Battle Boxes -or- the Containerised Military

I read an article about a surgical station that fit neatly into a standard shipping container. The company developing it was still trying to sell it to the military last I heard.

And then there's that one mobile missile setup that also fits in a standard shipping container.
 
I believe the Russians have a container based anti-shipping missile system.
That would make an interesting system to employ. The container would not look out of place on aerial recon. scans.
 
I'm talking about maximum containerisation. Near ubiquitous.

Container basing, where the barracks are made of prefab containers that are shipped to the location.

Vehicles designed around the size of a standard container, and airlift designed around either these vehicles, or to hold containers.

And all of it, of course, fitting into containers, which makes it hard to identify exactly what is being shipped to where.
 
I remember this guy. He wants to rename the M113 the Gavin, and then replace all AFVs with modified "Gavins" right? For some reason he really hates wheeled AFVs. Also, bicycle infantry! :rolleyes:

The containers thing isn't the worst of his ideas. Soldiers already live in conex boxes on some bases I think.
 
As a professional truck driver who has hauled a lot of trailers/containers, I know firsthand how much standardized containers make life easier.

The thing is there are a lot of commercial technologies that can be applied to today's militaries. For example, why hasn't someone developed a Refueling tanker based on any of today's modern airliners for example.
 
I remember this guy. He wants to rename the M113 the Gavin, and then replace all AFVs with modified "Gavins" right? For some reason he really hates wheeled AFVs. Also, bicycle infantry! :rolleyes:

The containers thing isn't the worst of his ideas. Soldiers already live in conex boxes on some bases I think.

Aerogavins!

The container thing, though... It just seems so sensible to me, that I can't understand why it hasn't already been implemented.
 
Containers are actually quite widespread as pre-fabs for everything from hospitals, air base sets to mobile c4i set-ups.

When it comes to comercial airliners used for refueling tankers most of them are based on airliners:

MD 10
Boeing 707
Boeing 767
Airbus 330s

all form the basis of highly successful tanker and other military usage aircraft.
 
The container thing, though... It just seems so sensible to me, that I can't understand why it hasn't already been implemented.
  1. Because it would cost the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) of the United States money; Economy is not in their interest.
  2. Too many military officers do not like others' ideas and are too conserative.
  3. Too many deskbound officers with no combat experience making procurment decisions.
 
Aerogavins!

The container thing, though... It just seems so sensible to me, that I can't understand why it hasn't already been implemented.

It may not seem like it, but they are well on their way. The US military uses them for all sorts of things, both by direct design and through repurposing. Remember, after all, that modern containerization was invinted by the military. The military ships quite a large amount of cargo in Conex boxes, and has been since the Korean War.

One of the biggest uses is as accommodations. Containers have been used for that since the Falklands War.

I do have to laugh my way through that editorial - it's largely a complaint about not having soldiers housed in containers protected by sandbags, accompanied by picture after picture of conex housing protecxted by Hecso...
 
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