Re: [OT]Wither Canada? And Australias Abrahms

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 11:40:51 +1100, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au
<Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> wrote:

> puzzles me is that they then said we weren't buying exactly the same
> tank as the US uses and we weren't ever going to be using tanks with
> depleted uranium armour or rounds (a very entrenched political policy
on

What model are they?  Cross training for different Abrams models is a
matter of a few weeks of refresher course.

As for DU, there are certain rounds that use them.  Other, older
APFSDS rounds use tungsten.  It is the same damn gun.

> guessing older marks aren't as good as isn't it the uranium that makes
> the Abrams so tough? I must admit to being thoroughly confused by the
> whole thing. Am I missing some simple logistics connect here or was it
a
> typical politican's statement?

Not true.  The DU reinforcement in the glacis plate adds to the
survivability (and I'm baffled by a country that would give up armor
to make a political point, but I guess its a quasireligious thing) but
the tank was damn tough before it was added.  The Leopard is more
lightly armored than ANY model of Abrams, so you're still coming out
ahead.

> * Leopards came out with better range, speed and fuel efficiency (all
> important for Aussies as we don't have the US logistics capability);
> they've got a better gun; and on the interoperability front they're
the
> NATO workhorse (so lots of nations use them) and as they're NATO
> standard one would assume the US would have to be ok with working with
> them; and as we're already Leopard users it'd be less of a doctrinal
> leap to go to a Leopard II than to an Abrams.

Actually, it is an identical gun.  It is the same gun built in the US
under license.	I'd be very surprised if it were faster, and if it is
it is a matter of pulling the governor off that jet engine if you want
speed.	The killer on the Abrams is the fuel efficiency or lack
thereof.

John
-- 
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again.  We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani