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ArmyTanker

ArmyTanker

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Sep 25, 2020
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The US military has developed or is developing RMAs. RMAs can be a new weapon, vehicle, technology, or doctrine that will give us an advantage in the next wars. Here are current RMAs that have been developed and these are just my opinions:
- Smart Cluster Bombs: Right now we have the ability to drop large bombs that will spit out perhaps 40 cluster bombs that will actively seek armored vehicles to destroy them. This is a tremendous amount of accurate firepower.
- Phalanx System: This automated weapons system can be found on ships and around bases. It can shoot 4,500 20mm rounds at a muzzle velocity of 3600 feet/sec. It can shoot down missiles, drones, planes, mortars, and other projectiles.
- Israeli Trophy System: Our M1 tanks are becoming more vulnerable to anti tank weapons. The US Army will install the Trophy Systems on our tanks. When a missile or projectile is few meters from the tanks, the Trophy System will essentially shoot a shotgun blast to defeat the threat.
- Drones are used for surveillance and delivering munitions. I read Turkish drones destroyed 100 Russian made tanks in Syria. The US is fond of using drones to kill high value targets (people).

We are working on these possible RMAs:
- Laser Weapons: There are many technical challenges, but we are developing more powerful laser weapons. I think we have the ability to shoot down drones with laser weapons now.
- Rail Guns: Huge technical challenges but we are still trying to develop that technology.
- Artillery: Historically artillery has been an area weapon or an indirect weapons system. The goal for artillery is to land rounds in the proximity of the targets. Some of the current focus is turning artillery rounds into smart or guided rounds for precision. The US Army recently used a 155 Howitzer round to shoot down a missile. Perhaps we can shoot accurately at targets 50 miles away.
- Communications and Networking: I really don't know what this domain is called, but we are working on domain because it is crucial in future wars as there will be infinitely more inputs, outputs, and solutions.
- Hypersonic Missiles: China, Russia, and the US are racing to develop missiles that can fly at Mach 5.
 
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Some RMAs from WWII are Blitzkrieg, German tanks, P-51s, Aircraft carriers, Amphibious landings, and atomic bombs. I would love to add Patton to the list.
 
ArmyTanker said:
We are still working on laser weapons, railguns, advanced networking, fielding the Trophy System, and turning artillery into direct systems.
Click to expand...

we are pumping millions into more RDT&E, but outside of advancing arty shells and modifying next gen armor for the Trophy everything else is/has been a money dump with limited expectations of being fielded. that’s not to say that somewhere along the way secondary/tertiary spinoffs occur that will benefit other lines of effort, but given the requirements to make the railgun or laser weapons practical when there are already cheaper alternatives with prove applicability I can’t see them having much staying power when the budget gets tight. just my $.02.

curious what you mean by networking though.
 
The Marine Corps will embark on a radical transformation to support the doctrine of naval power and amphibious operations. It will divest itself with all tanks, most of the artillery, many heavy vehicles, and reduce the number of helicopters. They want to become lighter and will rely more on drones. The Marine Corps does not want to participate in long ground campaigns like they have in Iraq.
 
CARE PACKAGES

Millions of Americans opened up their hearts and wallets to pay for $10 care packages of food to be sent to impoverished and hungry Europeans after WWII. In todays terms that would be $130. Hundreds of millions were sent. Some families had perhaps a loaf of bread to eat for a week. Care packages were a valuable lifeline and prevented millions from dying due to the lack of food, and systems were in place for families to get the packages on a regular basis. School children received smaller care packages of food on a regular basis at school. Sometimes girls would get a doll in their package.

These are some of the items in the care packages. The program is a testament to the generosity of Americans and often influenced how Europeans thought of us.

one pound (450 g) of beef in broth
one pound (450 g) of steak and kidneys
8 ounces (230 g) of liver loaf
8 ounces (230 g) of corned beef
12 ounces (340 g) of luncheon loaf (like Spam)
8 ounces (230 g) of bacon
two pounds (910 g) of margarine
one pound (450 g) of lard
one pound (450 g) of fruit preserves
one pound (450 g) of honey
one pound (450 g) of raisins
one pound (450 g) of chocolate
two pounds (910 g) of sugar
8 ounces (230 g) of powdered eggs
two pounds (910 g) of whole-milk powder
two pounds (910 g) of coffee
 
This is what will happen when we leave Afghanistan. The Taliban and the the government of Afghanistan will duke it out. Both have competing ideologies that will not support compromise. The Taliban wants to implement Sharia Law and the Afghan Government (AG) wants to promulgate democracy. I will look at the situation from the perspective of Passion of the People, Military Capability, and Rational Government.

