Re: [GZG] What are the pitfalls of standardised forces?

Eli Arndt wrote:

>One thing I notice here is an assumption that when using the MBT
chassis
>that the same amount of armor will be used.

Mainly because major parts of the armour on today's tanks are integrated
in 
the chassis, so if you remove it you destroy the chassis's structural 
integrity. Another big part of the armour consists of modules that slot 
into cavities in the chassis; and while you could remove those modules
when 
you want to use the chassis for a lighter role you can't easily use the 
now-empty cavities for anything else due to their location and shape.

You could use modular armour that is purely add-on - that's pretty much 
what we do today whenever we discover that our light vehicles can't
survive 
the insurgents' latest type of IED - but for any given level of armour 
protection, such a solution is considerably heavier than using armour
that 
is integrated into the vehicle's structure. Purely modular armour kinda 
works on light vehicles where the total armour level is fairly low
anyway 
(so the extra weight penalty isn't that big), but for MBTs you're
looking 
at weight penalties of many tons to make your armour truly modular.

>You could use the same drive train and general hull but lesson or
increase 
>armor to fit the role that the vehicle will fill. This of course is not

>full standardization, but it would
>greatly reduce the more prevalent supply issues which are drive systems
and
>frame.

By far the biggest supply issue for vehicles is fuel (unless as JA
suggests 
you run your vehicles on water - and even that will be a problem in some

locations). A drive train designed to drive a 60-ton tank but used to
run a 
20-ton APC is a lot heavier and drinks more fuel than a drive train that

was optimized for the 20-ton APC... so while you gain some in the 
maintenance area, you lose out on fuel consumption.

Regards,

Oerjan
orjan.ariander1@comhem.se

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry

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