Revolution in Military Affairs Major General Curtis Taylor and The Coming Blitzkrieg
Feb 23, 2026
Major General Curtis Taylor, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division and armored-warfare thinker. He explores armor’s enduring roles, lessons from Ukraine about precision strike and surveillance, and why human soldiers still matter. He outlines practical adaptations: layered EW, robotic breaching, seek-and-strike tactics, maintenance innovation, and a culture of rapid, bottom-up change.
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Armor's Three Enduring Battlefield Roles
- Armor remains essential for three unique functions on the battlefield: penetrating prepared defenses, seizing and holding ground, and dislocating enemy formations at operational depth.
- Major General Curtis Taylor illustrated each with WWI entrenchment deterrence, tank endurance versus Apache sortie limits, and the 2003 march to Baghdad bypassing Republican Guard forces.
Apache Versus Abrams Endurance Example
- Taylor contrasted Apache helicopters and Abrams tanks to show endurance matters: Apaches deliver lethal sorties but lack the endurance to hold ground.
- He cited National Training Center data where Abrams tanks accounted for over 50% of direct fire kills due to persistence.
Three Changes Reshaping Armored Warfare
- The battlefield is changing: precision strike replaces direct fire, killing is often cheaper than protecting, and surveillance is becoming pervasive and crowdsourced.
- Taylor argues these trends force new organization, layered countermeasures, and doctrine changes rather than abandonment of armor.