- Passion of the People. This is a very important component for war as proven by our Revolutionary war and our desire to be free from England's yoke. Generally speaking the rural communities support the Taliban and the urban communities support the AG. I see this as a wash.

- Military Capability. The AG forces do not have the strength and expertise to go into rural Afghanistan to kill the Taliban. The Taliban do not have the strength to take on AG forces. Mao said revolutions are won by building up a peer sized army to beat governmental forces. I see this as a wash.

- Rational Government. This does not apply to the Taliban as they rule by an iron fist and rural Afghans accept that condition. The AG can lose favor of the urban populace by bribery, corruption, and actions that do not support or hurt Afghans.

For these reasons I believe their will be a protracted civil war in Afghanistan.
 
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It will behoove of the US to study the hybrid war the Russians are using in Ukraine. They are using conventional forces, special forces, insurgents, and contractors. Ukraine purchased Javelin missiles from the US to combat the hundreds of Russian tanks in the Ukraine. The big question is how many of the missiles did the Ukraine get.
 
Just a snippet about the Greatest Generation.

They changed the trajectory of world history and were indispensable in defeating evil empires. They fought in too many places in Africa, Europe, and Asia to include the oceans to mention. So many men and women took their last breathes in places so far from home.

We lost thousands of sailors in epic battles in the Pacific Ocean and nearby seas as we fought the Japanese Navy. Thousands of marines and soldiers died retaking islands and countries in the Pacific area. Thousands of soldiers died in Africa, Italy, D-Day and operations to push toward Germany. Thousands of airmen were lost on unescorted bombing runs. It was just a matter of time for the US to change the facet of war in favor of allied forces. It was a war of attrition and we had infinitely more people and industrial might.

FDR was a real war president. The Germans, Japanese, and Italians did not understand that FDR was a puppet master and they were just part of the show as puppets.
 
THE GENERAL WHO SAVED THE KOREAN WAR

I would like to share this story about the Korean War because 17,000 Aussies were part of the UN forces and hope this will provide a broader picture. In 1951 General Matthew Ridgeway took command of all the UN forces in Korea. He had a week to survey the UN forces and prepare them for the big offensive conducted by the N Koreans and Chinese moving South.

He had a photographic memory and remembered all the names of soldiers he met on the front line. He improved food and issued warmer uniforms. General Ridgeway asked his division commanders what there tactical plans were and if their primary plans were retreating, he fired them on the spot and replaced them with generals who wanted to fight.

The UN forces were in a defensive posture North of Seoul and were pushed South of Seoul. This is the point he used his photographic memory to turn the direction of the war. He studied many maps and memorized all the key terrain features like roads, creeks, hills, mountains, and rivers. When the UN forces counterattacked he knew exactly the kind of terrain his divisions would see. He used this method to move the UN forces North in a methodical manner to counterattack the enemy effectively. He was instrumental in saving the Korean War from defeat.

By no means was he a stuffy general. He did an airborne jump with the 82nd in WWII without any training. He visited the soldiers on the front on a regular basis and he had a habit of peeing in the direction of the Germans as they lobbed in artillery shells. I just wanted to share the story of a remarkable military leader. He was definitely a soldiers' general.
 
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MY MAN CRUSH FOR PATTON

I will certainly claim not to be a military historian or an expert on Patton, but I would like to share what little I know of him. First, he was a brilliant combat leader. Second, his use of available assets to accomplish the mission was genius.

Patton took over beleaguered US forces in N African in NOV 1942. Rommel, the Desert Fox, had kicked our asses all over the place. Patton had a week to turn around the US Army before a large battle with the Germans. Patton used Infantry, Field Artillery, and Tank Killers to destroy a heavy German armored force of 50 tanks at a critical pass. That was the start for the US to change the fate of the N African campaign.

