COLD WAR ROCKET-POWERED PRECISION

Since the end of World War Il tanks and the weapons designed to destroy them have been locked in a deadly race for dominance on the battlefield

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The latter half of the 20th century saw improvements in armour protection and firepower for tanks and the upgrading of antitank weapons' accuracy and effectiveness. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, holdover technology prevailed on the battlefield, although there were innovations such as the American Super Bazooka with its 89mm HEAT round.

The Cold War gave rise to a new generation of aircraft that served as ground-support weapons in their primary roles, and ground support most definitely included the ability to defeat enemy tanks. The American A-10 Thunderbolt entered service in 1977 and remains active today, famous for its survivability demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and for its 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger auto-cannon that fires a depleted uranium armour-piercing round.

In 1981 the Soviet Union deployed the Sukhoi SU-25 Frogfoot as a ground-attack aircraft with a 30mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSjh-30-2 auto-cannon, rocket pods and an array of missiles. (The aircraft has recently appeared in the skies over Ukraine). More than 1,000 were manufactured during a 40-year production run.