From February 25 to March 8, the 4th Armored Infantry Brigade held the “Handwerk19” exercise at the Allentsteig military training area. The aim of this exercise was to maintain and develop core military skills at all command levels.
For the armored infantry company KPE of the armored infantry battalion 13, the focus was on combat in the urban environment, known as MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) within the company framework. The company was reinforced by a half-train of main battle tanks from Panzer Battalion 14, a Joint Fire Support Team from Reconnaissance and Artillery Battalion 4 and a sniper group from Panzergrenadier Battalion 112 from Regen (DEU). In preparation for the “Handwerk19” exercise, the KPE armored infantry company began training in an urban environment in early February at the levels of individual gunner to group. The focus here was on special features relating to individual shooter behavior in urban environments, approaching and penetrating buildings, taking rooms, proceeding along corridors and stairwells, special features of targeting in urban environments and the handling of equipment specific to local combat.
The use of the Ulan infantry fighting vehicle is a key factor in urban combat. As in rural combat, this is used to quickly bring armored infantry to the attack target and then to provide fire support for the dismounted units. Constricted fields of fire, blind spots and increased secondary effects when using the automatic cannon pose particular challenges in this context and require a high degree of coordination between the tank crew and the dismounted armored infantry. Appropriate use of the infantry fighting vehicles, in compliance with safety regulations, enables the commanders to deploy heavy weapons flexibly and quickly. If necessary, open flanks can be easily monitored or, for example, penetration points can be held down immediately before the dismounted infantrymen penetrate, thus minimizing their own losses.
For the platoon and company levels, it is essential to break down the terrain into sectors and number the buildings in the attack target before attacking the urban terrain (Fig. 2). This breakdown makes it possible to clearly address attack objectives, boundaries, firing areas, coordination lines, etc. before and during the battle, despite the confusion caused by the urban conditions.
When the armored infantry company attacks from rural to urban terrain, the dismounted breach proves to be an effective means of quickly taking or expanding a breach area and thus creating the conditions for a further dismounted attack. Above all, the elements with which the company has been reinforced must be coordinated and harmonized in terms of time and location. This is the only way to achieve a successful attack while minimizing losses against a conventionally fighting enemy. By deploying the snipers in advance, so-called high-value targets can be engaged in advance of the Panzergrenadier company’s attack and the enemy infantry’s movement options outside buildings can be massively restricted. In addition, snipers can also contribute very well to consolidating the company commander’s situation picture during the ongoing battle thanks to their means of observation.
In addition to fighting clearly identified enemy positions, the use of steep fire is primarily intended to blind enemy positional areas of long-range weapons during the phase of approaching the breach area. The same principles apply in the urban environment as in the rural environment when using steep fire. However, the possible presence of civilians must be assessed and taken into account individually before each fire request. Main battle tanks are a valuable reinforcement for the approach phase, which can ensure “shooting into” the breach area and provide long-range fire support from outside the built-up area. Due to their high weapon effectiveness and strong armor protection, they can be deployed as the leading element of the company both in the approach phase and when advancing into or penetrating built-up areas. The Steinbach urban training area (UTA) at the Allentsteig military training area offers good conditions for the deployment of an armored infantry company in an urban environment. Due to the size of the training facility, exercises can be carried out up to reinforced company level in a thoroughly realistic environment. The use of the duel simulator is advantageous for everyone involved in the exercise in order to demonstrate the degree of reality down to the individual shooter. If all soldiers and combat vehicles are equipped with it, it is possible to display the situation in real time and debrief the exercise using moving images. In addition, effects such as battle noise, pyrotechnics, smoke and the shelling of buildings and the associated fragmentation effect can be displayed in the UTA.
Combat in an urban environment is an extremely intensive and multifaceted topic for the reinforced mechanized infantry company, which was dealt with during the “Handwerk19” exercise. All soldiers involved, but especially commanders at all levels, were able to gain valuable experience here. The complexity of the topic of MOUT will also require the basic techniques of urban combat to be incorporated into ongoing training in the future in order to retain the knowledge gained in the minds of the soldiers.
Key findings of the reinforced company in an urban environment:
- The principle of spreading out and maintaining engagement distances does not only apply in rural terrain. This principle is also essential in urban areas to reduce the effect of enemy weapons.
- The intensive use of heavy weapons (tank guns, machine guns, steep fire) for fire support minimizes losses in the dismounted mechanized infantry.
- Breaking down the urban environment using guidance aids is a great advantage for coordinating your own forces.
- The use of duel simulators for all exercise participants ensures realistic training and serves to test the effectiveness of the combat techniques used.
