Comments by "whya2ndaccount" (@whya2ndaccount) on "Military History Visualized" channel.

  1. The T-80U at least has an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) so you can maintain surveillance, run systems, etc. without running the turbine. Also I'm pretty certain that T-80 variants have adopted the "powerpack" concept similar to modern Western tanks so while the turbine may need maintenance, the vehicle is not out of service as you can quickly swap the powerpack and send the tank forward with the new powerpack and the damaged one is repaired "at leisure" at a suitable 2nd line repair facility.
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  2. 9:28 I think you'll find this is not a chain reaction in terms of surrounding blocks detonation sympathetically. Its more a case that the blast strips the blocks away from their mountings. That is the block is intact but is now sitting on the ground somewhere. The effect on the tank is the same (more than one block now missing) but the missing blocks did not explode.
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  3. You may find the number of tanks per platoon varies depending on if its a Platoon in a pure Tk unit or a Tk Platoon within a Motor Rifle (Mech) unit.
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  4. You need to use 2 assets to conduct a "deliberate breach" to "clear" a route - say a MICLIC and a Plough, not just one unless you want to accept risk with a "hasty breach". The next issue is the depth of major minefields - a MICLIC (or Giant Viper) charge is only good for around 250m. If the minefield is say 1km deep you need to repeat a process of MICLIC then plough 4 times as you clear each 250m segment. Also you need to plan on 50% losses to breaching assets. If you want 4 lanes open you need enough assets to start 8 breaches - 8 x MICLIC, 8 x Plough for a minefield 250m deep. The KMT type option also limits follow on vehicles to the same width. You effectively break up a combined arms team because the BMPs, BTRs etc. can not drive down the same track width lanes as they are narrower than the breaching vehicle. Lastly if you aren't using SOSRA (Suppress, Obscure, Secure, Reduce, Assault) your attempt is likely to fail as the obstacle will be covered by fire and observation.
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  5. Fitting I guess to have Ike's bust in the background.
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  6. Blast grenades are also good because often a fragmentation grenade has an effective radius larger than what I person can throw. If you are in a defensive position and throw a fragmentation grenade you tend to have earthworks or similar cover to to use as the shrapnel goes past you. The usual sequence when throwing them on the range is: throw, see where it lands, duck.
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  7. 6:03 It sounds like you intend to post the enemy. The joys of English. :) "Envelope" means the container you put a letter in. "Envelop" is the tactical task. The publication is probably trying to provide an overview and principles to be used. Most tactical publications are not overly specific (e.g. "A support by fire position need to be effective", as opposed to "a support by fire position needs to be 75m from the enemy"). In this publication's context for example, a IS-2 Platoon's effective range would be much different to a T-34/76 Platoon's effective range. As to the diagram, the envelopment is usually selected when there is an obstacle on one flank (e.g. there maybe a river on the left that the enemy can be pinned against). Also it avoids the main strength of the position (out of the primary arc of the AT gun) and it allows the Company to attack in enfilade, where it can hit the right hand strong-point first and then move on the remaining strong-points on the left which are being suppressed by the fire support Platoon.
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  8. Don't know what happened to your hands - but hope they heal soon.
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  9. Well yes you can use APFSDS against people, but its a bit of a waste to fire 1 x APFSDS round against 1 x person, esp. if you have several thousand rounds of 7.62mm coax nearby.
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  10. Well done for avoiding it that long. I've played in a classroom to display "what not to do" (e.g. the initial platoon commander leading).
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  11. Seems odd to only have one MP 38/40 per vehicle (apart from the Stugs). I guess the other crewmen on a given vehicle had only a pistol as a personal weapon, since rifles are too long / unwieldy are unsuited for use by a vehicle crew?
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  12.  @thomasstevenhebert  Sure but its the same thing as with all the other bespoke stuff being sent. It uses a custom round that has limited stocks. I suspect the French aren't going to crank up production and even if they did it wouldn't be over night. Its like the Gepards, retired system, but then people complain there aren't warehouses full of ammunition to suit it.
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  13.  @MilitaryHistoryVisualized  Sure but I just wanted to clarify that "turbine maintenance" didn't necessarily imply that the complete vehicle was out of action.
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  14. Good information, poor sponsor. However I understand both you and the Tank Museum need to get funding from somewhere.
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  15. NLAW, ATGM, UAS, etc. are also purely defensive weapons. If you want to move forward and capture ground, while destroying the enemy, you need the ability to project firepower from a protected platform with mobility.
