAVs that pose a direct threat. (4) Crew-Served Weapons (HMG, GMG). (5) Massed Infantry (use coaxial MG to conserve main gun ammunition).

1. OBJECTIVE: Is the mission's importance worth the potential loss of this irreplaceable asset?

1. INTELLIGENCE: Do we know the likely enemy composition, especially their AT and air capabilities?

1. ASSET & CREW: Is the AFV fully repaired, fueled, and armed? Is the crew experienced and briefed?
   1. (a) Commander: Calm, decisive leader.
   2. (b) Gunner: Best shot available.
   3. (c) Driver: Skilled in tactical movement.

1. SUPPORT PACKAGE: Is there a dedicated, full-strength infantry squad assigned as a screen? Do they understand their role?

1. PLANNING: Is the route planned? Are support-by-fire and hull-down positions identified?

1. WITHDRAWAL: Is there a primary and alternate withdrawal route? Are rally points designated?

An AFV is a logistical black hole. Its hunger for fuel, ammunition, and repair parts will dictate the tempo of your operations.

This is the mandatory, immediate action upon mission completion.

1. Rearm: Tally expended ammunition and immediately replenish it from captured supplies.
2. Refuel: An AFV should never be stored with less than a full tank of fuel.
3. Repair: Conduct a full systems check. Repair any and all damage immediately.

When not in use, an AFV must be invisible. (1) Concealment: Large barns, dense forests, industrial warehouses, or underground garages are ideal. Use camouflage nets. (2) Security: The hide site must be guarded at all times by a dedicated security element.

Violation of these rules will result in the loss of the vehicle and the death of its crew!

1. The Lone Wolf: Deploying an AFV without a dedicated, integrated infantry screen.

2. Ignoring the Sky: Failing to account for enemy attack helicopters. If air threats are active, armor stays hidden.

3. Ammunition Profligacy: Firing the main gun at infantry when machine guns will suffice.

4. Forgetting the Exit: Committing to an attack without a planned and reconnoitered withdrawal route.

5. Static Defense: Using an AFV as a fixed turret. A stationary tank that has been spotted is a dead tank.

Armor is a tool of escalation. It is not an “I win” button but a complex weapon system that demands discipline, forethought, and unwavering adherence to combined arms doctrine. It is a scalpel for specific, high-stakes tactical problems, not a sledgehammer for every nail. Protect it, support it, and employ it with intelligence and controlled violence. Used correctly, your steel fist will punch a hole through the enemy's lines and pave the road to victory. Used poorly, it will become a burning tomb, a monument to your tactical failure.