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2003-03-09 Iraq

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Posted by Steve White 2003-03-09 08:11 am|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "Collect the rifles, just in case, and send them all home."

Collect their rifles and send them home, but treat them with some courtesy and give them a decent meal first. We want to make sure that they tell everyone back in the village that the Americans are decent folks.

Posted by jrosevear 2003-03-09 05:49:56|| 2003-03-09 05:49:56|| Front Page Top

#2 A technical note:

The Russian T-54/55 series and the T-62 series tanks are the ones with the design flaw in which a shot on the turret or an internal explosion will cause the turet to come off.

The T-72 is one hell of a fine vehicle with a 125mm main gun that is quite capable and, with the right ammunition, co-equal to the 120mm main guns.

I do not know if they have the same turret problems as previous series, but I do regard the T-72 as a very capable tank

Posted by badanov 2003-03-09 07:20:29|| [www.rkka.org] 2003-03-09 07:20:29|| Front Page Top

#3 good point Badanov - however, the Strategic Geniusâ¢ that Saddam is, he digs them in so their little ~~heads~~ turrets peek out and can shoot. I'm sure the pilots love the lack of mobility. A dead-in-it's-tracks tank is indeed a Jack-In-The-Box (lovely visual...heh heh)

Posted by Frank G 2003-03-09 08:11:00|| 2003-03-09 08:11:00|| Front Page Top

#4 Tanks have three elements, Mobility, armor, firepower which makes them powerful weapons. Take away any of those elements and it becomes just another heap of junk. Iraqi armor 'doctrine', such as it is, takes away mobility. Incredible.

The Soviets developed their engineering corps' equipment to enable tanks to dig in quickly for the purpose of defeating an imminent atack, preferably a tactical ambush, the idea being that once an engagement is concluded, tanks could quickly roll out of their entrenchments, form up and launch an immediate counterattack.

What Iraqi commanders are doing is almost criminal in its stupidity; not at all how these systems were designed to be used, and the result will be, a bunch of heaping wrecks, misused, and burning.

Don't get me wrong. This all works for US. I think the best use for T-72s in this case is the best outcome. Pop hatches and abandon the vehicle.

It just goes to show how true what Sun Tzu said about war. Paraphrasing: To use an uneducated population in war is to throw them away.

Posted by badanov 2003-03-09 09:05:24|| [www.rkka.org] 2003-03-09 09:05:24|| Front Page Top

#5 It's not so much the tanks, it's the guns, their accuracy and their aiming electronics. American Tankers found that they could hit Iraqi tanks of whatever model at a range of 2 miles. the Iraqi guns had a range of 1 1/2 miles. The Americans learned that all they had to do was stand off and fire away.

Posted by Jabba the Tutt 2003-03-09 10:10:51|| 2003-03-09 10:10:51|| Front Page Top

#6 I'm not a military expert(TM), but I had fostered the impression that tank-on-tank warfare was a luxury retained to keep the M1/Challenger crews happy. Air superiority makes anything static or ground-dwelling an elaborate Iraqi coffin...?

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-09 10:29:13|| 2003-03-09 10:29:13|| Front Page Top

#7 There may be Republican Guard surrenders also. As pointed out above, all the important RG hardware are easy targets. The only really intense training these guys have is ideological training. It is doubtful that after the first strike they will even function as organized troops. They may do some sabotage or fire some bio/chem stuff which could be bad enought; but the tanks will be worthless within a few hours of the balloon going up.

Posted by mhw 2003-03-09 10:36:01|| 2003-03-09 10:36:01|| Front Page Top

05:57 raptor
03:03 Bulldog
22:43 David Hines
22:19 Jabba the Tutt
22:03 badanov
22:01 eric
22:00 Jabba the Tutt
21:15 the ghost of howard beale
21:08 Dar Steckelberg
19:49 Joe
18:51 Anonymous
18:49 Chuck
18:47 Anonymous
18:31 Matt
18:28 Anonymous
18:28 Patrick Phillips
18:20 Frank Martin
17:30 Alaska Paul
17:19 Bulldog
17:11 Dar Steckelberg
16:52 Jon
16:24 Jon
16:21 Matt
16:16 Jon