All the more reason to dispense with the guidance wire, then. Getting it snagged on something (or having it dip into a river) and losing control of the missile because of it is embarassing at best, and quite likely fatal.
AHC: A more competent U.S. Armed Forces
- Thread starter M. A. Dickens
- Start date
All the more reason to dispense with the guidance wire, then. Getting it snagged on something (or having it dip into a river) and losing control of the missile because of it is embarassing at best, and quite likely fatal.
There is a vehicle launched Javelin. Any CROWs station can mount one.
But the Javelin has even shorter range than a TOW.
I can't find that information. Norway uses ground launched Hellfires as coastal defense anti-ship missiles, but I can't find any information on the performance of the ground launched model.
http://media.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/ORD_AGM-114_Hellfire-II_Tripod_lg.jpg
According to Wiki, Javelins have a maximum range of 4,750m, while TOW's max range is 3,750m. Can we say the Army and Marines adopted Javelins for their vehicles?
Marc A
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Global Security says 2500 meters. I'd trust them over wiki.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/javelin.htm
This suggests otherwise. Or, you know, since this is an ATL, we can always go back to authorial fiat...
Marc A
Keep in mind that the Javelin SAM is different to the Javelin ATGM. That link seems a bit confused about which one is being referred to.
Sonofabitch!!! Argh brainfart...
Okay, okay... what if TTL's Pentagon scrapped the Javelin program altogether and go with Rafael's Spike family instead? The LR version goes up to 4km, and the ER version 8km.
Marc A
Sonofabitch!!! Argh brainfart...
Okay, okay... what if TTL's Pentagon scrapped the Javelin program altogether and go with Rafael's Spike family instead? The LR version goes up to 4km, and the ER version 8km.
Marc A
Can the Spike do top attack like the Javelin?
I believe the later versions can, but in any case it has a pretty decent two-stage warhead. One of the longer-range version of Spike strikes me as a pretty good ATGM, certainly a suitable replacement for TOW is the mood grabbed somebody. Doesn't Spike still have a control wire, though, albeit fibre-optic? Not a crippling weakness by any means, but in close terrain it can be a nuisance.
One thing would IMO be of enormous help, tho IDK how you get at it: reduce the "turbulence" in flag positions. There's a tremendous amount of turnover, with officers barely getting settled before they get moved to new posts/stations. (Taking new duty is seen as needed for career advancement.) This makes it damn near impossible to get really good at anything...
There are also way, way too many flag positions: more now than in 1944.
Great story. (It was Proxmire, & boy, is he sorry.)
Regrettably, I don't recall anything else... IIRC, it was by Larry Niven.
IIRC, you can also find it in N Space.
There are also way, way too many flag positions: more now than in 1944.
Nope. I've read it.EnglishCanuck said:This is making me think of a story I read where a luddite Senator goes back in time to try and keep Robert Heinlein in the navy so he never gets interested in science fiction and comes back to the future to find Admiral Heinlein has kickstarted the space program and has helped establish both lunar colonies and an asteroid belt mining industry leading to an even more advanced future!
Anybody heard of it?
Great story. (It was Proxmire, & boy, is he sorry.)Regrettably, I don't recall anything else...
IIRC, it was by Larry Niven.My recall's pretty good, then.NothingNow said:
IIRC, you can also find it in N Space.
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One thing would IMO be of enormous help, tho IDK how you get at it: reduce the "turbulence" in flag positions. There's a tremendous amount of turnover, with officers barely getting settled before they get moved to new posts/stations. (Taking new duty is seen as needed for career advancement.) This makes it damn near impossible to get really good at anything...
There are also way, way too many flag positions: more now than in 1944.
How much of an effect does this have on operations? #laymanquestion
Marc A
The turbulence? IDK if it's ever been measured (or if it can be), but it has the effect you'd expect: reduced effectiveness on all levels, because nobody gets really comfortable with the job or staff. There's a lot to be said about really knowing what's going on in a position, knowing details just from having been in the job awhile, & those get lost when somebody's not there long.marcus_aurelius said:
Put it this way: Rochefort guessed AF in '42 because he vaguely recalled reading a message about it weeks or months before. Would he have done that if he'd only been at Hypo a few weeks? Would his replacement even know about the old message, let alone its content?
No, it won't always be like that. It's likely to be worse,
because the turnover is in flag officers, where the stakes are higher.(P.S.: Apologies for the delay in responding. I just now noticed this...
)(P.S.: Apologies for the delay in responding. I just now noticed this...
Heh, I've written this off as dead a while ago. The response was a pleasant surprise, good sir.
Marc A
marcus_aurelius said:Heh, I've written this off as dead a while ago. The response was a pleasant surprise, good sir.
It's a trifle necro, but I lost track of the thread & didn't answer immediately. The question seemed to deserve an answer, anyhow. Glad the surprise is pleasant, at any rate.