The end of the British Tank....

[JoeArthur]

Not ASL related, but maybe of interest. Us Brits may not have any tanks soon:

Ellwood aims fire at No 10 over tank plan: 'I see no defence strategy'

Tory chair of defence committee responds to leaks Challenger 2 to be scrapped

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mister T]

Taking back control

 

[Paul M. Weir]

Sounds a bit like a land version of the end of 19th Century Jeune École naval strategy. I have my doubts about the wisdom of such a policy. I'm more into the old and staid concept of a balanced force.

 

[Gordon]

Sounds a bit like a land version of the end of 19th Century Jeune École naval strategy. I have my doubts about the wisdom of such a policy. I'm more into the old and staid concept of a balanced force.

Ha! Thanks to Drachinifel's YouTube channel I actually got that reference!

 

[Paul M. Weir]

A YouTube video about this:

 

[Yuri0352]

A very interesting video... with plenty of entertaining 'Challenger porn'!

This unfortunate recent trend of 'Let's get rid of the tanks, they're obsolete' smells an awful lot like the theory within the 1950's U.S. Dept. of Defense regarding the unnecessary presence of guns upon fighter aircraft and an exclusive reliance upon guided missiles as armament. A theory which was demonstrated to be seriously flawed by the air combat experiences of the USAF/USN during the early years of the Vietnam war.

Should this ill-conceived MoD proposal be adopted, it will be a disaster for the British armed forces and their allies in any future conventional combined arms conflict.

 

[aiabx]

I think one needs to ask the question "what wars is the UK likely to fight in the next 20 years?" If conventional war with the Warsaw Pact in Central Europe isn't on the list, the need for tanks goes way down. There's no real empire to defend anymore, just a few islands that will be mostly the navy's job anyway. I'd see counterinsurgency is likely to be the big task, especially if the Irish border turns into a gong show.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I think one needs to ask the question "what wars is the UK likely to fight in the next 20 years?"

There's no profit in that, honestly. In 1981 if you had said Canada would be fighting in Afghanistan in 2001, you'd have been met with a great deal of skepticism. Likewise in 1931 if you had predicted Canada's involvement in the Korean War, it would have been astonishing.

The Canadian Army was ready to go to all wheels, in lock step with the Americans, in the first part of the century. Then Iraq and Afghanistan came along, and we were both scrambling for full-track MBTs.

 

[T34]

Sort of like buying an aircraft carrier with no ability to provide support vessels. Still, anything that brings us closer to disarmament has to be a positive step.

 

[Eagle4ty]

How ya going to have a "Cool army" without tanks? What about modelers? "OOOH! Lookie here! thare's a great model of a new lorry, sure glad they don't have tanks any more (maybe I can stick a big intimidating gun out through the assistant drivers front window)."

 

[Actionjick]

How ya going to have a "Cool army" without tanks? What about modelers? "OOOH! Lookie here! thare's a great model of a new lorry, sure glad they don't have tanks any more (maybe I can stick a big intimidating gun out through the assistant drivers front window)."

Shotgun!?!

 

[Michael Dorosh]

How ya going to have a "Cool army" without tanks? What about modelers? "OOOH! Lookie here! thare's a great model of a new lorry, sure glad they don't have tanks any more (maybe I can stick a big intimidating gun out through the assistant drivers front window)."

Pretty sure the Americans do that anyway with the .50 M2.

 

[Eagle4ty]

Shotgun!?!

Too puny! How ya goin' to blow up neat stuff with that?

 

[Eagle4ty]

Pretty sure the Americans do that anyway with the .50 M2.

View attachment 14646

Ma Deuce is cool, but big guns are better! (Too noisy as well, not to mention the exhaust. (Ever ridden up there in the ring-mount?)???

 

[Actionjick]

Ma Deuce is cool, but big guns are better! (Too noisy as well, not to mention the exhaust. (Ever ridden up there in the ring-mount?)???

Loved exhaust fumes as a toddler. Explains a lot.?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Ma Deuce is cool, but big guns are better! (Too noisy as well, not to mention the exhaust. (Ever ridden up there in the ring-mount?)???

I did ride in the ring mount of a friend's HMMVW once. It was ok, what was terrible was when it rained and it was like Das Boot inside....

 

[Actionjick]

I did ride in the ring mount of a friend's HMMVW once. It was ok, what was terrible was when it rained and it was like Das Boot inside....

It smelled like 60 sailors who haven't had a shower in a month? They were called pig boats for good reason.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

It smelled like 60 sailors who haven't had a shower in a month? They were called pig boats for good reason.

Nah, the Humvee is so wide that sitting in the passenger seat behind the radio is like checking into a motel with the driver and being put in adjoining rooms....I just meant the roof leaked like a sieve!

 

[Actionjick]

Nah, the Humvee is so wide that sitting in the passenger seat behind the radio is like checking into a motel with the driver and being put in adjoining rooms....I just meant the roof leaked like a sieve!

Well at least you got a shower! ?

 

[jyoung]

Pretty sure the Americans do that anyway with the .50 M2.

View attachment 14646

Standing up that high to fire the 0.50 cal would give you a good view over the landscape. But LOS is reciprocal...