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| If you knew what this is just by looking then you're good. For everyone else its a ground launched cruise missile setup. |
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| USS Inchon sailing in...Marines had a reinforcement role in the North in case of war in Europe. |
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| M-60A2. Great idea, poor execution. That turret looks painful. |
In that case I'm good. :D
ReplyDeleteI saw that monster pics couple of years ago as weapon that make INF treaty real.
And M60A2 still looks like something from s-f movie with the "Starship" name.
I like it, its big and ugly and looks like it means business. None of that bullshit symmetry, completely pragmatic. Now, I'm the M1 can kick its teeth in operationally but I still like its looks.
DeleteI'm not so much good as experienced. Short-lived weapon system because it was one of the most successful deterrents ever: one of the key technologies that scared the Soviets sh*tless and would have broken their bank trying to counter,
ReplyDeleteON the other hand, Thank God the Soviets gave up when they did. We tested the GLCM (affectionately known early-on as the Ground Launch Cruise Mortar until we got it reliably transitioning to the jet engine)and so the core of the first operators were drawn from my Group. First stop: Infantry School. Later on they moved infantry-lite to Davis-Monthan for the AF. Only about 1 in 10 missile guys assigned would ever get to touch the missile. The rest would drive it to a prepared launch site, connect up the systems, and jump into a fighting hole. Nuclear Infantry. I suppose some people think that would be fun. The treaty that killed it kept me away from joining in the fun. One of my most satisfying tasks was to ensure the test launch site at Dugway Proving Grounds was completely de-mil'd and sanitized per the INF treaty accords.
I always wonder how hard and how effective it would be update the M-60A2 or the Sheridan with modern electronics. Both were simply ahead of their time with 60s technology, no?
ReplyDeleteReforger'88, that was fun.
ReplyDeleteI still laugh when I think about the East German & Soviet observers who were amazed that every tank had a map & radio.
@Max, On the electronics issue, it all comes down to money as there is plenty of room physically to mount the stuff and we could buy LAHAT missiles from Israel.
Sometimes knowing what I know and what had been demonstrated in GW1 I do wonder whether if the balloon had gone up whether it would have been our side heading towards Warsaw and the USSR's eastern border and not us running to the English Channel.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, there was a different attitude than during the Eisenhower or Kennedy Admin. where nuclear weapons were seen as inevitable. The 70's saw a re-emergence of the study of the operational warfare by the West and also a wave of new technologies that were designed to blunt Soviet armor: CLGP Copperhead, TOW, Apache/Hellfire, smart mines, A-10 as well as platforms designed to outclass Soviet tanks and IFVs like the Abrams/Bradley, Leopard/Marder, Challenger/Warrior, etc.
DeleteThere were a lot of new commanders in the 70's who saw NATO being able to stop a Warsaw pact attack and able to mount a counter-attack into the GDR, etc.
Seeing all the Warsaw Pact plans that came out after the wall fell, the Soviets were planning on using a lot of nukes to pave their way across Germany e.g. Hannover, Brunswick, Hamburg. And if that would have happened, every communications hub east of the Elbe would have been vaporized: Dresden, Krakow, Prague, Warsaw, Lodz, etc.
We need to scrap IMF and bring back ground launched cruise missiles.
ReplyDeleteGround Launched cruise missiles for anti-shipping that we could fly on a C-17 into Taiwan or Okinawa or Philippines.
The Russians are eyeing the Chinese warily and want to scrap IMF as well. Of course, they are still selling them engines and might sell them SU-35.
If IMF precludes ground launched cruise missiles.. whats all the promos about containerized Club-K missiles about?
ReplyDeleteDon't they violate IMF?
nm, Answered my own question as Club-K fits under the rage allowed of IMF which is 500km.
Actually, we could do the same as 500km is plenty to cover Taiwan or any nations territorial or economic zone waters.