Q&A 19
Added 2021-02-07 19:32:58 +0000 UTCQuestions below, please.
Comments
Can we get a video where you just ramble on about any old tank related crap you find interesting with no real theme, plan or actual narrative. I'd bloody watch it. Failing that most fun you've had in a tank both in (an) Army and videoing stuff.
Sim Crawford
2021-04-01 10:51:04 +0000 UTCWhat is the strangest thing you have seen from the locals during your deployments to Iraq/Afghanistan? This can either be from the local allies or the enemies. One of Ian’s anecdotes about Iraqi’s taking the protective caps off of RPG warheads long before ever using them seems to come to mind.
Aaron Smith
2021-03-30 01:11:25 +0000 UTCAnother good question. I have in front of me 1990-06 Effect of doctrinal differences on NATO C2 by Dzierzanowski, Kenneth P. It makes for interesting reading. As an infantryman of a Territorial unit, our main role was NATO and we would be sent to Germany to guard an ammo dump for a few days at best... and if we survived the Spetznas attack, would be thrown into the frontline to stem the tide...! Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising was a great what if on this...
Christopher Hewitt
2021-03-27 06:58:44 +0000 UTCGreat question!
Christopher Hewitt
2021-03-27 06:52:41 +0000 UTCLong months ahead still, but at least we've got vaccinations rolling here...I look forward to more museum visits sooner rather than later. Two, as usual. Late, as usual. Fire me out of a mortar, Chief. 1) This might venture on more recent politics, but I was wondering about the deployment of tanks in Nagorno-Karabakh recently, and the effective use of drones by the Azeris against the Armenian armoured detachments. Considering a battlefield such as that (large, open fields), could it be feasible to have an MG on the rear deck, similar to the AA mounts of old, that could be crewed by supporting mechanized infantry in order to deal with the drone threat? B) Did you experience (or hear of) any serious encounters with the Turret Monster on your deployment (we're discounting the ammo blast door incident)?
Kazuki K.
2021-03-26 08:11:40 +0000 UTCAbout 9 months ago Spookston made a video on a thought experiment on “The Ultimate M4 Sherman” in which he made what he saw as the best Sherman using late war test projects and components. Although the tank would be impractical to produce and would suffer reliability problems, what projects would you bring together into one tank? Would you use a 90mm Walker bulldog turret? Change from HVSS to torsion bar? Possibly go a with something out of left field by fitting the M10 turret? Or would you stick with what Armoured Branch ended up with, I.e. the E8?
Jordan Peterson
2021-03-26 05:00:32 +0000 UTCI find myself watching the Operation Think Tank series every few months on YT. Could there be the possiblility of an Operation Think Tank like event done via Zoom or Discord; where questions/comments could be entered before hand similar to the Q&A videos?
Garrett
2021-03-18 00:42:11 +0000 UTCIn your US AFV Development in WW2, or, "Why the Sherman was what it was" presentation, you frame much of the discussion around the process of where ideas come from and how they make it to the final production line (Army Ground Forces vs. Ordinance Branch). Did the U.K. have a similar process in their tank development during WW2? I hear about how the design of the Covenantor was so bad that it was not suitable for anything beyond training and the tragedy of Darth TOG the Misguided Design, and am left wondering how a nation at war could allow that to happen? Thank you.
MasonicRat
2021-03-11 19:07:52 +0000 UTCThe M41 and Textron Light Tank has remained popular with Thai cavalry officers despite these design's advanced age. One of the most well liked characteristics of these vehicles is its light weight, which allows it to cross pre-1990 era bridges rated to 27 tonnes. How common is it for local geography and infrastructure standards to influence tank designs?
Colonel Cheng
2021-03-11 05:40:36 +0000 UTCWhat is the ball shaped tank in the intro of The Pentagon Wars at 1:32? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0FAa8P2MU)
Nachtelfirokese
2021-03-06 10:10:16 +0000 UTCHow many years do you see the Abrams still serving in the US army? Also, if you were given the position of palmer, but for the german army, which projects would you have cancelled? Any you would've championed that were not made?
Charles Sherrange
2021-03-05 02:19:15 +0000 UTCDo you think the M1A2C could benefit from a 20mm coaxe mg and a 130 or 140mm autoloader BUT retaining the loader to assist in other duties?
MrDoom12
2021-03-01 17:02:12 +0000 UTCWould the US army be capable of deploying its armored divisions from bases in United States to a conflict overseas in any reasonable amount of time? Does the Navy even have enough sealift capability to move these forces or let alone protect them during their transit?
big boy
2021-02-27 05:29:05 +0000 UTCDo individual tank crews have any flexibility in determining their ammunition loadouts for a particular mission, if not, at what level are decisions like that typically made? How do specialized ammunition types like canister rounds get issued out?
