Mean no disrespect to veterans, but just viewed an aerial photo of tanks being taken into DC

[Aristus]

29. Ex-tanker here; also current tank enthusiast.

Tanks, like several other battlefield weapons, have morphed into something their designers likely never intended. From the dominant weapon on mid-to-late 20th Century battlefields, to a symbol of autocratic tyranny and violent repression.

The Soviet Union's method of winning wars was to flood the battlefield with immense amounts of cheaply-made, and often sub-standard weapons, including tanks, to overwhelm an enemy (like the Nazis) who might have better tanks, just not enough of them to overcome their numeric disadvantage. The USSR produced so many tanks, around 100,000 of the T-54/55 series for example, that even poor nations could afford a small fleet of them. They were not usually enough to provide a capable national defense. But they were great for military parades celebrating whichever autocrat was currently in power. Small, poor African nations like Uganda and the Central African Republic used the ubiquitous T-55 to literally crush any political opposition from their cowed, terrified populations.

Trump's parade is no doubt intended to intimidate all of us who oppose him and his tinhorn bid for absolute power. I don't think it will work.

In a similar way as above, the Soviet-designed AK-47 assault rifle was intended as the primary weapon of Soviet line infantry in conventional ground warfare. But as with the T-55 tank, so many were made that the rifle became dirt cheap, and so any terrorist or resistance organization could pick up enough to start a revolution. The AK-47 is now more identified with irregular warfare than conventional warfare.