While I'm not as well read in Tank technology as compared to
aircraft (so please forgive me if I say something stupid), I do
believe that a laser warner is very useful. Firstly, it gives a
tank advanced warning of any unwelcome interest on it by enemies,
through detection of laser guidance beams and laser measuring
systems. It's almost the direct tank equivalent of the plane's RWR.
The tank, should it have advanced warnng of any incoming missiles,
will have the oppurtunity to take evasive action. Most of the time,
a tank is killed by a missile which is undetected by the
crew.
Ok, I know you're going to say what you said, the smoke won't come
up in time, rite? Actually, no. The Hellfire missile would usually
be on a LOBL mode, and the laser would be on for the whole duration
of the flight, from beginning to the end. The smoke grenades are
specially designed to disperse very quickly and envelope the whole
tank.
I dunno whether the PT-91s are equipped with any of the Russian
tank reactive countermeasures systems. While I'm not too clear on
their capabilities, some of them like the Shtora, Arena systems
have no direct western equivalent, if I'm not wrong, and they
should be treated with respect.
