Recent content by 25or6to4

I forgot to mention in my last post there was also another source that Pollack missed circa 1984 by Major Martin J. Martinson, possibly because it contradicts what he wanted to convey. Neither side maintained their gun-sights or fire-control systems early war These are the numbers in any case...

In Certain Victory: The U.S. Army in the Gulf War, the author makes this point. However the Iraqi T-55QM of an older Soviet model as one example had a laser range finder. I mean it is being said that the Iraqi army are so incapable, despite the fact many of them clearly learned how to pilot...

Well, the Russian army would fair poorly against the US (so they would need the PLA to protect them). They rely heavily on conscripts already, they can't afford to modernize their forces, the US can outspend them many many times over while fielding a larger army and air force (that isn't...

Look, I don't see why you are so opposed to this. The Iranians were cut off from the global arms market which absolutely did create issues for them. I will admit that. However, other than that Iran held all the advantages. Population, geo-strategic position, oil, defense spending although of...

And I say otherwise. Look at this then from an Iraqi, so we can dispel such myths. Direct evidence to the contrary, that they used the laser rangfinder. On top of this, Iranians suffered eye injuries from the Iraq lasers, which the I have seen the US acknowedge as a threat. And I find it hard...

They probably failed to reorient lines because of Saddam and his halt orders. Commanders afraid to report information higher up is not incompetence. These people were trained by the USSR. As much as a thousand Russian military advisors were in Iraq before the first Gulf war. Those Iraqis that...

Pollack says a lot of things without backing them up. Here is an example of a Iraqi commander that realized this issue, sure their were a lot of military incompetents placed in their positions as political appointments that had no business being in the army, but there were plenty of military...

There is an important distinction between the late war and early war Iraq army to be made. Considering that they are a third world country their performance was more than satisfactory late war. They ended the war with the defeat of the Iranian army who failed to learn from their mistakes and not...

They probably have a period of restructuring or perestroyka like the USSR did especially in regards to the military circa 1990s, and assuming if a war in the early 90s happens like the OTL 1st Iraq war then they would move away from a cold war type structure that focuses on massed tanks and...

Well, against a prepared army, not that great. They'd cause casualties because they might not have their protection on at all times, and the Japanese can use long range artillery and air bombardment. In WW1 mustard gas was incredibly dangerous, and could not be countered, but here they'd be able...

Here is a quote that I find very relevant to a war in the 50s regarding OTL 1990s how the USSR would have handled it potentially Japan's weapons research would include chemical and biological weapons of course, which makes a declaration of war by the Chinese themselves a disastrous idea during...

Soviet commitments and support were very generous at least so it is questionable if they get a better deal on arms exports than OTL. This is what the USSR gave to China OTL (especially considering the question of how much Stalin or his successor will want to help them so it might fall on the US...

@Carl Schwamberger This could depend upon whether or not the USSR backs the Chinese, but like the PLA OTL during the 50s they would have a 5 million+ army. If the USSR backs them like they did the Chinese OTL they would have the 4th largest, if not 3rd largest, air force. If no one backs them...

Yes, but also the reason Blitzkrieg was able to happen at all was because of auftragstaktik, but don't take my word for it. Here is a quote regarding v. Mellenthin And if you want an example of the opposite of this and why it can really mess up a military. If we look at these quotes about the...

Because for a underdog country with less than half the population to hold back Iranian invasions for eight years, only at wars end to launch massive offensives ("We Have Trusted in God") that ends in a stunning Iranian defeat, is the epitome of "abysmal performance", or fighting to the death...