The Maneuver Warfare Debate And Why The Cavalry Charge Refused To Die

Military analysts are debating whether tanks and rapid armored maneuver have a future after drones turned much of the Ukraine war into static attrition. One camp, led by analyst Amos Fox's book arguing maneuver is dead, faces off against military journal writers insisting armor just needs to evolve rather than retire.

The piece draws a parallel to pre-World War One cavalry doctrine, when generals insisted sabers and charges remained essential even as machine guns made such charges catastrophic, citing the 1914 Battle of Halen where eight German cavalry charges failed against Belgian rifle fire. The author notes cavalry still occasionally succeeded under the right conditions, like the 1917 Beersheba charge, suggesting maneuver warfare may survive in narrow circumstances rather than disappear outright.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.