How Denmark's Army Uses Light Unarmored Vehicles for Reconnaissance

Editor's Note: Lieutenant either modified weapons and Colonel Andersen, after equipment or introduced new reading several recent ar-equipment. ticles in ARMOR on the use of H M W s for reconnais-The basic army recon unit is sance, submitted this account the recon platoon, whose of the Danish Army's recon-structure is shown in Figure naissance assets and techni- 1 below. Each scout squad is ques, which depend on use equipped with two light machine guns, an 84-mm recoilless gun (the Swedish of unarmored recon vehicles. "Carl Gustaf"), a laser ran-Sin= the end of m, the Unarmored Mercedes-Benz recon vehicle of the Danish Army gefinder, and infrared night Danish Army recon units vision equipment. have used light unarmored vehicles When the Danish Army organized as scout cars. The first was the its recon units after the end of The tank section is equipped with famous Jeep. Presently, we use the Wwn, we used the U. S. organiza-the U. S. M41 light tank, recently German Mercedes-Benz Gelaend-tion as a model. We still use the modified by a Danish factory to in-ewagen with good results. same organization today, but have clude anew diesel engine, rubber Reconnaissance Platoon Organization Figure 1.

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Armored infantry and SP mortar squads back up the tank and scout sections in the Danish Army's recon platoons. 36 ARMOR - JUly-AUgUSt 7997

Danish Army reconnaissance units use modernized US.-built M41 light tanks. side skirts, a laser rangefinder, thermal night sight, NBC protection filter, and anew type of APFSDS tank ammunition for its 76-mm gun. These modifications have given the tank a combat radius of about 500 kilometers, a very fine night-fighting capability, and much better penetration against enemy tanks. The armored infantry squad is equipped with a 7.62-mm light machine gun, a 12.7-mm heavy machine gun and an 84-mm recoilless gun. The self-propelled mortar squad is equipped with an 81-mm niortar. The recon squadron consists of three recon platoons, a HQ platoon, and a supply and maintenance platoon. The recon battalion - which belongs to the division - consists of three recon squadrons and a HQ platoon. Danish Army recon units conduct three general reconnaissance missions - route reconnaissance, mne reconnaissance, and area reconnaissance. When the recon platoon conducts route reconnaissance, the platoon, in principle, uses two standard forma-ARMOR - July-AuguSt 7997 tions, scouts in front or tanks in front, depending on terrain. When moving through areas where there are houses, farms, hedges and woods - terrain with short observation distances and shooting ranges - scouts lead (Figure 2). The scout squad in front searches the terrain close to the road, supported by the tank section. The scout at the rear searches areas of interest that are farther away from the road. This squad is also ready on order to bypass detected enemy positions or to reinforce the observation of the previously detected enemy positions. Finally, the platoon leader can choose to use this squad on one of the flanks in preparation for a quick bypassing of the enemy. The infantry squad searches areas bypassed by the scouts (villages, forests, etc.) and secures the tank section. Tanks move to the front in open terrain. The tank section and Figure 2. Scouts in Front: A formation used in built-up areas a m D Typical formation used in terrain with short observation and shooting ranges. m u n m Scouts at the rear are prepared to move to the flanks to quickly bypass enemy positions or to reinforce when positions are detected. 37 the armored infantry squad search the terrain close to the road; the two scout squads search areas of interest at a longer distance from the road, one scout squad on each side of the road (Figure 3). The self-propelled mortar squad, at the center of the formation, is ready to give fire support, regardless of the chosen formation. During zone Teco11118issance, the platoon uses a standard formation, as shown in Figure 4. The two scout squads are placed at each side of the tank section and the infantry squad. The tank section should be able to support the scout squads or the infantry squad as they move forward, changing positions as required. The self-propelled mortar squad is always placed in the center of the formation so it is able to support the scout squads as well as the tank section and the infantry squad. The tank section and the infantry squad operate in open terrain. During area reconnaissance, the scout squads and the infantry squad serve as searching teams, and the tank section and the self-propelled mortar squad are used as fire-support teams. I want to stress that the formations shown are very basic (Figure 5)- The actual formation the platoon leader chooses has, of course, to be adapted to the shape of the terrain and the enemy situation. Moreover, Figure 3. Tanks in Front: A formation for open terrain m-m- n l = = l - - -I- m u Tanks lead in open terrain (above), searching the area close to the road, with scouts available to move to the sides of the road to search areas at greater distance (below). D D m-m- n L = l - =

U -I- D m D D the scouts can operate with or without support from the tank section. I have had very good experiences with the use of light, unarmored scout cars. They give the scouts the best opportunity to do their most important job - to see and report without being seen. Therefore, I agree with and support the viewpoints and experiences mentioned by Major Barry Scribner in his article in 37). When you put scouts in armored cars, they do not see and - especially - hear very well. They do not dismount as often as they should, nor as willingly. Furthermore, they are tempted to engage in combat with the enemy, especially if their armored car is equipped with strong weapon systems. When scouts use unarmored cars, it keeps them out of combat - or at least should - and they concentrate on their main task: to see and report without being seen. ARMOR (July-Aupt 1989, pp. 36, The light, open scout car used by Danish Army recon units has a very small silhouette and is, therefore, easy to hide. It is nearly noiseless and easy to mount and dismount. The scouts are, of course, not as well protected in alight, open car as in an armored car, but every enemy position today will be supported by antitank weapons, so it makes no difference if an armored or unarmored scout car IUS into enemy units by mistake. Both type of cars could be destroyed. One of the big problems in reconnaissance is to penetrate the enemy front line and then survive in enemy occupied areas. I think that the organization of our recon units is well suited for these tasks. Of course, we will try to penetrate not only with the scout cars but also with the tanks and APCs. If it seems impossible to penetrate with the tanks and the 38

Camouflage, and Quiet, Unobtrusive. Vehicles Hiding in Plain Sight... Denmark 's Reconnaissance Teams ARRV Stealth, Danish Army recon forces reason that both light, unarmored reconnaissance vehicles and heavier armored scout carriers face numerous enemy hand-held antitank weapons. They have elected I to depend on stealth for sur- A vivability Small, low, Mercedes recon vehicle, heavily camouflaged "When scouts use unarmored cars, it keeps them out of combat - or at least should - and they concentrate on their main task, to see and report without being seen.... " 1 MG-GUNNER t t TANK In the 1988 Boeselager competition bet we en NATO reconnaissance squads, "The Danish scout squads were the only scout squads that used light, unarmored scout cars. They were among the very few...that passed into 'enemy' terrain without being detected.... " I t MG-GUNNER t SCOUT tSCOUT CAR I uz":. I-- _.. ARMOR - July-AUguSt 7997 39