This standardisation goes beyond just having the same calibre ammunition (such as NATO 120mm tank ammunition) to necessitating its capability of being fired through different types of barrels without a significant loss in performance (NATO MBTs have a mix of smoothbore and rifled barrels in service). Vehicles in international deployed forces will at a minimum require the same types of fuel and ammunition in addition to interoperable communications and identification or force tracking systems to reduce the strain on whichever country is providing the logistics to the multinational force.
The deployed force is now more likely to be joint service, involve multiple agencies and, given the requirement for international legitimacy, be multinational therefore interoperability and standardisation will be key. This means that any force structure incorporating armoured vehicles will have to be prepared to deploy regionally or globally, into any climatic zone and be conscious of the need to project the right image to influence audiences at home and abroad (this will require effective protected and survivable vehicles as most home populations no longer have high tolerances of casualties). The current world order portends increasing instability and confrontation in the future due to globalisation, state failure, access to resources (water, food and energy resources), climate change, demography and ideology.
Since the end of WW2, modern conflicts using armoured vehicles have been fought for various reasons.
Is this true, or will armoured vehicles continue to proliferate in modern warfare? With the precision strike capabilities and effectiveness of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and the rising costs of purchasing and running mixed fleets of legacy or new armoured vehicles, some say that the era of the armoured vehicle is over. The current Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) and their associated command and support vehicles in service around the world have never been so well protected, mobile and armed with such capable and effective firepower. Since WW1 and the first use of tanks, the world has seen a proliferation of armoured vehicle types, designs and capabilities.
Certain aspects of conflict have certainly changed throughout time in line with advances in technology (adaptation and response) and thinking which have transformed combat tactics and the way conflicts are fought. If there have seemed to be constants in the history of the human race, they have undeniably been ‘death, taxes and conflict’.
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