Well... the poles and soviets thought it could work

Broadly, I can't see how it's possible. "More effective" under certain conditions, yes. In swampy or forested terrain, say. Or in certain weather (Spring & Fall in SU, where roads are quagmires). They'd also be pretty useful in anti-guerrilla/partisan ops (can you say Afghanistan? Chechnya?). Give each man a variety of Simonov AR or AK-47 & Panzerfaust, preferably a good radio (even a priority on the few good ones SU produces), & attach more/less organic Il-2s for tacair. You might also add barding & body armor, similar to the AUS flak vests of WW2-era OTL. If you're willing to stretch the science a little, presuming this type of formation has some history TTL, you might try out quilted nylon armor (& accelerate development of Kevlar; I don't know enough of the chemistry to know if it was feasible in OTL '30s-'40s, tho). You might also want a "squad auto" MG like the MG34/42, or even the XM214 (a personal fave of mine).

I've a suspicion, if this kind of unit becomes remotely common, you'd get research into lightweight plastics for rifle furniture, small-caliber rounds, like the interwar AUS .276, & bullpups, all in the interest of adding firepower at lower weight. You might also see doctrine develop of co-operation with airborne (both light, relatively mobile), with airborne acting as a kind of "reserve"; certainly, the research into body armor & light ARs would benefit paras.
 
You might also see doctrine develop of co-operation with airborne (both light, relatively mobile), with airborne acting as a kind of "reserve"

First of all every thing you said in that post was awsomeness. :D But when i read that part i read it as airborne cavalry. Flying horses lol. I get what you ment after reading the rest of the post.
 
Broadly, I can't see how it's possible. "More effective" under certain conditions, yes. In swampy or forested terrain, say. Or in certain weather (Spring & Fall in SU, where roads are quagmires).
It isn't so straightforward. Moving large amounts of cavalry (100+) during "rasputitsa" is impossible, so you are talking about mount squads (and OP was talking about big cav forces). Basically, once your unit grows above recce group in numbers, it is easier to move T-34 (or, even better, couple of T-70) along. Same headache, better protection and more firepower.
Give each man a variety of Simonov AR or AK-47 & Panzerfaust
Soviets were toying with carbine version of SVT for cavalry IOTL, but didn't mass-produce. Cavalry was armed with same mix of Mosin-Nagants and PPShs as infantry.
You might also add barding & body armor, similar to the AUS flak vests of WW2-era OTL.
Soviets used steel body armor IOTL for storm troopers.

You might also want a "squad auto" MG like the MG34/42
There was an RPD, but it wasn't as good as MG-42. Pretty close to Bren.
 
It isn't so straightforward. Moving large amounts of cavalry (100+) during "rasputitsa" is impossible, so you are talking about mount squads
It never is, is it?:rolleyes: I was guessing, off of how bad the Germans had it.
oviets were toying with carbine version of SVT for cavalry IOTL, but didn't mass-produce. Cavalry was armed with same mix of Mosin-Nagants and PPShs as infantry.Soviets used steel body armor IOTL for storm troopers.
There was an RPD, but it wasn't as good as MG-42. Pretty close to Bren.
In all cases, I was presuming better weaps would develop to suit the dragoons (does that apply if they use ARs?), not just limiting to OTL fitments.
 
Top