Comments on: Defending Freedom In A Second-Hand Car http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/28/defending-freedom-in-a-fifty-second-hand-car/ Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:53:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Old Msgt http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/28/defending-freedom-in-a-fifty-second-hand-car/#comment-90219 Old Msgt Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:52:43 +0000 http://www.foundry.org/?p=24876#comment-90219 Do note that the Army, besides being divided into track vs. wheeled advocates, is also divided into cliques pushing different products. Google the "reset" and modification contracts affecting the M113 if you doubt its value. There is NOTHING in terms of weapons, armor, and sensor suites that a modified 113 can't carry that GCV can, including modern armors. It is perfectly practical to V-hull the 113 (whose aluminum hull has unlimited useful life), armor it so there is no comparison to the light 'Nam era versions (stock hull serves as a platform for any level/type armor desired for the mission) repower it as many nations have done (including HED options!) , fit it with Soucy band tracks for enhanced performance (as did Canada), fit modern adaptive and comforable suspension while getting rid of the torsion bars to allow more belly armor, and fit it with ALL the FCS and related sensors (which are hull-agnostic) for C4ISR goodness. That can happen much more quickly than a new GCV, doesn't conflict with a new GCV, and captures the many billions of dollars and decades worth of equipment and training invested in the most successful armored vehicle in history. Proven tech isn't "shocking", any more than that the B-52 (which are older than all their aircrew) is still serving. Get serious about the ongoing M113A3 upgrade and finish the fleet for a start, then drop in a C4ISR kit. A reset vehicle is COMPLETELY overhauled and equivalent to a NEW machine. "Second-hand car" analogies are market-speak directed at the tech-illiterate. BTW, the vanilla M113 is far more mobile than Stryker, MRAP, or any other of the (often well executed) police trucks available. That's why countries who use them often fit much more powerful weapons than is US practice. The 113 is C-130 mobile, and decades ago was cruising through terrain of comparable difficulty to Marja in Afghanistan. <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bae-systems-awarded-32-million-contract-to-reset-m113-vehicles-2010-02-08?reflink=MW_news_stmp" rel="nofollow">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bae-systems-awar...</a> Do note that the Army, besides being divided into track vs. wheeled advocates, is also divided into cliques pushing different products. Google the "reset" and modification contracts affecting the M113 if you doubt its value. There is NOTHING in terms of weapons, armor, and sensor suites that a modified 113 can't carry that GCV can, including modern armors. It is perfectly practical to V-hull the 113 (whose aluminum hull has unlimited useful life), armor it so there is no comparison to the light 'Nam era versions (stock hull serves as a platform for any level/type armor desired for the mission) repower it as many nations have done (including HED options!) , fit it with Soucy band tracks for enhanced performance (as did Canada), fit modern adaptive and comforable suspension while getting rid of the torsion bars to allow more belly armor, and fit it with ALL the FCS and related sensors (which are hull-agnostic) for C4ISR goodness. That can happen much more quickly than a new GCV, doesn't conflict with a new GCV, and captures the many billions of dollars and decades worth of equipment and training invested in the most successful armored vehicle in history.

Proven tech isn't "shocking", any more than that the B-52 (which are older than all their aircrew) is still serving. Get serious about the ongoing M113A3 upgrade and finish the fleet for a start, then drop in a C4ISR kit. A reset vehicle is COMPLETELY overhauled and equivalent to a NEW machine. "Second-hand car" analogies are market-speak directed at the tech-illiterate.

BTW, the vanilla M113 is far more mobile than Stryker, MRAP, or any other of the (often well executed) police trucks available. That's why countries who use them often fit much more powerful weapons than is US practice. The 113 is C-130 mobile, and decades ago was cruising through terrain of comparable difficulty to Marja in Afghanistan.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bae-systems-awar…

]]> By: Defending Freedom In A Second-Hand Car | The Foundry: Conservative … « Run your car with Water http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/28/defending-freedom-in-a-fifty-second-hand-car/#comment-85447 Defending Freedom In A Second-Hand Car | The Foundry: Conservative … « Run your car with Water Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:22:36 +0000 http://www.foundry.org/?p=24876#comment-85447 [...] Today found this great post, here is a quick excerpt : While the rest of us are used to a fast-paced, information-accessible real-time culture of i-Phones, Blue Ray, portable video games, tablets to read books, and GPS in our cars, Army soldiers are stuck in the era of Atari. … Read the rest of this great post Here [...] [...] Today found this great post, here is a quick excerpt : While the rest of us are used to a fast-paced, information-accessible real-time culture of i-Phones, Blue Ray, portable video games, tablets to read books, and GPS in our cars, Army soldiers are stuck in the era of Atari. … Read the rest of this great post Here [...]

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