Military ponders stronger combat vehicle

Good article. I agree that heavier vehicles in theory sound great, but the Taliban will just build even bigger IEDs. I think speed trumps armour.

I think pavement trumps IED's.

Pavement may not trump IEDs but it helps. To bad very little of the country is paved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiUz7QBKNnk

Stronger vehicles are a start but the problem is someone always makes a bigger bomb.

What if we did what Shermans had in WWII clear mine fields? I know IEDs and mines aren't EXACTLY the same, but if you damage an IED or set it off before going over it, wouldn't that be an advantage?

Canada's new tanks:

This is funny.
Since the fall of the Soviets, we've all been in a race to shed armor for speed. The whole Striker plan was a great example of that, but the US still had it's Bradleys.
Even the venerable hummer has been up-armored more times than can be recorded.
I guess the reality was something that the wheeled mafia never counted on.

Canada wanted to dump it's tanks in favor of the Mobile Gun Platform and I'm glad that idea never made it.

Mine clearing units move too slowly. The speed of the LAV's is offset by the silliness that once one wheel spins in a free motion with no traction, all the other wheels stop turning also. Which makes it possible to get stuck on wet grass. I have done it. I was amazed at how easy it was to get stuck. As for fighting in the FIBUA they are unsurpassed for agility and speed. FIBUA (fighting in a built up area)
It is a matter of perhaps going to a half track type of vehicle like WWII German half track. That would cut some speed and give more terrain crossing ability. Still keeping the wheeled vehicles for FIBUA battle. Of fast dispatch to an area needing gun support.

Some nations, like Germany, have always shed armour for speed RR. Generally, their tanks/AFVs are faster and have less armour than comparable NATO vehicles. It's not necessarily a bad thing. There is something to be said about the ability to get out of dodge quick. And the tracks on Bradleys are far more vulnerable than the tires on a LAV. The LAV can move with several tires damaged, but lose a track on a Bradley and you go from APC to target real quick. Wheeled APCs have been a fixture on the battlefield since after WW2.

And your Hummer analogy is a poor one. Until the Hummer came along, the US Army used JEEPs as its light all-purpose transport. The Hummer is simply a larger version of it.
The US Army simply decided to go from a tiny SUV to a medium sized truck. You should compare a Hummer to a G-Wagen or similar vehicle. The Iltis is closer to the Jeep in comparison.

The reason to go to the MGS was not about speed, it was about transportability. The C-130 could never carry a tank, but the MGS was supposed to fit on a C-130 (they are still working on that). Now with our hangar queen C-17s, that point is moot, because each plane can carry a Leopard tank.

Too bad all you need is a bulldozer to dig a big hole to stop one...

That sounds good but them why is Germany replacing it's very popular and successful Marder series AFV with a similar tracked vehicle? The Marder has been in service since the 70's and shadows the Bradley very closely. The Marder's replacement is also steel tracked and weighs in at over 30 tons.

Look at the Leopards for example. They started out at 41 toms but is now over 60 tons, putting it right in league with the Abrams, neither of which really are having problems with mobility or protection. Aside from it's thirst, the Abrams suprised a hell of a lot of people with it's performance.

Even the German army's main recon vehicle, the Wiesel, is almost 3 tons of cute little steel treaded goodness. They use that from ambulances to AA. It's a hell of a good vehicle with great mobility on steel tracks.


The hummer is a perfect analogy because it's being used for road patrol in Afghansistan and Iraq. It has gone from around 2.5 unarmored tons to almost doubling in weight and now their looking at ceramics and specialty armor because the basic platform won't take more weight. Yes, it started out as a light, unarmored truck but combat has a way of changing things..

We switched to Belinda's G-wagons after the Canadian public got pissed about the Intus being too light. The funny thing is that the G-wagon isn't that much better for protection either.

While I agree that a broken track is an inconvienient thing under fire, I doubt that wheels are any more resiliant. Sure, it can still move after one wheel is taken out but it might only take an anti-personel mine as opposed to an anti-tank mine. A track can be repaired with a few links where as a tire must be replaced.