A front mobile group is a grouping of several tank armies as a primary armoured force of the

Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * '' The Front'', 1976 film Music *The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

commander for use in developing breakthroughs during an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

, particularly in achieving strategic goals. Usually forming the second echelon, and employing from one to three tank armies, these were used with great success by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

during the fighting on the Eastern Front of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On occasion when either the tank army was unavailable, or the terrain was not suitable for the employment of large number of

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful e ...

s and

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

, only a cavalry mechanized group was used. The Front mobile group was usually used to deepen the penetration of the enemy front 70–100 km or more. The organisation of the Front mobile group was retained by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

during the Cold War in the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

known as second echelon tank forces. The employment of the tank armies is intended to create a local numerical superiority on a narrow front of 3-5:1 in manpower, 6-8:1 in tanks and

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

, and 3-5:1 in

Combat aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...

.p.147, Glantz

Citations and notes

References

* Glantz, David, ''Soviet military operational art: in pursuit of deep battle'', Frank Cass, London, 1991 {{ISBN, 0-7146-4077-8 * Simpkin, Richard, Red Armour: An examination of the Soviet mobile force concept, Brassey's Defence Publishers, London, 1984 Military units and formations of the Soviet Union Soviet Army Soviet fronts