Cost calculation model for a tank battalion fielded in an offensive operation

Abstract

Armored units, since their introduction, and especially after World War II, represent the main maneuver and attack power of modern armies due to their main characteristics (armor protections, mobility, and fire power). In some armies, only the units equipped with tanks are considered as armored units, but in some armies they include also the units equipped with armored personnel carriers and mechanized infantry combat vehicles. In modern armies, infantry units are largely equipped with infantry fighting vehicles, mainly wheeled ones. In the Serbian Armed Forces, armored units consist of tank and mechanized battalions included in the Army brigades. Tank and mechanized battalions are equipped with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. They represent main attack power of the brigade and they conduct armored, antiarmor, anti-artillery and anti-rocket actions in combat operations. Regardless of the organizational-formation structure, fielding even the smallest tank battalion in different operations is very expensive due to the use of their heavy weapons and high consumption of fuel and ammunition. The paper describes the most important parameters required to calculate costs of the tank battalion involvement in an offensive operation (without attached units, without calculation of the fire support provided by artillery and air force units, and focusing on the operation execution phase), such as personnel, command, movement and maneuver, weapons and ammunition, service support and force protection. The final part of the paper offers a possible cost calculation model for the use of a tank battalion in an offensive operation by parameters, taking into account the factors that define it more closely. Due to the scope of the paper, it is impossible to fully describe the impact of operational environment and the operational model on the cost, because it would have to be the subject of further scientific analysis and a paper of larger scope. The cost calculation model offered might also be applied to other types of battalions, with the respective factors being changed by parameters.