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*GETTING* nukes early is easy-peasy. There are any number of possible PODs: - No Manhattan Project / Quebec Agreement, for whatever reason, so Britain and Canada plough ahead with Tube Allows, and are perhaps the first countries to have the bomb (although later than OTL Manhattan Project) -...

BTW this is Admiral Richardson's account of what FDR told him about the possibility of war in October 1940: "that if the Japanese attacked Thailand, or the Kra Peninsula, or the Dutch East Indies we would not enter the war, that if they even attacked the Philippines he doubted whether we...

And of course he's well within his constitutional powers as President to declare war :cool:

So you don't think, given the benefit of hindsight, there's even the possibility of a better-than-status-quo-ante-bellum war plan for the Axis? (read: the Axis leadership). Doing nothing had it's downsides, especially from the perspective of victory-fuelled militarist regimes in Germany, Italy...

My not-very-informed understanding is that Soviet/Russian fighter fuselages are mostly up to Western standards (at least before this latest stealth generation), and their radars and fire control are surprisingly decent as well, but that it's the engines which really hold them back. They're just...

IIRC the Fallout (video game) world was like that (before their WW3). Can't remember if there was a proper POD...

I guess there's no accounting for stupidity, but securing drones from 'hijacking' seems as simply as not having the controllers system on a network, and having the OTA signal to and from the drone encrypted. Jamming is the real scare, with spying on the signal a much more remote possibility...

If you ever do get effective non-explosive armour and point-defence systems, then why not apply that technology to something like the MGS, get all the firepower, at less cost, and *MUCH* more transportable? ...although the alternative likely isn't new tanks vs. new wheeled gun platforms, but...

I think the 'hacked drones" thing only conceivably applies to line-of-sight radio controlled (mostly surveillance) drones. E.g. as Israel deployed to keep tabs on Hezbollah. Predators and the like have a direct satellite connection to their controllers. Anyhoo, I think it's worth applying the...

More is always better, everything else being equal, but in this age of austerity :D difficult choices need to be made. If I were charged with cutting the fat from Western militaries tanks would be the first target. After that the choices get a LOT harder, although I'd probably look hard at...

Erm.. I'm pretty sure large Predator-type drones fly too high to be taken out except by proper AA weapons. And even then there are probably 5 other Predators in the same airspace to take its place, and 5 more taking off just in case... The thing about drones is you can lose them all day and...

Drones can and do offer constant air-cover at minimal cost, and are indeed pin-point accurate. Modern artillery is also incredibly precise, with the option of Excalibur-type guided rounds for pin-point accuracy where needed.

Again, I think tanks are being used because they're in the inventory, not because they're indispensable, or even better-at-some-tasks than other existing weapon systems. That is, if they didn't already exist nobody would design or deploy them today. Do you think the recent wars in Afghanistan...

I don't think I'm coming out of left field here; look at equipment acquisitions by Western armies over the last decade-plus and it's clear they're moving toward an APC-centric no-tank future (Canada's short-sighted reversal notwithstanding) If not for the politics involved, and the knee-jerk...

I'd argue it is: why else that ENORMOUS gun?!? And this is why the tank concept is obsolete: its gun is overkill against most targets, and comes with a huge number of compromises vs. other more versatile lighter-armoured vehicles: - Very difficult and slow to transport (modern Western armies...

My suggestion is Germany will demand the Persian Gulf (or at least Britain's oil concessions) in the peace, thereby giving it something of value for its troubles. For the purposes of this plan it only needs to make Britain fight for it, tying down British troops and resources and hopefully...

German/Italian troops in France seem like a waste to me; the less the better. All Germany needs France to do it defend itself / its empire / its fleet from the British, which is more likely the lighter the German presence on the ground IMHO. To this end, the Axis war effort would also be...

So, in short, all you need to do to make the existing reality of the obsolescence of tanks known, is to have modern anti-tank weapons fall into the hands of the West's enemy de jour. Israel's experience in Lebanon, and Russia's in Chechnya, has already demonstrated this to those paying...

I suspect the whole tank concept is beyond salvaging. To defeat modern anti-tank weapons you need to employ explosive armour (and even that isn't foolproof with a sophisticated-enough tandem charge... or simply using a follow up missile). The problem with that is that you can't mingle infantry...

EVERY STATE IN HISTORY has had to deal with the reality of co-existence with other states which can damage its interests if they are so inclined. Fortunately, unless a state is *really* tempted or *really* stupid the mutual benefit of peaceful co-existence usually wins out. Your logic seems to...