Timebomb757
2021-02-24 14:21:01 +0000 UTCIs buying a tank a good (mid-to-long term) investment? Purely money-wise.
Gorodeckij
2021-02-22 22:26:57 +0000 UTCWhy was the US strategy for tanks to deal with AT guns to run them over?
Ezio 896
2021-02-19 18:16:45 +0000 UTCOn a physical level, how do tank rounds differ from artillery shell?
Matthew Lesich
2021-02-18 09:23:34 +0000 UTCI also haven't heard much either way about the M548, so not sure how good or bad that is considered
Thunderchild
2021-02-13 17:09:32 +0000 UTCErr or explain
Devin Ursini
2021-02-13 03:58:28 +0000 UTCCan you do an episode or esplanades”@ your involvement with girls undcpanzers?
Devin Ursini
2021-02-13 03:58:13 +0000 UTCWhen ordering ... Asian inspired food. Chineese, etc. Do you order your meal with Fried Rice or White Rice?
TNSheep
2021-02-12 11:48:34 +0000 UTCWithin the past decade modular composite armor packages seem to have become more of a thing, but only one nation (Japan) seems to be using them to any sort of large extent, on their Type 10 MBT and Type 16 "mobility combat vehicle" (105mm equipped, airlift-able 8x8 similar to a centauro). It is understandable that most nations have not really bothered with this so far as it is something that relies on the vehicle being designed from it for the base. Do you, in your personal opinion of course, think that this sort of major modular armor package where several tons of armor is added or taken off at will is going to become standard on the next generation of western derived MBTs, or will it remain a technology that is only applicable to airlifted vehicles and situations like the Japanese where the ability to go from 48 to 40 tons is extremely important as far as transport across infrastructure is concerned?
CotorShas
2021-02-12 05:22:57 +0000 UTCWhat are Sherman tanks in the pacific theater mostly knocked out by? A second question, in your opinion, would the later WWII German tanks have benefited from a longer development cycle?
Sface
2021-02-12 04:09:25 +0000 UTCWhy the Italians sticked with riveted armour when it comes to tank’s production during WW2? Some say it was a deliberate decision of the Italian government because it was cheap and easy to produce and easy to repair on the field. Others stated that the Italian industry was simply too underdeveloped to build tanks with cast or welded armour, at least on a mass scale. If the latter is true, does that mean a minor WW2 power such as Australia was industrially more advanced than Italy, as the former managed to produce cast armoured tanks in the form of the Sentinel? Thank you for the great work, cheers from Italy.
Lorenzo Sciascia
2021-02-11 21:37:11 +0000 UTCGerman tanks developed later in WW2 (particularly after Barbarossa) have a reputation for unreliability. Were there A. alternative potentially more reliable tank projects the Germans passed over seemingly in the pursuit of total overmatch, or B. different design decisions (suspension, transmissions, heavy armor and weight) the Germans have reasonably made in the tank projects they brought to fruition, making capability-on-paper sacrifices for reliability improvements that would serve them well in the long run (e.g., a simpler and less armored Panther 'Lite' you can actually get to the fight and maneuver)?
jiberwocky
2021-02-11 15:23:31 +0000 UTCIn the context of the ammo storage question so often on the minds of the USA tank developers in early WWII, was there ever any consideration given to external ammo storage? Given that ERA is a thing (although wasn't at the time), is having potentially explodey things mounted on the outside of the armour such a terrible idea? There was the Roto-trailer of course, but we should probably ignore that silliness.
Stafford Magnus
2021-02-11 12:17:07 +0000 UTCJapan's Type 74 has an unusual track set up, what advantages and disadvantages does such a setup have? What requirements would such a set up fill?
Robert Henry Illston
2021-02-10 03:50:01 +0000 UTCAnother two if you don't mind: 1. Do you think that the western forces stood ever stood a real chance of stopping the Soviets in a conventional land ware before the fall of the Iron Curtain?. In the immediate aftermath of WW2 it seems the Soviet had possession of the best army in the world just poised for another blitz to the french coast. Before the advent of numerous atomic weapons to... discourage them, its seems not much would have really slowed the Red Army down if Stalin was feeling at bit more feisty. 2. Was there an instance radio communication interception/jamming/false orders ever being particular impactful on an armored battle? Was there ever a risk of the Funniest Joke in the World falling into the hands of the enemy?
VanOwen
2021-02-10 03:21:10 +0000 UTCWas there ever a project called "MBT-80"? There used to be pictures floating around in the web claiming to be this vehicle, but no two pictures showed the same vehicle. Most looked like some sort of transition from the M60 to the M1 by way of MBT-70.
