![]() ![]() The ambush is initiated when an anti-tank missile strikes the lead vehicle in the Russian armored column, halting their advance.Īnti-tank crews maintain the initiative by firing another missile at the vehicle at the rear of the column, effectively trapping every vehicle between the front and the back of the column in the kill zone. ![]() The armored column is trapped in the kill zone. In this case, attacking directly into the direction of fire proves to be impractical for the Russian column because of the buildings on either side of the road. Once disabled by an anti-tank missile, the following vehicles have only two choices attack directly into the ambush, a common counter-ambush infantry doctrine, or, reverse out of the kill zone, a much less viable and potentially deadly alternative since this escape route is almost always covered by another anti-tank missile team. The first target is the vehicle at the front of the column, the “point” position. Obstacles placed in the single road slow the advance of the vehicles through the urban area. The vehicle column is constrained to one road, hemmed-in by buildings on both sides with limited or no escape routes. It shows what is likely 10 Russian heavy tanks and additional, lighter armored vehicles entering a Ukrainian village. 9, 2022, on the ukraine_defence social network channels. The Ukrainians are throwing the anti-armor kitchen sink at the advancing Russians, and according to most western media accounts and the maps of Russian progress in Ukraine, these anti-tank weapons and the tactics used to employ them are proving to be at least somewhat effective, perhaps highly effective, in slowing the Russian advance. Ukrainian forces are using a broad assortment of portable anti-tank weapons ranging from the old and relatively small 66mm M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon (LAW) to the lethal and highly advanced FGM-148 Javelin, and nearly everything in between. ![]() A small number of skilled and daring infantrymen can take on a large column of heavy tanks and win. This is the tipping point on the fulcrum of asymmetrical warfare for small units that are well-drilled and well equipped with modern anti-tank weapons. Opposing force anti-tank units can easily cover both escape venues when initiating an ambush with lightweight, portable anti-tank missiles. Heavy tanks in a closely spaced column with buildings on each side have only two directions to move, forward or rearward. “Knowing that they were asked to try and complete and execute this type of mission with that type of equipment, I just could not believe it,” Republican Congressman Marc Veasey told CBS news.Any time an armored column is forced to move through an urban environment surrounded by buildings and constrained to driving on a road, the vehicles in the armored column loose one of their biggest advantages the ability to maneuver. As their position is overrun, they have no choice but to try to run away, but there is nowhere to hide. In a frantic bid to find some sort of concealment, the troops deployed red smoke grenades but the parched landscape of scrub and dirt provided no effective cover.Īt one point in the video, a US soldier is shot and a comrade attempts to pull him to cover behind the SUV. The mission was supposed to be a low-risk patrol and the soldiers were clearly ill-equipped for the scale of the attack.įootage shows the US troops wearing only light body armour, desperately seeking cover behind an unarmored SUV while coming under heavy fire. One of the vehicles is flying an ISIL flag and other trucks are packed with what appear to be fighters. The nine-minute video includes an image of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and footage of pick-up trucks rolling through a desert landscape. INSIDE STORY: Is the military campaign in the Sahel region working? (24:55) The release of these materials demonstrates the depravity of the enemy we are fighting,” it said in a statement. ![]() The Pentagon “is aware of alleged photos and IS propaganda video from the terrorist attack in Niger. It shows the chaos of the attack, including the soldier wearing the camera being shot dead, with fighters stalking past his body. The video, distributed by a pro-ISIL news agency, includes graphic footage taken by a soldier wearing a helmet camera. They were targeted by a group of some 50 ISIL-affiliated fighters equipped with small arms, grenades, and trucks mounted with guns.Īt least five Nigerien troops were killed along with four US soldiers in the attack. The October 4 attack occurred as a unit of 12 American special forces soldiers and 30 Nigerien troops returned from the village of Tongo Tongo, near the border with Mali. An ISIL propaganda video showing the deadly ambush of American troops in Niger raised questions on Monday as to the nature of the mission and why the soldiers had been left so vulnerable. ![]()
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