Q&A 25 questions.
Added 2022-03-27 22:39:18 +0000 UTCI knew I forgot to do somethings. Questions go here.
Comments
Not sure if this counts for the June Q&A or not. Suppose the Irish government has seen fit to bestow a generous and overdue increase in defence spending for the Irish Army. It has mandated the adoption of a modest number, (for the sake of question around 20-30ish), tracked AFVs and you get the final say in which AFV be it a tank or IFV, be purchased from any nation with neutral or warm relations with Ireland. Which tracked armoured fighting vehicle would you select as being the best fit for the Irish Defence Force if it had to adopt one and why?
Joe Barrett
2022-06-29 16:01:23 +0000 UTCSo the 90’s was a sad time for the military enthusiast, so many cool vehicles and systems (both in the east and west) were killed off following the collapse of the Soviet Union. What were the next-gen MBT’s and IFV’s NATO was working on, and what were the next-gen MBT’s and IFV’s the USSR was working on? Which is your favorite and which do you think was the most promising?
Robert Ohlweiler
2022-06-09 17:20:14 +0000 UTCIf someone has or has not asked this yet but will you in the future want to reach the rank of General considering you have reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel?
John
2022-06-08 07:03:49 +0000 UTCI am curious about reconnaissance. From what I understand, armored formations have a bit more in the way of mechanization than the foot sloggers. Does this cause doctrinal changes for reconnaissance? Are there any additional reconnaissance needs for an armored formation that an infantry formation might not require? Thanks in advance!
My Blind Third Eye
2022-05-17 21:55:45 +0000 UTCDid your individual Abrams have a particular nickname?
Joshua Nichols
2022-05-13 08:42:22 +0000 UTCWould you rather be commanding an M1 Abrams in WW2, or a M4 Sherman in Iraqi Freedom? Bonus question: What do you think about Tom Clancy's depiction of the 11th ACR in his books of the late 90's? Was he accurate?
Christian Bügenburg
2022-05-06 08:13:29 +0000 UTCJosh - Simple reason is almost nobody used the M4 system. Most disconnected it. Those LT's and CPT's were COL's and GEN's twenty years later and their wartime experience naturally colored their opinions. Example - my Professor of Military Science (ROTC Detachment CO) 1971-1974 had been commissioned in 1944,
ROBERT NABORNEY
2022-05-06 04:30:21 +0000 UTCDamn, good one
Who the fuck is Alice
2022-04-26 08:25:28 +0000 UTCHave /you/ ever seen a purple tank?
tim dalrymple
2022-04-26 06:40:29 +0000 UTCStug III
Sebastian Craenen
2022-04-25 16:33:05 +0000 UTC1) The supersonic crack of a 5.45 round wheezing overhead is quite disconcerting, but what does a 4kg tungsten/depleted uranium rood, zooming through the air at 2000m/s sound like? 2) The year is 2072, and the tanks are nowhere to be seen. Why? What happened in these 50 years? NOTE: this doesn't have to mean that tank as a concept is obsolete (although I'd be interested in speculations on what could surpass it), but what could make it unviable? Things like resource shortage or Koch brothers finally drowning us all are to be considered. [Insert tanks being invisible joke]
Who the fuck is Alice
2022-04-24 01:51:52 +0000 UTCHi Mr. Cheiftain, I have been wanting to ask you this question for while ever since I watched videos by Spookton and other youtubers about the M26 and Patton series of tank. Why did the US drop development of a stablized gun after the M4 medium tank? They successful developed a single axis stablizer for the M26, but it was never put into production. The M46, M47, M48 and M60 Pattons, would also be given experiment stablizers, but nothing came of them. If they couldn't come up a with a dual axis stablizer for later designs/updates (Which we wouldn't see till the M60 AOS in 1974) surely a single axis stablizer would have been been than just nothing. Especially as other nations such as Britian had stablizers for their Centurions and Chieftains. And I believe the Soviets had a stablizer for the T-55s and later series of tanks. Sorry for such a long wordy paragraph.
Josh Conti
2022-04-23 19:54:42 +0000 UTCi seem to recall once previously reading an article you wrote on a US assessment of Ram II, and it leads me to wonder if had M4 not been far enough into production at the time the US might have adapted/adopted them to suit their needs at the time and shelved the M4 pending 76mm M1. if the US had adopted Ram, what modifications do you think they would've made, and how well do you think it would've faired on the battlefields at the time?
tim dalrymple
2022-04-21 17:09:30 +0000 UTCApologies if this is late or has been asked before: But what is the feasibility of using a third-party (either remote, airborne, or a hypothetical spaceborne asset) spotting to spot and derive firing solutions for tanks in pre-prepared posisitons to fire through smoke or other concealment?
