Army rushing more armored Humvees to Iraq

NJ.COM ^

[Sub-Driver]

NAJAF, Iraq (AP)

[Darksheare]

Jolly Roger!
Cool, thanks!

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Try picking the brain of a Coast Guardsman.

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't flick your friend's brains off your finger.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Do you read Croatian? Hey, how much do Slovenian Valuks go for?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

This is a wheeled Duster!

M53/59 PRAGA V3S

Service: Croatia, FRY, Czech Republic, Libya, Slovakia

Manufacturer: Avia Zavody Letnany (chassis), and former Czechoslovak state arsenals (armored body, armament and final assembly)

Armament: 2x30mm M53

Ammunition: 600-800 x 30mm

Crew: 3

Maximum road speed: 60 km/h Schiesse! Langsam

[Darksheare]

I bet we could make it faster.
At the sacrifice of ride comfort as usual.
*chuckle*

[archy]

Actually, yes.
Something like that.
Only with teh howitzer tube stuffed in there and under canvas for one of those 'nice' little pop-up deals where you just jump up and say 'hi!'
Of course, the AA cannon may be just as effective itself.

Yep, except that it might be a bit dicey using direct-fire with HE-T rounds in the vicinity of fuel tanker trailers, the reason weapons with both a high-angle and direct fire capability- like howitzers- are particularly attractive in this case.

Coolbeans, side mounted 81mm... short cannons.

That would work quite interestingly.

I figure two seperated- bulkhead or sandbags- 8x10 foot gun pits, one to cover port side and the other starboard. Or the vehicle could take a flanking position on one side of the moving convoy and face both weapons to the desired side and keep the weasels away while the baby chicks run by with the other escort vehicles. Accordingly, the *Flatbed Fire Support package needs to be able to get itself out of trouble, and it needs rearward-firing *getaway guns* as well as the *main gun* tubes.

[archy]

Uhoh. Looks like the Army's getting desperate to get as many 105mm Light Guns in the hands of the troops as possible. Or do you reckon this is a result of having used 'em in AC130s, or related to the 105mm arty/STRYKER project? Probably a FReeppost deserving of a FAMPL link about this somewhere, too.

Army wants 105mm Howitzers back; Mars needs women

[archy]

Yep and that's with a 125 HP mogas engine in it. Drop in a 140 HP multifuel Diesel engine from an M35A2 Deuce-and-a half, and you could probably kick that up a good bit. And there's a turbocharged version of that engine available too if you figure an extra 20 or so HP would be useful.

And if you'd pull those AA guns off and mount something lighter and better suited to antipersonnel uses, say an M55 quad .50 mount fitted with a pair of Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launchers and a pair of miniguns, you'd knock off a couple more tons. That difference could either be used for side armor [an M55 mount has its own armor plating] or more ammo, always a good thing, or just more speed and power. And one fitted with a HIAB boom crane and towbar would make a pretty fair breakdown truck capable of towing a failed BTR152 or pulling its power pack. Yes, I know of a couple of sources for M53/59s, with the guns still greased and wrapped in plastic. Sweet.

Hey spatzie: anyone in that lefthand photo look familiar?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Mamba 4 mine protected vehicle. Guide Price From: £35,000 (excluding UK VAT)

[archy]

Do you read Croatian? Hey, how much do Slovenian Valuks go for?

No, but I have a girlfriend who grew up in Zagreb who does, and a pal from the Jugo section of Detroit, The Slovenian Army ordered 36 in March of last year for 34.5 million Euros, and using the current rate of exchange, that works out to around E. 1,144,441 each, which could also indicate some governmental subsidies involved and/or a comprehensive spares program. But considering the current price of 3 million for each Stryker of a vehicle in series production, a third of that for a 6-wheeled armoured car seems a pretty close ballpark price. That makes 20K for a 6X6 BTR-152 look like a pretty good deal, doesn't it?

Uh, wait a sec, Junior, that's BTR-152...

[Darksheare]

That, and the lunacy o eliminating light towed artillery altogether as an operational plan prior to 9/11.
My old unit was supposed to switch over from the M-119A1 to Paladins.
Remember our discussion about teh 119'er being perfect for helo insertion rear area strikes?
It's also perfect for area defense.
The brass forgot this, and largely denied it during Shinseki's run in slot.
The policy of gutting artillery instituted under Shinseki somewhat continued after his retirement.
Slashing several artillery units out of existence pretty much shot ourselves in the foot.
Looks like someone somewhere figured it out.

[Darksheare]

Coolbeans.
Any way to mount a 25mm Bushmaster or similar in there as well?
No particular reason, just a mild thought circling my head..

[archy]

The brass forgot this, and largely denied it during Shinseki's run in slot.
The policy of gutting artillery instituted under Shinseki somewhat continued after his retirement.
Slashing several artillery units out of existence pretty much shot ourselves in the foot.
Looks like someone somewhere figured it out.

Yep. That, or someone figured that a towed 105 can reach a lot further than a RPG-7, and they remember the story of Labalaba at Mirbat. You figure that Disney Alamo movie might have something to do with it?

-archy-/-

[archy]

Coolbeans.
Any way to mount a 25mm Bushmaster or similar in there as well?
No particular reason, just a mild thought circling my head..

Well, these particular bad guys don't have an aircraft or BMD capability that we have to worry about, and if we did, air assets would be the better way to kill 'em.

But a couple of real immediate possibilities come to mind: [No gun shield armor as with an M55 quad .50, so you'd want to include some armored sides and a rear deck ramp].

[Darksheare]

Possibly.
Either that or they've been paying attention to some of the conversation here.

[Darksheare]

Those might come in handy.
"Hey, there's a jihadi hiding behind that truck over there!"
"Oh? Not for long."
*sound of ack-ack slamming vehicle apart*
"No more jihadi. Where's the next one hiding at?"

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Escort & Patrol Company

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Armored Trucker Infantry

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Slovakian Alligator

[Cannoneer No. 4]