Posted on 01/31/2004 10:23:42 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
It would make pursuing the dirtbags more fun.
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I don't trying to mount a Quad 50 on a Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle would leave much room for any infantry. Strykers are pretty top heavy already.
Didn't somebody say we gave away all our old Quad 50's to the Israelis?
Didn't somebody say we gave away all our old Quad 50's to the Israelis?
We supplied the M55 mounts to the Israelis, yes, which they rebuilt with a pair of 20mm automatic cannon, and used for column defense against air attacks during the 1973 *Yom Kippur* war. Mounted on Walid armored cars captured from the Egyptians, Soviet BTR152 armored trucks captured from several of the Arab coalition states, and Israeli M3 halftracks [many of which had been converted from M16 quad .50 AA gun carriers and needed only to have the gun mounts reinstalled and the ammo can stowage racks refitted] the Israeli TCM-20 AA guns accounted for more Arab aircraft downed during the 1973 fighting than any other Israeli weapons system. And they didn't even have to hunt out their targets- the targets came to them.
The Israelis now use the stretched wheelbase version of their RAM armoured car as the preferred carrier for the twin 20mm TCM-20 AA gun setup. 
I suspect that for the purposes used in Iraq, a set of 4 Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launchers might be even more effective, or possibly a mix of two M2 .50 calibers and two Mk 19s.
Going to fight in Iraq? Lessons from an infantry company commander
Mounted react to contact drills are a necessity in urban contact. Units will move to and from many locations for missions, finding themselves more vulnerable on a vehicle. Leaders must focus on three areas in this training. First, soldiers must maintain 360-degree security and alternate high-low. Second, leaders cannot forget dismount drills upon contact. Lastly, although never really accurate, soldiers must train on mounted firing while moving. These three areas are key to success in a mounted react to contact. Leaders must also consider the placement of their mounted weapons in their convoy. Remember, the heavy weapons do no good if they are in the front of your convoy.
Vehicle preparation prior to arrival in theater saves lives. As the first combat unit to assume mission in Mosul, we had to learn the hard way. Vehicles must be prepared in a manner that protects the soldiers from shrapnel and rifle/machine gunfire. A tough decision must be made with respect to sandbags in the trucks. The M998 HMMWV will experience thousands of miles. The weight of a combat-loaded infantry squad with over 50 sandbags will deteriorate a M998 quickly. The sandbags will save the lives of soldiers, but they do not protect the M998.
Armor plating along the doors of the drivers and passengers and along the benches in the back of the M998 protect soldiers. On December 26, 2003, we were ambushed while clearing an intersection of IEDs. After one explosion and a fusillade of fire from two enemy machine guns, we inspected the trucks and found that the armor plating on the doors and back of the M998 had withstood the explosion and machine gun impacts, saving the lives of over 10 soldiers. The armor plating must withstand 7.62mm at a minimum. Get it on your trucks as soon as possible.
Security is timeless in military operations. During mounted movements in an urban environment, vehicles must have three-dimensional security. Threats can come from anywhere at anytime. Leaders must prepare their vehicles to facilitate 360-degree security. We placed benches inside every HMMWV and LMTV. I do not know if we were the first ones to do this, but we did recognize this early on, due to AAR comments by soldiers. An RPG will hit you so fast that if soldiers are not in the proper security position, you may never know the origin of fire. Simple wooden benches so soldiers can sit back-to-back improve security, increase offensive capabilities, and enable units to gain the initiative quickly.
Sounds like the standard M998 HMMWV, modified with steel plates on the floor and sides, does better than the the M1114 Up-Armored version.
Roughly 3 million apiece for a Stryker. Or for serious convoy escort, use a lowboy flatbed trailer instead, and carry an old *obsolete* M48A5 or M60A1 tank on it, cost roughly a quarter million apiece.
Is a Stryker with a .50 mount that doesn't work and a 40mm Mk 19 that's an outright danger to its own crew [live firing suspended at Ft Lewis; and at least two US casualties incurred when a crew in Iraq had a weapon discharge during an attempt to clear a feed jam- not to mention what happens if a ammo box full of HEDP rounds takes an RPG hit] more effective than a five or six-tank convoy support platoon for the same cost?
And not *just* 7,62 AK fire, which the Stryker was tested against, and failed in several areas, but 7,62x39 M43 ammunition fired from the 24-inch barrel of the RPK or RPD light machineguns, a whole different threat than the same round from the shorter 16-inch barrel of an AK47 or AKM. Neither should the 7,62x54r cartridge of the SVD sniper's rifle, PK machinegun and similar previous weapons from the SovBl;oc and client state arsenals be forgotten. In the same general category as the US .30-06 cartridge, that's another threat to light vehicles that expedient up-armouring can at least help protect against.
The turret of the now-cancelled Military Police XM1117 Armored Support Vehicle, which mounted both a 40mm Mk 19 and a .50 M2 machinegun would seem top be a better answer. It wasn't so excessively heavy as to make a 4-wheeled MP ASV top-heavy, either or both weapoons could be used by the commander, rather than having to select one to mount in advance [and pray it works long enough to get the job done, as with the Stynker's RWS] and the weapons could be reloaded from under cover- I doubt barrel changes for the .50 were so possible, but that could be arranged if needed.
I'd expect the ASV would require the mounting of a pintle or ring-mount 7,62mm M240- or a pair of 5,56mm SAWs- should heavier weapons not be the preferred choice, and to provide instant response to any attack. But that's a minor detail, easily arranged in-theater at battalion maintenance shops.
I would imagine so!
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