From: Ryan M Gill (rmgill@mindspring.com)
Date: Tue Apr 08 2003 - 10:11:46 PDT
At 12:49 PM -0400 4/8/03, Ronzo wrote:
>Hey all !!
> How about starting a list of equipment used by Uncle Sugar in Iraq that
>was deemed uneconomical, too complicated or expensive to maintain, or just
>not sexy enough to keep in the inventory, but seems to do just fine in bogus
>conditions.
>
>Things like:
>
> 1) A10 Thunderbolt II (aka Warthog) [obsolete, no "GEE WHIZ" factor]
> 2) M113 family of APCs [unreliable, too slow]
These are getting upgraded with diesel power packs, an extra road
wheel (in some cases) and applique armor.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m113.htm
and
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/docs/960400-esv.htm
> 3) M35A2 trucks [too expensive to maintain, obsolete]
FMTV, lighter faster and will require bugs to be worked out.
> 4) SUSV [no planned invasion of Norway in near future?]
crosses snow, marsh, bogs, sand and other soft ground with ease. Its
a modern M29 weasel. Quite useful.
> 5) M151 {one reported sighting}
Marines are the red headed step child.
[snip]
> 2) They are USUALLY told to stop when they run out of beach sand
>and let the Army land and pass through them. Still got sand under treads. If
>not careful they may get pissed when Baghdad falls and make a right turn
>when sent back to reload on ships in Kuwait, taking the entire Arabian land
>mass and settling the Palestinian and other geographic problems specific to
>that AoR.
The way I hear it, they've been plenty busy in the south.
Additionally, guarding the supply routes with their Wheeled LAVs is
probably more key than anyone realizes.
[snip]
> Putting all the GEE WHIZ electronics only in the equipment state side,
>not the forward deployed stuff. Since we can rapidly load and transit an
>entire division and reach ANYPLACE in the world in 21 DAYS from the GO
>order. Then sit around for 4 weeks looking for dock space.(Hmmm...where did
>I put that landing craft thingy that the Marines used?)
The Marines forgo a lot of assets in an MEU to maintain an amphibious
capability. Some of the Gee Whiz stuff gets real things done. Are
UAVs too gee whiz? What about hard core crypto or DF gear? What about
Area Denial Munitions that will stop an armored attack cold with out
exposing your troops to their direct fires?
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