Vets only

[WyoDoug]

Back in the 90s the Canadian Gov't decided to do away with MBTs and anything tracked. We got rid of our M109s, retired our M113s and had our Leopards + support platforms on the way out. Then Afghanistan started; we took our M113s out of storage and made them better. We deployed our Leopards and bought new ones. These vehicles were game changers. We also bought Chinooks, which we had just gotten rid of, but that is a different story.

Anyone who has held ground, on exercise or on the battlefield, will say the same; you feel the ground shaking before you even hear MBTs. They bring fear wherever they go and can kill pretty much anything that can see it, and then some. They're outstanding assets and hold ground when the infantry can't do it. I think MBTs, like Air assets should never be dismissed, you just never know what the next conflict will look like. We're finally getting into the armed drone game, about a decade late.

WW3 (if it ever happens) will be a combination of everything thrown in one melting pot. When large militaries face each other and fixed/rotary winged ACs start dropping from the sky, we will rely on ground assets such as the MBT. To be honest, I hope this never happens.

I hear ya. Shock and awe is what they call it.

 

[huntandfly]

Hell I was just a mechanic! We should get an AF pilot to weigh in. What do you think @huntandfly ?

Well the guys who have been in a tough situation would have the best perspective, and I don’t know much about the Abrams, but man the A-10 can do some serious work.

Those guys prefer rockets to JDAMs and LGBs I think, much more fun

 

[manitou1]

I should add, when pin point accuracy is needed, the Abrams is the way to go. Them guys can hit a porta-potty with a single shot. Don't need to expend several hundred rounds of ammo at once.

Uhhh, the A-10 has some super accurate ordinance brother. The Gau 8 gun is not the only system the weapons platform supports. Rockets, guided missiles, carbon fiber bombs... the list goes on. With eleven configurable weapons stations, the number of weapons and combinations is pretty astounding. Ten times the weapons platform it was in Desert Storm. I was intimate with the platform for 14 years.
Yup, I chose the Warthog!

 

[WyoDoug]

Uhhh, the A-10 has some super accurate ordinance brother. The Gau 8 gun is not the only system the weapons platform supports. Rockets, guided missiles, carbon fiber bombs... the list goes on. With eleven configurable weapons stations, the number of weapons and combinations is pretty astounding. Ten times the weapons platform it was in Desert Storm. I was intimate with the platform for 14 years.
Yup, I chose the Warthog!

Did I say it different? Again, the battle field commander chooses what weapons to use for each mission. None of them is one size fits all and the tactics used in Desert Storm may or may not be what they do today. And yeah, I understand perfectly well why you would be partial to that system.

 

[tarheel]

23rd TFW Flying Tigers England AFB in Alexandria LA from 88 to 92 when it closed. I retired at Dyess in 2014. Still working on base.

Was in the 23rd at McConnell back in '65/'66 when we had F-105's. Next deployment to Thailand I went back with the 355th TFW which was my original wing assignment. After being pulled stateside at the end of the VN conflagration the 355th went to DM and became the training wing for the A-10's.

 

[hank4elk]

Saw a different A10 in 72' a few times.

 

[JLDemo]

Minute Man III would be sufficient.

That's new school stuff, Peacekeeper would've walked away in that conversation.

To the original question, another vote for the A10. That sound puts people to sleep in more ways than one.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

It's changed drastically. I retired in 1997. Weapons systems in use now are far different than when I was in. They dropped a single JDAM guided mother of all bombs on Osama Bin Laden when he was in those caves hiding out and nearly got him. And I don't argue with you at all. Battlefield commanders decide on which system to use based on what's available and what the needs of the situation is. Yes, tactics have changed drastically and probably way different now than what you or me were used to.

you can’t install JDAM Guidance on a MOAB, the B1-b only carries 16 2000lb’rs, an A-10 can’t kill anywhere near a brigades worth of anything(they don’t carry that much ordinance), I have personally been well within a mile of six 2000lb JDAMs impacting and they obviously didn’t destroy most everything within a square mile....

also, an MBT and A-10 are like comparing a screwdriver and a channel-locks, both incredibly useful but for completely different jobs...

final note....AC-130 (any recent variant) for the win, as long as the Enemies ADA Has been suppressed....

 

[LaSportsman]

23rd TFW Flying Tigers England AFB in Alexandria LA from 88 to 92 when it closed. I retired at Dyess in 2014. Still working on base.

I grew up near that base out in the country. Saw A-10's flying nearly every day and loved it. Saw A-10's for a decade before I ever saw a fighter of any sort.

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

A-10 can provide support where tanks can not travel.

 

[LaSportsman]

Random thoughts:

Skids or AC-130

I don't see tanks in future wars. USMC is making the shift.

The price of stealth is insane but needs to be in the mix.

Great book recommendation: Ghost Fleet by Peter Singer. Futuristic fiction on war.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

A-10 can provide support where tanks can not travel.

True, but only for very short durations....I have emptied 4 A-10s in about 10-15 minutes....we were still in it when the spectre got on station hours later which was able to stay with us the rest of the night with a short break to refuel/rearm....

 

[Deleted member 38069]

True, but only for very short durations....I have emptied 4 A-10s in about 10-15 minutes....we were still in it when the spectre got on station hours later which was able to stay with us the rest of the night with a short break to refuel/rearm....

What year was this?

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

What year was this?

2005, eastern AFG

 

[Deleted member 38069]

2005, eastern AFG

Oh, I was at KAF and BAF in '10. I loved those spookys and spectres

 

[Red Fox]

As a tanker I know what you can do with the M1A1, having a 120mm direct fire weapon along with a 50 and 2 240's you can hold our onw. But there is a reason the A10 is called a tank killer. No other fixed wing can fly slow and low and do what it can. I wouldn't want one in a dog fight but for clearing ground around you it would be hard to beat. The thing is no matter how many bombs you drop you can't hold ground unless you have boots on it.

So to answer the question I would call the A10 as I would be in the M1A1

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Oh, I was at KAF and BAF in '10. I loved those spookys and spectres

When you need them, they are better than a woobie....

I formed quite the crush on “Sniper 21”, the weapon release officer that night...not sure I have ever heard a sexier voice (circumstances might have contributed)....I searched her out on BAF as I was heading out of country, she was a stone cold, tall blonde....made me want to join the AF...

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

True, but only for very short durations....I have emptied 4 A-10s in about 10-15 minutes....we were still in it when the spectre got on station hours later which was able to stay with us the rest of the night with a short break to refuel/rearm....

Sounded like you needed some 105s and 155mm artillery and the weather does not effect them and they have a whole slew of ordnance to use from mines to timed rounds, laser guided to a nuke round if you need it. No they would never authorize that round, but it’s in inventory.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Sounded like you needed some 105s and 155mm artillery and the weather does not effect them and they have a whole slew of ordnance to use from mines to timed rounds, laser guided to a nuke round if you need it. No they would never authorize that round, but it’s in inventory.

unfortunately, we were operating well outside the artillery fan....

 

[pabearhunter]

I think the sound of a huey is a blessing. Back in the day.