Quote Originally Posted by Husar View Post
Weren't it mainly Israeli airplanes (from the US) that obliterated hundreds of tanks?
Okay so maybe dominant was not the right wording, but both wars showed the limitations and capabilites of armor if it were used in the right and wrong hands. As for the airplanes obliterating hundreds of tanks, I'd say yes the Israelies did achieve air supperiority in the Six-Day War over Egypt, but it did not spell the end for the ground war. It was not like WWII where we saw the Allies gain air superiority to the point that the German armor rarely attempted to move during the day least they get pounced upon by roving dive-bomber patrols. Post WII, the Arab-Israeli Wars and the Gulf Wars are excellent examples of modern armies clashing and how conventional wars could be swung by better equipment(or the use of it anyways), moral, etc...

I'd suggest you read up on the the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur war. They're very interesting, especially due to the fact that the two wars are so different from each other.

In the Six-Day War it was the combination of armour and airplanes that brought such a quick victory, not airplanes alone. The Yom Kippur war is a lot more interesting though in regard to the importance of armour in modern combat. Here Egyptian SAM's managed to keep the Israeli Airforce at bay and the new Sagger ATGM's and RPG's used en masse quickly forced the Israelis to reassess the role of armour and the tactics that should be used. Anyway in the Yom Kippur the Israeli Airforce had little direct effect on the battles waged during the war, meaning that the land forces decided the war.
I have a book on the Yom kippur War, but I have so many books to read...I don't think I'll get to it haha(unless I cheat and skip some for that one)...

You also do not want to forget the intense fighting on the Golan Heights. Syrian armored assaults against dug in and outnumbered Isreali infantry and armor managed to hold them off, just barely in many places. It is quite interesting how both Syria and Egypt learned from their first defeats while Isreali laxed inbetween and nearly gave it away had it not been for the tenacity of it's soldiers.

In my opinion, tanks will always be around. You need that extra punch for that offensive you are planning, they can supply it. If you need to stop an enemy advance that has say mostly medium and light vehicles plowing the and dominating the battlefields more than the tank, a small unit of tanks could still have the power to effictively engage them from safe distances while keeping their crews safe.