Tanks !

Tanks have superior armor to what they have had in the past and there are not enough drones, especially taking into account that armies are developing methods to make drones blind.
There are too many friendly fire deaths with manned planes, God only knows how that would be magnified if they used drones rather than pilots.

There is a Russian video that shows how the new reactive armor works, on youtube.

Too many here are like generals in the Pentagon that got hundreds, if not thousands, of grunts killed with their pit-in-the-sky paper wonder ideas that are not proven to be as pathetic as they are till the coffins start coming home.

Tactical nukes still exist and if a country truly feels threatened by drone the emp from a nuke will make any drone useless.

If the drone control is thousands of miles away ICBMs exist for that.
Drone are a wonderful item fighting against terrorists and under-funded nut-jobs, but that is an entirely different situation than one where mass ground tank assaults would be used.

Yes, I believe so. The drone, now in its infancy, will change the way war is waged, over the next decade.

I,M,H,O, I think they are. Ground Soldiers these days have shoulder held missiles that can take a Tank out from further away, than the Tank can fire back at them.Enemy Infantry can be cleared by air power without fear of being shot down, as they can do it out of reach of ground to air missiles.
Bovington, will one day, need to expand massivly to hold all the redundant Tanks, no longer needed.
Just my opinion.

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Certainly outdated, but not obsolete.

So what role and where would a Main Battle Tank play a desisive role in the 21st century in the UK’s armed forces?

In my opinion, and I also take into account the opinion of an Uncle with well over 30 years in the armed forces: No.

With newer and more capable weapons on the battlefield, especially in the air, Tanks are more vulnerable than ever before. I wouldn’t go as far to say Tanks are obsolete though. Indeed things have changed, but haven’t things changed every decade anyway?

Drone launched missiles. The nature and conduct of land warfare has changed.

The short answer to your question is yes. Apart from intimidating people it is like a Battleship vulnerable both to air attack and also ground launched missiles.
To me they are mobile crematoriums.