What would have happened if Shaun Nelson had gotten the tank off the Median line before Officer Paul Paxton could climb onto the Tank.
Los Angeles Tank Rampage Question
- Thread starter Thors_Alumni
- Start date
tank wasn't loaded with Ammo. The only weapon present was the tank itself.
Deleted member 94680
Do USMC Camps hold stocks of live ammo at all times?
Even then, it’s going to be a hour or so (give or take) for an armed chopper to get into the sky.
Deleted member 94680
Not very professional looking in front of the world’s media.
More professional than having a Cobra kill a tank driven by a civilian with TOW in a major American city.
The safety locks were on the main armament and he did not have the keys to unlock them
Deleted member 94680
Probably a clean shot with a BGM 71 or similar is the best bet. Or some kind of mobility kill on the tracks? Immobilise him and wait it out?
I just think lobbing bottles of flaming petrol into the tank doesn’t look very “modern” for the US military.
It would look very effective for a police force. You could also do something like toss a simple C4 charge on the engine bay for the same effect. They don’t need to defeat the armor. They just have to defeat the engine. It’s his only weapon and from the driver compartment he can only really see to the front and even then not well.
Probably what ever method is fastest and reasonably likely to stop the threat without un due risk to by standers would have been used.
(Ie I suspect an air strike with cluster bombs, napalm or fuel air explosives would have been unlikely.)
Maybe
A) the police call for federal help (it is a bit un clear to me how that process would work, maybe if the request involves stopping a stolen military asset some of the process could have been streamlined ?)
and
B) smoke or CS gas is used by a swat team to try and disable / disorient the driver while they work out how to improvise some form of demolition charge that can at least disable the tank ?
Maybe try and box the tank in with large bulldozers or other heavy equipment ?
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If the military is formally involved I doubt they will be using petrol bombs.
Deleted member 94680
Apparently OTL they discarded the idea of using CS, due to the risk of the tank remaining in motion with the driver incapacitated but the tank full of CS. They felt there was a risk the tank would keep rolling, uncontrolled, but they wouldn’t be able to get in and stop it whilst the CS was active.
I assume from this that they had CS, but no respirators?
Due to the Posse Comitatus Act, would federal troops be able to respond? It’s not an insurrection. State level guard? Would anyone authorize the use of real anti-tank weapons? Would not be a pretty picture on the nightly news if they missed with a TOW or AT-4. Maybe try and trap the tank with heavy construction equipment? Or try and clear the area and let it run out of fuel.
Its a tank. They are made for going over difficult obstacles. Bulldozers or heavy equipment wouldn't stop a tank if it wanted to go.
actually a Cobra was already on the Tarmac and loaded with Tow Missiles and waiting for the signal to go during the incident.
not sure how it would work but nothing the Police had could stop the Tank so the Government would have had good reason to ask for the military to step in due to the danger that the Tank came as. The Tank wasnt loaded but it could still do a lot of damage if it had gotten free which is another reason that the military would have been called in and the Use of a cobra is what the situation called for
Plenty of stuff the police have can stop a tank. Once again, they don’t need to defeat the armor, just the engine. Demolition charges from the bomb squad placed on the engine bay can certainly kill that tank.