[blueunicorn6]

OK.

Yep, there were a lot of obstacles to overcome if they were going to take Western Europe. A lot of their problems were internal problems.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t want to over run Western Europe.

I was in a discussion about the quality of Soviet tanks. Many people in the discussion were saying that the Soviet equipment was poorly designed and built and that this showed the incompetence of the Soviet leadership.

We were specifically discussing how far Soviet tanks would go before they would breakdown. There was a lot of discussion about how few kilometers the Soviet tanks could go before breaking down and how our tanks could go much farther.

I asked for a tape measure. I went up to a map of Europe. I measured the distance from the Soviet starting points to the English Channel.

The Soviet tanks could easily make it to the English Channel before breaking down.

The Warsaw Pact equipment was designed for people of many different cultures to use to get to the English Channel. Once they got there, with nuclear weapons backing them up, the war would be over.

Thank God for the TOW missile and the LAW.

[Snickering Hound]

The Soviet tanks could easily make it to the English Channel before breaking down.

Just try to keep those tanks filled with diesel with traffic jams, idling, getting lost.

Hard enough without NATO aircraft and artillery contesting.

[Rockingham]

The Soviet military was built for rapid mass offensives with little spared for the expensive engineering, training, and spares required for reliable vehicles and long-term operations. Instead, the Soviets contemplated that they would be able to menace continental Europe into surrender through a numerically superior mobile army and a war plan that contemplated early and first use of tactical nuclear weapons.

By the late 1970s, Western Europe was near to agreeing to terms with the Soviets. Then America elected Ronald Reagan. Suddenly, the US rebuilt and expanded their military and deployed the Pershing II tactical nuclear missile to menace Russia's bases and its European heartland. European spines stiffened and the moment passed. Less than a decade later, the communist regimes of the Warsaw Pact and then the USSR collapsed.

[DUMBGRUNT]

1970,while at at Ft Hood Tx, I would occasionally meet an old timer that was there in ‘62.
They all had tales of the Cuban crisis.
They had to strip the entire Post for ready equipment and much of it was in less than good condition.

Between Fort Stewart(?) and return more than a little assistance was needed. And most of the trip was via rail.
Not exactly STRAC.

[tjd1454]

I was there, at the Fulda Gap in Germany at the height of the Cold War. This was where the Soviets would smash through with unstoppable armored columns. The U.S. military was there in force, but would it be enough to stop the Soviets? I sat in a cafe with German friends, and was embarrassed to see a U.S. serviceman of color, careening down the narrow cobblestone street on a tricycle, shrieking inanities like a boozed-up teenager. Were these the fearless warriors who would stop the looming Soviet blitzkrieg?