WWIII 1946 Weapons Development

[Hairog]

It has been suggested that we have a thread on the different weapons systems the protagonists might employ in WWIII May 1946.

I look forward to some good discussions on small arms, wonder weapons and tanks.

Let's all be nice please.

[Life In Black]

Paging RangerElite.

[BriefMortal]

More heavy tanks. A lot more.

[NickBana]

I see that the Allies will started to develop small arms with intermediate cartridge. So, M-14 will butterflied away I think... FN-FAL maybe uses a smaller cartridges...

The Soviet will field SKS first(assuming the field test for AK-47 was still running)... Then slowly move towards AK-47 (AKM because the production was more efficient)...

EDIT: Subscribed.

[Xavier]

Actually, I doubt that they will develop a new cartridge in those circumstances, not while still having mountains of leftover arms & ammo from WWII.

[NHBL]

I'm assuming a POD after VE day, and that the war is Allies vs USSR, so naval tech may suffer some. Nautilis and the like will become a lesser priority, since the seas are an Allied lake.

Anti-radiation gear for soldiers becomes a priority for the troops, since nuclear weapons are available--though might be hard to get in on a Red Air Force that knows what they are.

[wietze]

Originally Posted by NickBana

I see that the Allies will started to develop small arms with intermediate cartridge. So, M-14 will butterflied away I think... FN-FAL maybe uses a smaller cartridges...

you mean the like the british EM-2 rifle with the .280 cartridge?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM-2_rifle

[RangerElite]

Originally Posted by wietze

you mean the like the british EM-2 rifle with the .280 cartridge?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM-2_rifle

That, and whatever else we can think of.

[Hipsterredneck556]

Originally Posted by NickBana

I see that the Allies will started to develop small arms with intermediate cartridge. So, M-14 will butterflied away I think... FN-FAL maybe uses a smaller cartridges...

The Soviet will field SKS first(assuming the field test for AK-47 was still running)... Then slowly move towards AK-47 (AKM because the production was more efficient)...

EDIT: Subscribed.

The US is not going to adopt an intermediate cartridge. We were the single biggest obstacle to the adoption of the .280 as a NATO standard round. Unless there is a immense shift in thinking by the US military, any american rifle will be in .30-06.

[NickBana]

Originally Posted by Hipsterredneck556

The US is not going to adopt an intermediate cartridge. We were the single biggest obstacle to the adoption of the .280 as a NATO standard round. Unless there is a immense shift in thinking by the US military, any american rifle will be in .30-06.

I know, thats why Hairog seems irritated by the debate about it in his timeline(sorry, mate)...

Look, the Allies had seen first hand the effectiveness of the first assault rifle fielded(StG 44), how if the Reds develop the similar weapon? they must develop it, if not they will risk lagging behind or suffer disadvantages(and heavy casualties) when encountering the Soviet. Mr. K's weapon must be already be in final stages of test before the attack...

[RangerElite]

Originally Posted by Life In Black

Paging RangerElite.

I'm home, Life and Nick Thanks Hairog

[Shtudmuffin]

I'm going to assume a lot of weapons might be taken from the Germans. So we might see Allied use of the StG 44 or a derivative. Maybe the Panther/Tiger tank production lines will be back up and running. The V2 or a variant will likely see some action. A lot of unfinished Nazi projects might see completion. Perhaps even remnants of the German Army itself (PoW's and other remaining forces) will be mobilized. Also, we might see an earlier development of MBTs (Centurions in the UK, [something else, maybe Pershings?] in the US, and T-54s in the USSR).

[RangerElite]

Originally Posted by Shtudmuffin

I'm going to assume a lot of weapons might be taken from the Germans. So we might see Allied use of the StG 44 or a derivative. Maybe the Panther/Tiger tank production lines will be back up and running. The V2 or a variant will likely see some action. A lot of unfinished Nazi projects might see completion. Perhaps even remnants of the German Army itself (PoW's and other remaining forces) will be mobilized. Also, we might see an earlier development of MBTs (Centurions in the UK, [something else, maybe Pershings?] in the US, and T-54s in the USSR).

