I was with the 82nd Airborne Division back 1965 - at the time I was a recon scout. I have a photo of me standing up in a Jeep behind a M-60 machine gun. I thought I was so cool at the time. I did not have a clue.
If I had actually went into combat like that I would have been dead within the first minutes of contact.
Fortunately (?) when I got to Viet Nam I was assigned to Infantry.
This vehicle looks cool, but it depends on the mission it has.
As a recon scout survival is really based on not being heard or seen. Unless this vehicle is electric (and does not make much noise) I don’t see it surviving contact with the enemy.
I’ve seen those “Rat Patrol” Jeeps used as armor support at Fort Riley. Somewhere, I’ve got a picture of me behind an M60 on one too. If I’d actually tried to fire that thing while the Jeep was moving, I’d have blown the driver’s head off ... and probably my own to boot. Every twig the Jeep hit got transmitted up through the rigid mounting to the weapon. It was like trying to tie a pit viper in a knot.
I too was in the 82nd in the 60’s. Any of you old paratroopers remember the Airborne Mule?