Re: DSII/SGII-related question: fighting vehicles

At 2:10 PM -0800 3/17/02, John Atkinson wrote:
>US Army used to do this as well (WWII recon units were
>mostly jeeps and armored cars, with a handful of light
>tanks and half-tracks backing them up, like Whermacht
>recon units, albeit with less firepower in the armored
>cars).  However, we missed a modernization cycle in
[snip]

One has to wonder why we didn't just pick something the British were 
doing. The Saladin/Saracen/Ferret combo was a very good extension of 
the Daimler/Humber Armored car/Scout car combinations that carried 
them through WWII.

>hold up the program over what they felt was a
>secondary consideration.  That's why the Corps of
>Engineers pretty much missed out on that modernization
>cycle and are still using more or less the same
>equipment (plus the ACE, which was bought

Yep, they still use the M113. The ACE ceratinly is good for what it 
does, its size limits its speed in making lanes through minefields.

Though why they don't order or use the chassis of the MLRS based 
track as a basis for a prime mover for Engineer kit and gear is a 
wonder. The new Grizzly Armored Engineering vehicle looks to be 
interesting. Finally a (US) system that lets an operator perform a 
deliberate breach of a large obstacle like an abattis or crib. 
Something the Germans and the Russians have had for a good while now.

-- 
--
Ryan Gill			  rmgill@mindspring.com
	|	 |
	| O--=-  |	       |	   |
	|_/|o|_\_|	       | _________ |
	/ 00DA61 \	       |/---------\| 
     _w/^=_[__]_= \w_	       // [_]  o[]\\ 
    |: O(4) ==	  O :|	      _Oo\=======/_O_
    |---\________/---|	      [__O_______W__]  
     |~|\	 /|~|	      |~|/BSV 575\|~|
     |~|=\______/=|~|	      |~|=|_____|=|~|
     |~|	  |~|	      |~|	  |~|