Ron Paul: "We Spent a Billion Dollars Fighting the Houthis…and Lost'
(ronpaulinstitute.org)
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (84)
sorted by:
Yes they do. They weigh >100t each. How many do you think can trundle down a road before it is mush? I watch the (very few) Abrams saddle up for exercises and see each and every one loaded onto a custom low-loader to be transported to and from the exercise, specifically to prevent a convoy of Abrams (with rubber track pads) from wrecking the roads.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3901/14349238546_eee8f20a41_b.jpg
Logistics is king. Diesel is the resource, and unless the Chinese Navy lands in fucking Darwin, they are going to have to haul their supplies across the most rugged continent on earth.
Australia just signed a contract for the delivery for 75 M1A2 Abrams, and I am not alone in thinking that for the job the Abrams is overweight and over armored.
From:
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australias-new-tanks-are-overkill-and-overweight/
As amusing as it is to watch you stroke your e-peen and daydream about tank on tank battles in the outback, Main Battle Tanks are not the most effective armored vehicle for ground combat under every circumstance.
Vs actual knowledge and experience. An abrams is 72 tons. They are loaded on the superheavy trucks for transport to save fuel, maintenance and operational time. They can drive on roads fine. The steel tracks are what gave tanks the reputation for destroying roads - the weight distribution of tracks actually has less pounds of weight per square inch of surface contact area than cars.
And you're trying to twist this entire argument from "MBTs bad" to "my irrelevant country doesn't need them" and still saying wrong things. It is the king of armored warfare. It is the best choice for infantry support and any direct engagement. It is not a troop transport, it is not an anti-air platform, but in any kind of situation where vehicles or troops need to be destroyed and terrain permits vehicles, the abrams will do it better, faster and have the highest survivability.