thread: 2006-03-05 : No, THIS is the perfect medium
On 2006-03-06, Ninja Monkey J wrote:
RPG="rocket propelled grenade".
So, a tank costs, I dunno, a million dollars, plus the training for the crew of three or so inside the thing. That seems reasonable. It's a traffic lane and a half wide, and while it can get to like 50 mph in the open, it moves the speed of a walking guy in a city, where current wars are taking place.
A dude costs whatever it costs to train a dude to shoot an RPG - I'd guess it's a weekend to train someone on one of those things - plus, I dunno, a thousand dollars.
Now, that tank, you can hear coming from a quarter mile away, roaring down the street. It's got tremendous armor on the front, back, and sides, and I guess armor underneath because of mines. So, in the time it takes the tank to come up the street a quarter mile, the dude with the RPG walks up the stairs, looks through a window, then shoots the tank from above where it's weakest. And no one knows what happens.
So let's say sometimes the tank crew sees a guy with an RPG and shoots him. First, they're shooting into buildings. Sometimes those buildings have civilians in them. So they have to be sure that there aren't any, or at least no one's going to find out that there were (this is my cynical self; I don't know what military policy and actual tactics actually are). So let's say they shoot the guy.
To even up, not counting the training for the guys, the tank has to eliminate 1000 dudes with RPGs for every one they destroy in order to stay even.
Jason, thanks. I'll look at those. But use HTML fer Pete's sake.
Sydney? I'm waitin' on your response.
This makes luke go "dude..."
That's a pretty facile analysis of the last 60 years of warfare. You're right, tanks in urban environments are at a disadvantage. But tanks in the open kill trucks, tanks and bunkers from 3000 meters away. Each unit has a role in the military. If you'd like an education in the use of armor, read up on the german panzer blitz.
On the other hand, we may have witnessed two of the last major armor engagements ever. UMVs and air cav are very, very useful at killing armor in the open (where armor "reigns supreme").