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  16.  @thomasstevenhebert  I suspect French training / peace time consumption rates are a bit lower than Ukrainian operation war expenditure rates, but I guess we'll see. I just fear we are going to end up with a bunch of Western kit scattered around the battle space with no ammunition or parts, let alone people qualified to repair them.
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  17.  @88porpoise  I know I am one. But you still need to get out /off to go on a recce, attend orders groups, do track work / maintenance, go to the loo and various other tasks. Having one SMG to "share" isn't ideal.
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  18. A general note: As a tank commander, you do everything possible to avoid front on engagements. Flank and rear shots are preferable. This is not "waste of time" or "war chunder" where you slug it out. Frontal attacks and slug fests, esp. in a limited armoured vehicle such as Leo 1A5 is just dumb, but will result in battlefield Darwinism, where the idiots die early.
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  19.  @bliblablubb9590  Sure, but what he "said" at that time stamp mentioned the chance of sympathetic detonations.
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  20. Lower height also impacts the amount of gun depression as the gun breech can’t be raised due to the turret roof. Not an issue for a tank designed primarily for offensive operations, but does reduce the ability for defensive operations (limited opportunities to go hull down etc,).
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  21. 5:55 Can I suggest the smoke grenade provides obscuration / concealment, not "cover". That is the AT gun's view of the target is reduced but the smoke doesn't provide protection from any subsequent fire.
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  22. The US only used DD tanks at UTAH and OMAHA (most of whom were swamped) and declined the offer from the British of 79th Armoured Div assets.
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  23.  @archmagosdominusbelisarius8836  Hence the throw, observe, duck sequence.
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  24. "Aim for the centre of seen mass". Longer barrel + more propellant (higher breech pressure) = Increased muzzle velocity and results in higher KE when the APFSDS round hits the target.
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  25. "Amphibious" just as the M113 was amphibious, suitable for inland river crossings, not coming ashore onto a beach.
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  26. Many thanks for remembering. So much blood and treasure shed and then we cut and ran - The first time in over 30 years of service that I was ashamed. I have burned my ISAF shoulder patch
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  27. If you are static and fire 23 rounds you are probably dead. My experience is with newer vehicles, but we always fire no more than two rounds before Jockeying (Berm Drills for my US friends) at least 100m - in order to get out of the field of view of the enemy's sight (this forces them to make a bolder correction).
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  28. 19:00 For what its worth, armies can use these terms interchangeably. In British and Commonwealth armies for example there are Armoured, Cavalry, Engineer, Artillery and Signals Regiments, whilst also having Infantry and Combat Service Support Battalions - all of which are commanded by a LTCOL and are "units". It becomes more interesting when the Infantry Battalions are part of a "Regiment" family (e.g. there are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th/9th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment), but the Regiment doesn't command the member battalions.
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  29. Two additional points, if I can. 1. A gun is more flexible. As soon as I pull the trigger I can traverse onto a new target as the round is "fire and forget" whereas most ATGMs require a beam rider or optical tracking (i.e. keep the gun pointing at the first tgt until you hit/miss). With the gun, you can shoot at targets at 12 O'clock, then 9 O'clock then 3 O'clock (esp. if the tank has CITV or similar Hunter/Killer equipment), while the missile is still looking at the 12 O'clock target. 2. The gun can fire many different natures (types) of ammunition (anti armour [Kinetic or Chemical], smoke, HE, Canister or similar anti personnel rounds, ...). Having only an ATGM forces you to shoot at say a truck with an ATGM rather than say HE.
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  30. We used Inf / Tank co-operation telephones on our Centurions in Vietnam, then transferred them to our Leo AS1s and finally fitted them to our M1 AIM SAs before the M1 TUSK package came out. :)
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  31.  @sirrathersplendid4825  Sure but it doesn't provide "cover". Smoke at best provides "concealment". "cover" and "concealment" have two different military definitions.
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  32.  @sirrathersplendid4825  A military / Tactical channel should I think use the correct terminology, not colloquialisms. What next "take out" instead of "clear" / "destroy" / "secure", etc. All I wanted to do was to suggest a better wording. If that's unacceptable to you I have better things to do with my time.
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  33.  @anvil5356  No idea if that's directed at me or not, but as a serving officer I don't base my professional knowledge on Hollywood films.
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  34.  @rcajavus8141  Absolutely, one of the reasons why you plan for 50% losses.
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  35.  @dogsnads5634  Understood, I just wanted to provide some open source examples. The principles remain the same though.
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  36. Thanks for the video but I'll decline the War Thunder invitation.
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  37.  @88porpoise  Well space is a reason why they don't have K-98s certainly. I'm just pretty sure I"ve seen vehicle diagrams with mounting brackets at each crew station for a weapon - but I could be wrong.
