Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!ncar!unmvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!cbnews!geaclib!daveb@uunet.UU.NET
From: geaclib!daveb@uunet.UU.NET (David Collier-Brown)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Quantity versus Quality
Message-ID: <3465@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 25 Jan 89 03:52:35 GMT
References: <3300@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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>From article <3300@cbnews.ATT.COM>, by henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer):
> Firepower, okay.  Mobility, okay.  Staying power, approaching zero as
> infantry anti-tank weapons get better.  Tanks were cost-effective when
> the weapons capable of disabling them were artillery and other tanks,
> i.e. things that the average infantry squad didn't carry.  The mission
> remains important, but tanks are increasingly incapable of doing it at
> acceptable cost.
>                                      Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology

  Well, I'm unsure about that.  The infantry weapons I'm familiar
with are effective at rifle ranges[1] against thin bits of tank, not
main armour.  This makes the survivability of the tank high, but
admittedly doesn't say anything about its ability to function *as a
tank* if somebody splits a track with his mine or rocket launcher.  

  Personally, I'm still worried about the ability of a tank to stay
hull-up and shoot back at me while I'm trying to get a shot on
target with a shoulder-launched missle.  First OR second shot.
Tank-as-such or tank-as-damaged-pillbox. The whole idea of a big
steel can shooting at me with a cannon makes me queasy...

  I'm far less impressed with APCs and the scout vehicles that I
expect to deal with along with the tanks.  I strongly suspect
they're going to be fair game for man-packed weapons.

--dave (late of the 2nd Eeks & Squeeks[2]) c-b 

[1] I'm a lousy shot:  300 yards with the magazine pressed firmly to
the ground. Even worse with a rocket launcher (maybe 10') or carl
gustav (maybe 400 yards).  On the other hand, if we ever reintroduce
the 60mm mortar, I can make APC owners hate me about out to the
maximum range of the projectile...  
I therefore assume something in the order of 200-500 yards for close
combat with man-pack weapons.  
[2] The 2nd battalion, the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, part of
the Canadian Army (Militia), whish is a reserve unit these days.
-- 
 David Collier-Brown.  | yunexus!lethe!dave
 Interleaf Canada Inc. |
 1550 Enterprise Rd.   | He's so smart he's dumb.
 Mississauga, Ontario  |       --Joyce C-B