The Force Protection/General Dynamics JAMA won the contest for the Ground Mobility Vehicle for SOCOM.
What does that tell us?
Well to me that indicates an increased awareness of the vulnerability of small teams to enemy forces...they want weapon trucks that they can take everywhere that mount heavy weapons. Additionally it also seems that internal carriage of vehicles is also becoming more paramount (at least for the time) when it comes to SOCOM operations. I personally thought that the Northrop Grumman offering would win hands down (see below).
And that brings me to my next point. If I was Northrop I wouldn't scrap the plans to this vehicle just yet.
I can't explain it but the JAMA win smells more like a SEALs selection than something the Rangers would be interested in. Something tells me that SOCOM will be buying more vehicles to fulfill this same role.
Why not the wiesel?
ReplyDeleteIts not a smart ass question...its a real question.
Why not an off the sheft vehicle?An armored one?Tracked?
not familiar....what is the wiesel?
Deletehttp://youtu.be/sm9tjddIp18
DeleteThe US is doing trials on this since 2005...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiesel_AWC
DeleteWrong GD! GDOTS won, reread the contract award notice.
DeleteI agree there will be multiple vehicles. Every vehicle is a compromise between capability and weight. There is a difference between an "assault" vehicle and a "patrolling" vehicle.
ReplyDeleteThe "Doom Buggy" the SEALs made famous is a great "assault" vehicle, it delivers men, weapons, equipment, and resupplies to the fight in a rapid manner. The best "assault" vehicles are able to roll right out of a CH-47 and get a heavy machine gun into the fight.
A patrol vehicle needs much more protection, and can be much heavier with much more substantial armor. Think MRAPs.
Heavy Armor brigades with their Abrams and Bradley vehicle formations kick a crap ton of ass wherever they feel like going. At a huge fuel and maintenance cost. Sometimes you have to be able to drop a "doom buggy" off in a remote location to conduct a raid somewhere.
The SAS have been doing this with Land Rover Defenders for years. The "light assault vehicle" concept works really well that way. But you didn't want to roll in a LR Defender down Route Irish. And I personally think that it would be a helluva waste to get rid of the MRAPs from the inventory. It is the only vehicle that makes sense for "Military operations other than war" that we will find ourselves in in the coming years.