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  38.  @demonprinces17  That's probably the one time you don't need a SMG. The Crew Commander has grenades for close in work and the Gunner with the main gun and coax MG for longer range targets. The SMG / side arm is used for when you dismount the vehicle and leave it (say for a recce or to go to orders) or if you need to work nearby (working on the tank or engine, camouflaging the vehicle, building the range card, etc.). In all those cases having something better than a pistol is a good idea. ;)
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  39. ​ @simonh6371  I'm not talking about recce done by a dedicated recce unit, but the recce done by the tank crew. (e.g. the tank is about to occupy a defensive position, apart from just driving in, the tactically sound option is to stop short, one person recces it by foot, and then the vehicle comes forward - "what is over that ridge?" or "can this bridge take the weight?" type stuff). Yes I've gone to the loo inside the tank but I can assure you morale is higher if you can do it outside (especially now that you don't have large brass "chamber pots" anymore with combustible cartridges) and "in range of the enemy" is a pretty vague term so you usually assume the enemy is around when you dismount. Books like "Tigers in the Mud" (yes I know its a memoir) speaks often of the need for the crew commander and other crewman to spend significant periods away from the tank "in range of the enemy" and it certainly remains true today, where every AFV crewman has a carbine/SMG type weapon and a pistol (but that's not central to the MP 38 / MP 40 scenario).
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  40. Can we move away from game footage that provides inaccurate information?
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  41. Australia is also supplying a Battery of 6 x M777 guns.
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  42.  @sodinc  Not really. An armoured unit is called a Regiment (e.g. 1 Royal Tank Regiment) the term "regiment" doesn't mean its better than say 1 Royal Tank Battalion, because there are no armoured "battalions", similarly an Infantry Battalion is called a Battalion because that is the name used. 1 Scots say is the 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland. the "Regiment" here is made up of more than one Battalion.
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  43. Its a pity, but I understand the need to adapt/compromise to the requirements of the platform.
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  44.  @Jaggaraz218  sure and plenty with TOW, Spike, MILAN, AT-3, AT-4, AT-5, etc. - all of which can only be employed defensively. You can not fire an ATGM while moving forward. You must stop not matter how briefly. Sure 1 or 2 are "fire and forget" but by and large they need a person to control them and they can't control them while moving. and as soon as they fire and are stopped they are likely to receive a tank round traveling at several times the speed of sound, whilst their missile is still flying. Once suppressed/destroyed by the tank round, the missile without guidance will just fly into the ground.
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  45.  @thomasstevenhebert  Yes I appreciate the difference in the ammunition nature. For example we mostly use "PRAC" APFSDS, but there are occasions during the training cycle where we use "Service Sabot" too. Anyway I'll guess we'll find how much depth there is to the French logistic support organisation in due course.
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  46.  @CalinCETERAS  I was using a truck tgt as an example. Ideally you would use coax on transport. But there is no "smoke" ATGM, nor a Cannister ATGM, etc. This is one reason why the "ATGM only" (note only) option wasn't adopted.
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  47. Regarding the odd number of track links, that is not uncommon. Many vehicles with torsion bar suspension have different numbers per side to reflect the different torsion bar locations and offsets.
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  48. I think you'll find your Anti Tank mil symbol shown at 10:57 is inverted (unless it changed during the war?) - Certainly the current NATO standard has the top of the "triangle" orientated to the top of the symbol, not "V" shaped as you have it (e.g. https://www.iconfinder.com/iconsets/nato-military-symbols-friendly-anti-armour-units)
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  49. The increased height of NATO vehicles tend to result in higher degrees of gun depression and the increases the ability to fight "hull down". This is only a defensive option. The limited numbers mentioned imply that they can be used defensively but not to conduct offensive options. The key issues though are probably: 1 Training on a different platform (oh and creating Loaders) as opposed to conversion trg of crews from damaged Ukrainian vehicles. 2. Logistics (spares, training of repairers, recovery and bridging variants, ...) and 3. Ammunition stocks. The Leopard uses single piece 105mm ammunition. You can't repurpose "spare" 125mm two piece ammunition. Introducing a 2nd set of ammunition (105mm, the smoke grenades, the MG ammo) alongside the existing 125mm supply system would increase complexity and require dedicated logistic trains optimised for one vehicle type. Certainly if employed where the Russians are using light forces, it will make a difference, but against more balanced, combined arms teams, it would probably need to be used defensively (ambushing, etc.) where it can ensure flanking engagements, and minimise frontal ones.
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  50. Pity you needed to get sponsorship from "Waste of Time".
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