But fragments survive. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli tank commanders—many trained by American advisors—were observed reversing their M60s up prepared ramps to fire from behind berms, then dropping back to reload. In Ukraine, 2022, drone footage showed a Ukrainian T-64 reversing down a tree line, firing at a Russian column that was advancing eagerly into a crossfire. The Russians kept coming. The Ukrainian kept reversing. The tank’s gun never stopped firing.
For nearly a century, tank design focused almost exclusively on frontal armor and forward momentum. However, the 21st-century battlefield, saturated with , has forced a radical re-evaluation. classified the reverse art of tank warfare
: A driver reverses at an angle against a building or large rock. This hides the weak frontal lower plate and exposes only the highly angled side armor and the thick turret face. But fragments survive
Here is the breakdown of why it works, where it stumbles, and who it is for. The Russians kept coming
Why was such a potentially valuable doctrine classified and then buried?