In JUL 1943 Patton and his Army conducted an amphibious landing at Sicily. He was relentless and conducted two more amphibious landings to outflank the Germans. He and Montgomery were racing to attack the Germans who had a difficult time retreating fast enough to the Port of Mesina to escape the Allied forces. I believe by this time the Germans feared Patton the most of all Allied generals.

In early 1944 Patton was reassigned by General Eisenhower due to a couple slapping incidents in field hospitals. Patton was made commander of a fictitious Army unit in the UK which contained many inflatable vehicles and proceeded to indulge in non stop communications to deceive the Germans into thinking an amphibious landing would be a direct channel route to Calais, France. The Germans were deceived due to much fear and respect for Patton.

AUG 1944 Patton's Army landed in France and commenced on a 30 day march to the border of Germany. At this point we had air superiority. He used fighter planes to protect his flanks and provide reconnaissance ahead of his Army to give him great intelligence and situational awareness. Often the fighter planes engaged German formations in decisive engagements which gave Patton the flexibility of action which included surrounding the enemy and other tactics.

He had a disdain for Montgomery and often competed with him. One time Eisenhower gave all the fuel to Montgomery's army which infuriated Patton. He ordered his soldiers to steal some of the fuel. In another instance Patton's army was low on fuel so he ordered fuel to be dispensed to the essential vehicles in order keep up the momentum. I can not say it enough, Patton was a brilliant commander.
 
This was my first unit as a young soldier. The unit is portrayed in the move Blackhawk Down. The pilots are some of the best and most courageous. They will move heaven and hell to bring our boys home safely.

 
Sometimes I think with great reverence when I was a Tank Officer. I can't believe that the Army gave me such an incredible toy to play with. It weighs 70 tons, has a 1500 HP jet engine that is relatively quiet, and can fire accurately on the move against a moving target. It has a coaxial M240 machine gun that is guided by a ballistic computer. It can reach the speeds of 45 MPH, but I think it could reach 60 MPH if the speed governor was tricked out.

It carries 40 big 120 mm rounds. My Tank Platoon had 160 big rounds. That is a lot of firepower. The sabot round is essentially a 2 foot dart that weighs 20 lbs. and travels one mile per second. We can hit a target 2.5 miles away in 2.5 seconds. That is a lot of kinetic energy. I had a 50 caliber to use. The gunner also has a M240 7.62 mm machine gun to use.

Learning the trade took some time due to the speed of maneuvering. It became easier with experience and training. Case in point is if we go into a hasty defense, all I had to do was point out three target reference points to the other three tanks and the fire plan was already set. I love the target reference approach. I could radio to the platoon two enemy vehicles at target reference point 2, 2000 meters. It was a quick way to paint the picture. That gave priority of fire to my #2 and #3 tanks. Each Tank Commander understood we could have a good bit of distance between the tanks, and they would look for terrain to give them cover and concealment.

We used the wingman concept to simplify tactics. I had a wingman tank and together we were Alpha Section. The Platoon SGT had a wingman tank and they were Bravo Section. If enemy contact was not expected we traveled in staggered column with me in the lead. If enemy contact is likely we would travel in a wedge formation with me at the lead. If needed we would bound by sections. Alpha set Bravo move. Bravo set Alpha move.

The suspension is second to none. We call it the Cadillac Ride. The suspension facilitates speed. That is why M1s traveling in the desert look like ships gliding over the sand. The mission of tank units is not to defeat but to destroy and annihilate the enemy in our path. My tank was named Diplomacy Failed. As a young Platoon Leader I had 4 tanks and 15 soldiers. I would not trade that experience with anything in the world.

 
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

They were black aviators who were known as Red Tails due to red on the tails of their fighters. The Army Airforce erred in their doctrine strategic bombers could defend themselves. I believe we lost 3,000 B-17s in Europe. The bombers were escorted partially as the fighters had to return due to the lack of requisite range. The Germans knew our operating procedures and mercilessly attacked our unescorted strategic bombers.

The advent of the P-51 changed these dynamics. The British put in a Rolls Royce engines in the P-51 to give them better performance. I would consider the P-51 a Revolution in Military Affairs which by definition is an invention that would change the face of the war. For the first time the strategic bombers were escorted all the way to the target and back. The Tuskegee Airmen flew P-51s and the first order of business was escorting the bombers. They shot down the German fighters who attempted to attack our bombers. This made a huge contribution to the attrition of the Luftwaffe that they would never recover from. Our fighters also caused attrition to experienced German pilots. This accelerated in the destruction of the Luftwaffe as inexperienced German pilots were easier to shoot down.

