Letter to the Editor—On the “Logarithmic Law” of Attrition and its Application to Tank Combat

Abstract

In a recent article appearing in this Journal, H. K. Weiss indicates that, in extremely large scale engagements during the Civil War attrition tended to follow the logarithmic law and refers to the use of this law by the author in a study of tank combat. In this study it was found that in the 1-vs- n tank engagements in North West Europe during World War II the first kill of an engagement did seem to follow the logarithmic law, but that the second kill came closer to following the square law. Data on subsequent kills became too sparse to be statistically meaningful.