Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: amdcad!cdr@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Carl Rigney) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Request info on force ratios in European theater Message-ID: <6710@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 19 May 89 01:41:30 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Advanced Micro Devices Lines: 30 Approved: military@att.att.com From: amdcad!cdr@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Carl Rigney) In article <6587@cbnews.ATT.COM> you write: >From: Richard Shu > >I need info on the Warsaw Pact/NATO force ratios for tanks and >artillery. Run out and buy James Dunnigan's _How to Make War: A comprehensive guide to modern warfare_. Beancounting is of questionable usefulness; it's not enought to just count tanks, you also have to determine their quality WITH RESPECT TO their environment, doctrine, and opponent's doctrine. William Morrow just published a completely revised edition in 1988; ISBN is 0-688-07979-2 in softcover. It's the best overall book on factors in modern warfare I know of, but I'd be delighted to hear other people's choices. Andrew Cockburn's _The Threat_ is probably outdated, but is still worth reading if you can find it. Suvurov's books are a must for an inside look at the Soviets; particularly _Inside the Red Army_, but it's a qualitative analysis instead of quantitative. He doesn't say how many tanks the Russians have, but he does point out they called off an invasion of Poland to crush Solidarity in the early 80s when the mobilization utterly SNAFUed. In _The Liberators_ he discusses the more successful invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, which he took part in. --Carl Rigney cdr@amdcad.AMD.COM {ames decwrl gatech pyramid sun uunet}!amdcad!cdr