With air superiority the P-51s conducted tactical ground attacks and destroyed many German planes on the ground. On bombing escort duties other fighter pilots would abandon the bombers when they dropped bombs. The Red Tails stayed with the bombers all the way through the mission.

They immensely facilitated in the US gaining air superiority which had second and third order effects. Our fighters attacked German formations and logistics. General Patton the genius, used fighters to cover his Army Group's flanks and used fighters ahead of him to engage and destroy German formations. They decisively engaged the fighters and gave Patton great intelligence so he could attack in the manner of his choosing. Sometimes he smashed the enemy, sometimes he surrounded them. These operations gave Patton the security and firepower to rush from France to the German border in a manner that history will deem quite rapid and aggressive. The combination of the operating picture and his tactical brilliance made the German generals absolutely fear him.
 
DESERT STORM

Desert Storm was beautiful. Our Air Force and helicopters pounded the Iraqis who were stuck in the desert like tethered goats. An Air Force retired COL and military historian proposed the left hook to flank the Iraqi Divisions. The Marines fixed Iraqi Divisions to the East. 1ST CAV did feints up the middle to fix Iraqi Divisions to the South. It was quite exquisite for us to go West with heavy mechanized divisions. Many of the Iraqi Armored Divisions knew of our presence only after their tanks got blown up. The Center of Gravity, true strength, for the Iraqis were their Republican Guard Divisions and we rolled over them or they retreated to Iraq. The Iraqi Army decided to maneuver and retreat on the Highway of Death. They were in a long column heading to Iraq. The column formation is the worst formation when engaged by the enemy.
 
The Japanese did the world a favor by attacking Pearl Harbor as Americans wanted to stay neutral of WWII. FDR was a visionary and true war president. I don't know if anyone in world history can equal FDR's martial accomplishments. Our POTUS who could barely stand was a puppet master and all the world was his stage. He did three critical thing correctly well:

- He assessed the Japanese and German threats in the 1930s.
- He planned and executed a program to give millions of tons of weapons, planes, tanks, and vehicles to Russia and England to keep them in the war.
- When the US entered the war, FDR used all of the national powers to support the war efforts.

Admiral Yamamoto lived in the US for a few years and feared the industrial might of the US. His assessment was correct as at the end of WWII the US had 27 carriers to Japan's 1. The Japanese Navy and Army had philosophical differences. The Army won out and got their wish. They created a huge footprint in the Pacific and the Navy fretted about logistically supporting the Army in such a large area of operations.

The Pacific eventually became the Russia for the Japanese military. It was too large to support and the US made them pay for this. Essentially most of the Japanese Army ended up conducting their last actions by executing banzai charges which we were ready for to conclude ground operations on various islands. What our Soldiers and Marines went though, well all of them tried to forget what they experienced. Our attacks against the Japanese Navy had a cumulative effect that caused attrition which they could not overcome.


The US first strategic goal in the East was to protect Australia and her shipping lanes. The US fleet fought the Japanese fleet in the South Coral Sea starting on May 4, 1942. It was a tactical stalemate but a strategic victory for us. It prevented the Japanese influence in the various islands North of Australia. It shaped operations for retaking the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea from the Japanese after hard fighting.

The US broke the Japanese code and determined the Japanese Navy would attack Midway starting on June 4, 1942. We found their carriers first and conducted ineffective bombing runs because the planes were flying very high. Many Japanese Zeroes shot down our planes. We sent wave after wave of bombers with no impact to the battle. The Japanese admiral made a fateful decision. He sent planes to attack our fleet which prevented him from sending up fighters to protect the fleet. He could not conduct both operations simultaneously. Eventually our dive bombers destroyed all four of their carriers and we lost one. The Japanese Navy would never be the same again.

On June 19, 1942 the Battle of the Philippine sea commenced. We had an armada of 600 ships. Hundreds of Zeroes were shot down and the US destroyed 3 carriers. It was a tactical and strategic win for us as it set the conditions to successfully rest the Philippines from the Japanese Army. This is the methodology we used to get closer to Japan in order to attack her.
 
This is my last post on this thread. It was fun while it lasted. I bid you a great future.
 
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