Posted on 04/27/2015 1:08:55 AM PDT by WhiskeyX
One of the last American combat units stationed in Europe is asking the government for bigger guns amid rising tensions over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment is requesting that 81 of its 8-wheel-drive Stryker infantry carrier vehicles be equipped with 30-mm. automatic cannons -- double the caliber of the 12.7-mm. guns they already carry, the military news website Breaking Defense reports.
The House Armed Services committee is already setting aside money for the upgrade, which the Army approved Wednesday, according to a memo obtained by the website.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
How about some tactile “nukes”? We had them “ready” during one of the WINTEX exercises I worked at NATO, back in my USNR days.
12.7mm will *not* penetrate current or even recent Russian APCs. They learned from Afghanistan and their client states in the Middle East and uparmored their fleet. Their newest, latest APCs, just entering service, are built on main battle tank chassis (the Armata project) and carry MBT class armor.
30mm can be a tank-killer round, depending on how it’s employed - but I don’t know that they trained the Stryker crews in the ‘tank destroyer’ role.
To me there is something un-American saying 12.7mm when what you're talking about is a 50 caliber MG. I hate these "metric weenies". Bad did, Fox!
Guess what were some of the first things Obama took out of our arsenal.
We no longer have field-deployable tac-nukes.
They also got the math wrong, because 30mm is more than double 12.7. But most of our allies call it 12.7mm and I suspect this reporter is from Europe in the first place.
So. IF I as an American solder out in the desert get ambushed with the crew I tell my buddy “damn! Get up on that Twelve Point Seven! instead of “get on the Fifty!”......
I agree with the others (7.62, and even the 5.65.... and for the others that are 1” and larger) but not for the 50.
I think there is too much heritage to throw away for that one.
If you’re working with NATO allies they may give you a dumb look and say “huh?” The Brits will know what you’re talking about, chances of anyone else getting it is somewhat lower.
Of course, from the battlefield videos I’ve seen, most of the current troops just call it “the gun,” “the co-ax,” “Ma Deuce” more than “the Fifty.”
Understand, but to me NATO is not the be-all and end-all of military technology & use, frankly. Especially when I see NATO venture outside its original charter (IMO). But I understand the need for a common reference nomenclature to share ammo, etc.
[As a side note, if you were to scan through the list of reloading equipment & supplies from the likes of Lee Precision or Hornady, etc., you won’t see 12.7mm anything, really. They’re mostly all 50 BMG or the like.]
The round is designated 12.7x99 NATO, and the story is about US troops in Europe. I, too prefer .50 BMG but what can you do?
Yeah, I understand. Don’t like it, but understand it.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department rejected the Russian claim of U.S. trainers in eastern Ukraine, saying all the activity was in western Ukraine near the border with Poland.
“We've been doing this for about 20 years now,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, calling the Russian statement “ridiculous.”
Now there's a reputable source.
IMO, many of these changes are being promulgated and expedited based on what is happening and has happened in the Donbas.
Maybe it's OK, that man may be tempted to use them against Israel.
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