Ruhnon
2022-04-19 00:31:02 +0000 UTCWhat is your opinion on the mystery of the Sherman Comb or simply “The Comb”? Do you have any theories in what it may of been used for? Wire cutter, bottle opener etc. (it appears on other Allied tanks as well)
Derk
2022-04-08 07:08:05 +0000 UTCIIRC the "hedgerow cutters" attached to US Shermans after Normandy were originally a field expedient modification. The Army looked, and saw that it was good, and distributed the instructions on how to make them.
Windwalker57
2022-04-07 04:02:17 +0000 UTCOf all tanks/spgs in history, which turned out to preform better than expected and why? An example where on paper the vehicle was only supposed to preform task A, however situations changed and it was forced to preform also task B, which it also succeeded at. I also feel like an idiot, my name is pronounced "Slave-in". My friend smacked me for not providing that during my last question.
The Slavin
2022-04-06 21:54:21 +0000 UTCBob Semple designed the worst armored fighting vehicle of the war... but I think he almost hit on a good idea. Could an up-armoring kit for bulldozers, *to be used as bulldozers,* have been of use in WWII? I think the Seabees, among others, might have bought a hundred or so...
Windwalker57
2022-04-06 04:47:02 +0000 UTCI've heard an arguement that one of the major reasons the Soviets insisted to push the development/procurement of autoloaders was their major shortage of manpower due to WW2, they wanted to automate as many things as possible. Is there any weight to this arguement or did the Soviets recover from this problem by the time of the T-64/T-72 that it shouldn't have been that big of a problem or point of consideration?
쇼커
2022-04-06 03:19:12 +0000 UTCIn 'Red Storm Rising', TC Sgt Mackall calls "Target tank! Twelve O'clock! Sabot! Shoot!" as he orders his gunner to engage, as well as "Hit!" when the target was hit. Was this the proper engagement phraseology for the period or is it simply a minor inaccuracy in an otherwise well-researched book?
Sebastian Craenen
2022-04-04 09:59:42 +0000 UTC1) Did anything ever come out of MGV(NLOS) series of vehicles and why were the cancelled? 2) Do you think MRAPs are going to stay in inventory or do you see them slowly be phased out of use in favor for smaller and lighter vehicles?
Grim
2022-04-02 15:21:28 +0000 UTCEdit: Whoops! Already asked above.
Timebomb757
2022-03-30 22:55:33 +0000 UTCSo it turns out mine vanished for some reason. Guess I'll retype it... A) Some tanks like the T-80U have their smoke launchers in a single row, while other tanks from the same family (T-80BV and also most Western MBTs) have a similarly-shaped 'cluster'. Is this doctrinally related (a wall of smoke versus an enveloping cloud), or is it just a coincidence of design? On the same note, are there variances in smoke grenade types (impact fuze versus timed fuze) in the same way that in WW2 you had conventional smoke grenades (Wehrmacht M39, US M16/M18), and impact fuzed ones (UK No. 79), or are smoke grenades designed to start smoking midair? 2) Hopefully not too political a question, but does the current goings-on in Ukraine affect your work (or potential museum visits) with WG in Russia?
Kazuki K.
2022-03-29 05:35:39 +0000 UTCAS a former AV commander who rode around with your important bits looking out the commander's hatch, what would you have preferred quick access to mounted at your hatch, a heavy MG like the .50 Caliber, a lighter MG in say 556/762, a light cannon like a 20-35 mm (with sufficient ammo storage) or something more exotic like auto grenade launcher?
Robert Henry Illston
2022-03-28 23:12:50 +0000 UTCThere has been a lot of discussion recently about the effectiveness of Molotov Cocktails against modern AFVs. How effective are they against modern armor and is there an "Oh My God, the tank is on fire" drill on the M1?
Big_D
2022-03-28 22:35:46 +0000 UTCRegarding my "god dammit, haven't those muppets learned nothing?" top 3 design moments, how could the char b1 and lack of optics for the german gunners happen?
Reichsbierminister
2022-03-28 16:11:42 +0000 UTCOpinion on Giraffe or Cherry Picker style ATGM vehicles? Basically a tank chassis with a large arm instead of a conventional turret with an ATGM launcher assembly on the arm.
Thunderchild
2022-03-28 15:48:59 +0000 UTCWould guess it’s that you’re putting intense amounts of force on the tracks (more so than one running/one stationary would) and running an increased risk of them breaking.