Well, some of the stuff has already been realized, and a lot of the weapons developments in this timeline does stem from captured German weapons and some of the scientists behind them. ITTL, the M26 Pershing has been fielded, and found extremely wanting, so much so, that US licensed a copy, up-gunned and turret redesigned, of the British Centurion tank, entering US service as the M50 Patton. There has been a weapons trial of several systems, such as an American version of the StG44, designed by former Mauser and FN designers and using a "kurz" .30-'06 cartridge, and of a multiple launch rocket system that delivers payloads of sub-munitions and napalm onto the battlefield, an improved air-deliverable up-gunned version of the M38 Wolfhound armored car, and the list goes on. You should read the original story, from start to finish, it's a great read

[Sior]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattress_(rocket)




A British Staghound mounting eight 5 inch Land Mattress artillery rockets.

Close artillery support

[Starkad]

Originally Posted by Shtudmuffin

I'm going to assume a lot of weapons might be taken from the Germans. So we might see Allied use of the StG 44 or a derivative. Maybe the Panther/Tiger tank production lines will be back up and running. The V2 or a variant will likely see some action. A lot of unfinished Nazi projects might see completion. Perhaps even remnants of the German Army itself (PoW's and other remaining forces) will be mobilized. Also, we might see an earlier development of MBTs (Centurions in the UK, [something else, maybe Pershings?] in the US, and T-54s in the USSR).

Well, the point is the west allies in '45 very much did not want Germany to EVER have a weapons industry again. Thus following the big surrenders in may '45 almost all captured german weapons were destroyed, much to the chagrin of the governments of the newly liberated countries trying to rebuild armies of their own.
I rather doubt that any arms industry worthy of the name would be left in Germany at the end of '45

The soviets were less concerned, and IIRC some of the lesser WAPA countries had stuff like SdKfz 251's in service through the '70...

[Ziomatrix]

Originally Posted by Shtudmuffin

So we might see Allied use of the StG 44 or a derivative. Maybe the Panther/Tiger tank production lines will be back up and running.

Why not something more directly based on a more modular prototype which the US already had their hands on in Aberdeen. Besides small and medium arms, I don't see anyone rebuilding bombed out facilities to build complicated tanks when domestic industries would be at full capacity or further gearing up to turn out current and domestically upgraded vehicles in increasing capacity. At least as far as the US there could be some interesting developments in conjunction with an over abundance of B-17 and other obsolete aircraft in the form of furthering unmanned flight.

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by Hairog

It has been suggested that we have a thread on the different weapons systems the protagonists might employ in WWIII May 1946.

I look forward to some good discussions on small arms, wonder weapons and tanks.

Let's all be nice please.

Say, what's your POD and how is the run-up to WWIII in may '46?

Also, the white on black of your blog is seriously hurting my eyes.

[NickBana]

Originally Posted by Xavier

Say, what's your POD and how is the run-up to WWIII in may '46?

Also, the white on black of your blog is seriously hurting my eyes.

The POD was around 1920 something... The condemned people in the Gulag system were given another chance working with Sergo, personal aide of Stalin...

EDIT: Can someone identify what rifle is this? Looks like M1 Carbine, though...

[RangerElite]

Originally Posted by NickBana

The POD was around 1920 something... The condemned people in the Gulag system were given another chance working with Sergo, personal aide of Stalin...

EDIT: Can someone identify what rifle is this? Looks like M1 Carbine, though...

That's a Ruger Mini-14, Ruger Arms interpretation of the M-14 in .223/5.56mm caliber

[RangerElite]

Originally Posted by NickBana

The POD was around 1920 something... The condemned people in the Gulag system were given another chance working with Sergo, personal aide of Stalin...

Actually, if you read the story from the beginning, the POD turns out to be in 1943, when Stalin is introduced to Sergo Peshkov for the very first time. Sergo is actually an aviation and rocketry genius, and somewhat of a savant and completely devoid of guile, seeing things with a child's eye and wonder. This is why Stalin values him so much.