Yep, that 25mm chain gun has been an absolute blessing for the Digs on the ground there. With our Government refusing to deploy artillery, tanks, Tiger gunships or Hornet fighters, that 25mm is the greatest fire support capability our boys have over there generally have.
We have Javelin ATGW and a handful of 81mm mortars, but the ASLAV-25 (indicating the variants that have the 25mm Bushmaster cannon) is deployed on virtually every regular patrol in an overwatch function. It's 25mm gun is accurate, provides good (though not great) firepower and thanks to new ammunition it is using, can engage targets at 3000m ranges in a direct fire role.
It's a damn shame that DMO didn't source a single man turret and put the 25mm Bushmaster on the M113AS3/4 upgrade, given the 25mm's importance in actual Australian operations...
i see it as a good thing. its just the australian version of the LAV-25 (USMC) but what it does that the Stryker doesn't is ... everything. its just as mobile (if not more so) on the battlefield. is strategically more mobile. has more firepower than the Infantry version of the Stryker. and costs a ton less.
its what wheeled vehicles were suppose to be. any vehicle over 20 tons really needs to be tracked if its going to be considered tactically mobile...otherwise its stuck to roads.
well i was disappointed in the stryker infantry vehicle because it lacks serious firepower, i love that bushmaster cannon on there, i know toe to toe with armor it wouldnt survive but in afghanistan and even iraq in teh insurgency you didnt need that, you needed some extra organic firepower which that bushmaster can provide, along with infantry support, our good old trust 50 cals. i actually like teh LAV-25 and hope the corp keeps it in service for a while, just keeps upgrading. i agree with the idea about it being mobile.
The infantry version of the ASLAV, is the ASLAV-PC. It can carry ten digs in the back, but is armed (at present) with a Konsberg remote weapon station and either a 12.7mm QCB machine gun (.50 cal) or a Mk 19, 40mm auto grenade launcher.
It is rumoured that Australia has chosen a Heckler and Koch 40mm auto grenade launcher (the Mk 19's were bought as an urgent operational requirement capability for Iraq and Afghanistan and aren't intended for long term use) so there is a chance these weapons may make their way onto ASLAV-PC and also the Bushmaster IMV's ( Infantry Mobility Vehicles - which also use the Konsberg RWS) in the near future (within the next couple of years)...
Yep, that 25mm chain gun has been an absolute blessing for the Digs on the ground there. With our Government refusing to deploy artillery, tanks, Tiger gunships or Hornet fighters, that 25mm is the greatest fire support capability our boys have over there generally have.
ReplyDeleteWe have Javelin ATGW and a handful of 81mm mortars, but the ASLAV-25 (indicating the variants that have the 25mm Bushmaster cannon) is deployed on virtually every regular patrol in an overwatch function. It's 25mm gun is accurate, provides good (though not great) firepower and thanks to new ammunition it is using, can engage targets at 3000m ranges in a direct fire role.
It's a damn shame that DMO didn't source a single man turret and put the 25mm Bushmaster on the M113AS3/4 upgrade, given the 25mm's importance in actual Australian operations...
In Iraq they were making runs along Route Irish.
ReplyDeletesol, do u see teh ASLAV as a good or bad thing for australian forces?
ReplyDeletei see it as a good thing. its just the australian version of the LAV-25 (USMC) but what it does that the Stryker doesn't is ... everything. its just as mobile (if not more so) on the battlefield. is strategically more mobile. has more firepower than the Infantry version of the Stryker. and costs a ton less.
ReplyDeleteits what wheeled vehicles were suppose to be. any vehicle over 20 tons really needs to be tracked if its going to be considered tactically mobile...otherwise its stuck to roads.
well i was disappointed in the stryker infantry vehicle because it lacks serious firepower, i love that bushmaster cannon on there, i know toe to toe with armor it wouldnt survive but in afghanistan and even iraq in teh insurgency you didnt need that, you needed some extra organic firepower which that bushmaster can provide, along with infantry support, our good old trust 50 cals. i actually like teh LAV-25 and hope the corp keeps it in service for a while, just keeps upgrading. i agree with the idea about it being mobile.
ReplyDeleteThe infantry version of the ASLAV, is the ASLAV-PC. It can carry ten digs in the back, but is armed (at present) with a Konsberg remote weapon station and either a 12.7mm QCB machine gun (.50 cal) or a Mk 19, 40mm auto grenade launcher.
ReplyDeleteIt is rumoured that Australia has chosen a Heckler and Koch 40mm auto grenade launcher (the Mk 19's were bought as an urgent operational requirement capability for Iraq and Afghanistan and aren't intended for long term use) so there is a chance these weapons may make their way onto ASLAV-PC and also the Bushmaster IMV's ( Infantry Mobility Vehicles - which also use the Konsberg RWS) in the near future (within the next couple of years)...