Hammer of Terra
2022-03-28 14:51:32 +0000 UTCSorry if this has been asked, how would a draft in the US go off, and if the percentage of bodies that goes to each US Army branch has been decided? Extra question: How long would the training take for a draftee to become qualified as fit for combat in the armored unit?
Sface
2022-03-28 13:34:22 +0000 UTCI'm curious about American spall shields in their turrets. The easy eight for an example has been know to deflect rounds fired by T-34-85s on its turrets thanks to the armor plating behind gun shield. I've also seen documents that states that the M26 Pershing had a manlet protection of 8 inch in basis. Which implies an 88mm spall shield just behind the gun shield. This might also explain on Hunicutts claim that the T29s turret mantlet was 279mm when while you actually measured it the gun shield was only 203mm. Now I've learned that the tool you used has limitations when measuring steel of a different cast. So I've always theorized that it was just Hunituctt taking account of the spall/inner shield of the T29s turret. I was wondering you can impart any thoughts you have on this topic because it does seem like an interesting aspect of American turret design.
Tankaxe
2022-03-28 13:01:15 +0000 UTCCan you elaborate on the development of soviet tank ammunition during the cold war?
Alexander H.
2022-03-28 07:23:50 +0000 UTCWhy did the British stick with the idea of multi fuel engine for so long? Especially when the one in the Chieftain was so notoriously unreliable. And did the multi fuel capability actually have any practical real world benefits?
Admiral Tiberius
2022-03-28 04:48:19 +0000 UTCLet's say that the US goes through with Operation Downfall. What projects being worked on in the US at the time World War II actually ended would be likely to see further development and production in this scenario? In other words, what tank or other AFV projects only failed to reach adoption because the war ended, but would have been likely to see service had the war continued? Would the US have kept on developing tanks who's performance needs were largely dictated by the demands of the ETO? Or would the nature of fighting a doubtlessly ferocious, and likely desperate enemy on terrain that generally was not favorable for tanks to begin with see tank development put on the back burner for the remainder of the war?
Felicity Longis
2022-03-28 03:14:17 +0000 UTCI’ve seen several photos of M48 Pattons in Vietnam on which the crews have welded an improvised mount with an M2 .50 cal on top of the commander’s mini-turret-hatch-thing (cupola?). How does the US Army feel about such DIY modifications to a tank? Are there any good ones out there, and if so, has the Army decided to adopt them officially? How about other countries?
Sworn Brother of the Ballistic Order of Saint John Moses Browning
2022-03-28 02:15:39 +0000 UTCCongratulations GM has created the mighty Bolo MK I at last. Mark II and III Bolos are well on the way to rolling off the line. You have been given the honor of commanding a battalion of the new Bolo designs once they reach field service Which would you prefer to have as your personal Bolo? A mark II or A Mark III?
John Kettner
2022-03-28 00:26:23 +0000 UTCIs there any particular reason as to why tanks aren’t often seen turning on a dime (one track moving forwards, one moving backwards)? I do it on a tracked skid steer bobcat when in tight spaces but in videos only see tracked vehicles turning with one track going forward/reverse and the other track not moving at all.
Shaun Davis
2022-03-28 00:23:49 +0000 UTCAny trip to Switzerland planned ? Also, what do you think of the Swiss army still have leopard 2a4s, aren’t they a bit obsolescent ? And any plan to do a video on the Israeli armored doctrine ?
Aelis
2022-03-27 23:51:22 +0000 UTCThe book 'Troop Leader' by Bill Bellamy (excerpts of which have been excellently narrated by Lindybeige) makes reference to a so-called 'training' Cromwell that ended up on the front lines with a load of low calibre ammunition embedded into it, due to its construction from thinner unarmoured steel instead of the proper plate. I suddenly got to thinking - is any part of this story remotely plausible?
Hammer of Terra
2022-03-27 23:39:21 +0000 UTCWhich extinct tanks/armored vehicles do you wish still had one intact example left to crawl around? For the same reason, which currently exhibited vehicles do you wish had at least one complete example?
Caleb Engelhardt
2022-03-27 23:04:58 +0000 UTCStupid question but I always think of it when armor thickness is brought up. When is it proper to give measurements in centimeters instead of millimeters? It often seems like millimeters is used even though it would seem that user of centimeters would be more appropriate for the value given (I.e. 200mm vs 20cm)
J
2022-03-27 22:56:37 +0000 UTCYou feel something impact your tank and the interior fills with smoke, what's the immediate procedure?
Nuxes
2022-03-27 22:41:33 +0000 UTC