Andrew Sebastian
2021-02-09 10:16:16 +0000 UTCA chance for you to talk about track tension!!! After the track is fit and tensioned to begin with what happens to it that means it loses tension?
Ian Barlow
2021-02-08 09:31:40 +0000 UTCIf I recall correctly, you mention you had worked some on getting a pilots license. If you could own one aircraft to fly about, of any type (and doesn’t even have to still be extant), what would you get?
Ghoul
2021-02-08 07:05:07 +0000 UTCWhich country has the best development process for tanks and armored vehicles? Why is their process better than that of other countries?
John Rehberger
2021-02-08 02:23:36 +0000 UTCLeo 1 and AMX 30 sacrificed armor for mobility as it was assumed HEAT would make heavy armor obsolescent, do you think we will see a new generation of MBTs do the same at some point? Eg. vs Railguns
George Parremore
2021-02-08 01:35:01 +0000 UTCHow do tanks go about refueling in combat? Do one or two vehicles withdraw from the line, or the entire unit? What if it's a war without front lines, how are the fuel trucks protected while they are immobile?
Nuxes
2021-02-08 01:21:31 +0000 UTCDid the Western Allies trial the Centurion after the war and if so, what were their impressions? How influential was the tank with other nations' tank designers? Similarly, do we know what the Soviets thought of the tank, particularly after it's performance in Korea?
Centurion4007
2021-02-08 01:19:35 +0000 UTCIf your nickname is "The Chieftain" what are the young one and the misses nicknames? And will we ever see them? P.S. I have a test to see if you can pronounce my name. It's an Irish name and the last Irishman that tried, butchered it. So have fun!
The Slavin
2021-02-08 01:00:38 +0000 UTCHow does the commander of an armor or cavalry company grasp the situation of his unit, given the challenges associated with situational awareness for one armored vehicle, much less 6?
Adam Schindler
2021-02-07 23:41:30 +0000 UTCIf you had to own a tank from the 50s, which one would you buy?
Alex Gallagher
2021-02-07 21:51:43 +0000 UTCI’ve heard rumors of some tanks with Christie suspension having return rollers, is this true? On the matter of suspension, why did the Centurion use Horstmann instead of torsion bars?
Caleb Engelhardt
2021-02-07 20:44:24 +0000 UTCI hate to add an other Elbonian question so I will change the country if that makes it better. How would you outfit a large Caribbean island of Tropico. For sake of this questions lets say it has similar terrain and is roughly 3/4 the size of Cuba. Its the late 60's to early 70s(1967-1973) and Tropico has good relations with both the USSR and US/NATO. El Presidente wants to been to have the most powerful land force in the region how would you advise El Presidente to do that? The would need a Logistics truck(or trucks), Armored Recovery Vehicle, MBT, Light Tank, Scout Vehicle, Anti-Air system, some sort of Self Propelled artillery, APC, IFV, and anything else you would think would make the Tropican army look suitable modern and powerful. Lastely for this money isn't a concern for El Presidente.
Grim
2021-02-07 20:07:40 +0000 UTCIf the 17 pounde was so poor fitting in the Firefly, how bad were the 105mm armed Shermans that Israel developed?
Thunderchild
2021-02-07 19:59:59 +0000 UTCWhat was the special sauce about the M113 that made it so successful when the M114, the Sheridan, the early Bradley, and other similar aluminum based vehicles were such failures?
Thunderchild
2021-02-07 19:58:14 +0000 UTCWhere do you think the beginnings of the various myths regarding the Sherman started ?? Was it during the war or post war ?? Are you still finding entrenched die hards as you go about your holy work??
Admiral Tiberius
2021-02-07 19:50:41 +0000 UTCIf the T29, T34, T30 and the T32, had been available in small quantities for deployment to Europe in the final months of WW2. Would they have been the most powerful vehicles on the battlefield and made any serious contributions to the war effort? Also do you think they would have had a long service life if all four vehicles had reached production and served into the post war?
Josh Conti
2021-02-07 19:48:43 +0000 UTCCan you elaborate on the 1961 Checkpoint Charly incident?
Alexander H.
2021-02-07 19:47:35 +0000 UTCAfter the fall of France, I've seen reports that the surviving FTs that the Germans took were used for "internal security" duties. What exactly did that entail? Additionally, did they use the FTs for anything else aside from likely shooting at partisans? What happened to the ones that were still floating around (if at all) once the allies landed in Europe and began their advance?
Striker1959
2021-02-07 19:38:00 +0000 UTC
