Designations are supposed to mean something. A 2-2 ratio is typically understood to be a mechanised (infantry) brigade; infantry in protected tracked vehicles and main battle tanks, suitable for a wide variety of terrain.Originally Posted by Ken White
Hopefully we'll drop the 'team' bit and just call it an Armored Brigade.Too infantry heavy IMO. Two Tank and two Mech Cos are far more flexible.
An Armored Brigade would receive a different NATO icon on maps and lead coalition staffs to inadvertently think that the formation is rather meant for terrain that's not so nice to infantry AND to think that the entire formation is suitable for demands of fast operational advances.
Besides; I'm a bit flabbergasted why one of the bigger active armies in NATO would turn away from formation specialization and embrace a standard format. Small forces need to standardise, bigger ones can enjoy the benefits of specialisation.
There should be formations with a focus on mounted combat (with infantry strength for the exception from this rule) and mechanised formations with a focus on slower, yet more thorough dismounted combat (where tanks become assault guns and security vehicles, with infantry being the main hand). I suppose the airborne and 'mountain' forces do not satisfy the need for the latter.
(West) Germany had a 1950's discussion about optimal brigades (divisions were ruled out as too cumbersome and only raised because politicians had promised 12 of them to the West). A universal balanced brigade was favoured, but geographic realities forced us to specialise (South and North Germany are very dissimilar).
In the end, we developed an entirely different culture and tactics between armour and mech inf brigades. The armour brigades turned towards a much, much faster and more daring movement style while the armoured mech thought more infantry-like and emphasised security more. I suspect a balanced standard brigade would not develop such a rich repertoire for an army.
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