Re: Tank Destroyers (was: GE Mechanics)

Buji
...Snip...JTL
> Yep. And German TDs (except the Hetzer) usually weren't smaller (i.e.
> lighter) than the tanks, just lower. And what about monstrosities like
the
> Jagdtiger and the British Tortoise? They were huge, tall, slow,
massively
> armored (without a turret) and had big guns. In the German case at
least, I
> seem to remember TDs and assault guns being used because it was often
easier
> to take the turret off an existing tank chassis and use a larger (or
longer,
> or both) gun than redesign the turret to handle the additional size
and
> recoil.
> 
> -Buji

Buji,
     I fear that you have stolen my thunder on this one!

     As I was about to say, another of the movating factors in the 
advent of the assault gun/tank destroyer saga, is that the AG/TD
was able to carry the 'next generation' of AT gun/MBT gun.   This
allowed the deployment of these advanced weapons (with mobility 
and protection) not available to the towed TD units.   The next
generation of tanks picked these up as main guns after the
larger chassis and turrets were designed to handle them.

     The main reason larger tanks w/larger than 130mm weapons do
not exist today is that the road/bridge network cannot support a 
further increase in the size/weight of the MBT.

Bye for now,
John L.