Summary: Congress has raised concerns about the military's lingering Cold War mindset, which has promoted the purchase of increasing numbers of tank-killing weapons despite the fact that potential adversaries have dwindling numbers of armored forces. During the Cold War, the military braced for a massive land attack spearheaded by thousands of armored vehicles in Central Europe. Today, military planners generally envision smaller regional conflicts when developing war-fighting plans and requirements. The number of potential enemy armored targets that U.S. forces expect to confront has fallen considerably since 1990. Yet, the overall size of the Defense Department's (DOD) current antiarmor weapons inventory is about the same as during the Cold War, and inventories of the most sophisticated and lethal antiarmor weapons have actually increased. There are now 35 different kinds of antiarmor weapons in the inventory and 10 other types in production. The military continues to invest in antiarmor weapons and plans to increase its funding.
