Skip to comments.
ARMORED WARFARE: The Q-Truck in Iraq
Strategypage.com ^
| December 2, 2003
| Harold C. Hutchison
Posted on 12/02/2003 9:03:30 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
December 2, 2003: The Q-Truck in Iraq- Army soldiers in Iraq are modifying their vehicles to carry additional weapons, usually the M2 .50-caliber machine gun (first used prior to World War II), the M249 SAW (a 5.56-millimeter machine gun), and the Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher (firing 40-milimeter grenade rounds). The crew-served weapons are mostly going on the Humvees, (no surprise there), but some are also being placed on the M872 Heavy Equipment Trailers. This might sound unusual, but the trucks are large, can carry a lot of ammunition, and guerillas in Iraq might not suspect they are armed at first.
Such things are not new. In Vietnam, M113 armored personnel carriers were equipped with extra machine guns. Jeeps and trucks were also augmented with extra guns and armor. The major objective in this case is to get the guerillas attacking the supply lines to go for what they thought was a supply truck. Once pulled in, they get more than they bargained for. It is the same principle used by the heavily armed and disguised Q-ships of World Wars I and II, which operated against submarines. The intention is to deter attacks by creating doubt in the mind of the guerillas as to whether the soft target is really as soft as it appears to be.
How well will it work? Remains to be seen. Some guerillas never adapted, and ended up getting wiped out. Others did adapt, and forced the occupation forces to develop new tactics to adapt to the guerillas adaptation. - Harold C. Hutchison
TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: guntrucks; iraq; miltech; shootinsurprise; wheeledarmor
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-59 next last
Free Republic Treadhead Ping
archy; Gringo1; Matthew James; Fred Mertz; Squantos; colorado tanker; The Shrew; SLB; Darksheare; BCR #226; Imacatfish; Tailback; DCBryan1; Eaker; Archangelsk; gatorbait
To: R. Scott; Ranger; archy; Gringo1; Matthew James; Fred Mertz; Squantos; colorado tanker; ...
ping
2
posted on
12/02/2003 9:04:41 AM PST
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(The Republican Party's priority is national security. The DemocRATic Party's priority is power)
To: SAMWolf
FYI
3
posted on
12/02/2003 9:06:33 AM PST
by
ken5050
To: Cannoneer No. 4
Guns Up!
4
posted on
12/02/2003 9:09:54 AM PST
by
lormand
(Dead People Vote DemocRAT)
To: Cannoneer No. 4
Hmmm...
That'd be a surprise to some people.
Maybe that's what happened in Samarra yesterday?
5
posted on
12/02/2003 9:12:21 AM PST
by
Darksheare
(Even as we speak, my 100,000 killer wombat army marches forth)
To: xzins
ping
6
posted on
12/02/2003 9:15:07 AM PST
by
Blueflag
(Res ipsa loquitor)
To: Cannoneer No. 4; snopercod; joanie-f
American "Rat Patrol" --- fitting.
7
posted on
12/02/2003 9:18:25 AM PST
by
First_Salute
(God save our democratic-republican government, from a government by judiciary.)
To: Blueflag
"some are also being placed on the M872 Heavy Equipment Trailers. This might sound unusual, but the trucks are large, can carry a lot of ammunition, and guerillas in Iraq might not suspect they are armed at first. " Not so unusual....there were heavily armed merchant ships in WWII mixed in with the convoys....gave the bad guys a nasty
8
posted on
12/02/2003 9:18:33 AM PST
by
spokeshave
(Cancel the San Jose Merc and the one way truck to Nevada)
To: Darksheare
Maybe that's what happened in Samarra yesterday? Maybe, but I don't think so. After listening to all the analysis and trying to glean facts from the CPA and CENTCOM briefings, here's what I think about Samarra...
The Brinks delivery truck, after being hit on 5 consecutive runs, received a better armed escort than usual. The robbers, having been lulled by earlier successes and driven by a need for new cash, gambled on catching the convoy off guard.
We won, they lost.
9
posted on
12/02/2003 9:21:32 AM PST
by
HiJinx
(Go with Courage, go with Honor, go in God's Grace. Come home when the job's done. We'll be here.)
To: Blueflag
Seems like sound thinking to me.
Reminds me of the W.E.B. Griffin books....I think the Lieutenants (Maybe Captains) where the hero hangs armor plates and 50 cal's onto his jeeps and trucks and rips through the N. Korea/Chinese forces.
We need to think in terms of a true offensive rather than a reactive offense.
I'm thinking a planned, thought-out, cordon and search of the entire country.
10
posted on
12/02/2003 9:22:42 AM PST
by
xzins
(Proud to be Army!)
To: Darksheare
But to stay on topic...
What a surprise the litte sheet heads are gonna get the first time they try to pick off a supply convoy with no apparent escort!!!
11
posted on
12/02/2003 9:23:33 AM PST
by
HiJinx
(Go with Courage, go with Honor, go in God's Grace. Come home when the job's done. We'll be here.)
To: HiJinx
*Chuckles*
And the press going ga-ga over the bodies disappearing.
*snort*
Still, THAT was a nice action.
12
posted on
12/02/2003 9:25:15 AM PST
by
Darksheare
(Even as we speak, my 100,000 killer wombat army marches forth)
To: Cannoneer No. 4
Bring back the Guntrucks!
13
posted on
12/02/2003 9:28:03 AM PST
by
SAMWolf
(Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.)
To: HiJinx
"Today's YOUR lucky day!"
*bang*
Truck will open up with just about everything.
I'd love to see a pic of the look on the lead goatboy's face.
Especially if there's more than one truck.
14
posted on
12/02/2003 9:30:31 AM PST
by
Darksheare
(Even as we speak, my 100,000 killer wombat army marches forth)
To: SAMWolf
Twin miniguns with 12,000 rounds total in the hoppers.. oops.
15
posted on
12/02/2003 9:31:37 AM PST
by
Darksheare
(Even as we speak, my 100,000 killer wombat army marches forth)
To: Ragtime Cowgirl; LADY J; sigSEGV; TheCrusader; patton; Lurker; MarkeyD; kimoajax; paul544; ...
ping
16
posted on
12/02/2003 9:35:39 AM PST
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(The Republican Party's priority is national security. The DemocRATic Party's priority is power)
To: SAMWolf
The South Africans and Rhodesians used chassis of dump trucks and build a steel basin on it with overhead armor, firing ports and windows. The heavy chasis and steel basin protected the driver/crew and passenger from landmines. RPG's could not stop them due to its immense size. The vehicles height gave the passengers a great view and line of sight for shooting down on their attackers. These things were called Rhino, Buffalo and other large animals, because they were large and ugly, but they got the job done. Time for DoD intel to dig up those vehicle blueprints from the defunct white Rhodesian and South African military.
17
posted on
12/02/2003 9:49:12 AM PST
by
Fee
To: SAMWolf
I want one!
18
posted on
12/02/2003 10:02:03 AM PST
by
Prof Engineer
(Labrador Retriever~from The Latin, meaning~ Affection Sponge)
To: Prof Engineer
Yeah! Being on the wrong end of Quad 50's can really ruin your day.
19
posted on
12/02/2003 10:06:39 AM PST
by
SAMWolf
(Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.)
Aren't most of the casualties due to roadside bombs? We need more armor on the Humvees and trucks, not necessarily more firepower.
20
posted on
12/02/2003 10:07:09 AM PST
by
BadAndy
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-59 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson