Comment on Australia declares its new air defense missile system combat ready

NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• supersquirrel@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I wouldn’t say that if you aren’t willing to be the driver of a truck that is a lynchpin piece of regional air defense networks that is completely unarmored.

  This is the problem with people’s obsession with light armor, yes lightly armored vehicles are essential and highly useful, but every new generation of people looking at inevitably war say “ah, this next war we won’t need armor we need to make everything as lightly armored as possible!” and then that strategy fails spectacularly until people create more heavily armored version and the cycle repeats…

  en.wikipedia.org/…/RMMV_HX_range_of_tactical_truc…

  HX trucks are fitted with MAN/RMMV’s modular military-specific cab, this tracing back to the Category 1 trucks that entered service in 1976. The evolution of this cab used for HX models is 290 mm deeper than preceding designs, and has more than 600 litres of gross stowage space in the rear. The interior of the walk-through cab is primarily steel or washable plastic/vinyl. Two types of modular detachable hard-top roof are available, a standard flat roof or a version with extended height for the optional air-conditioning equipment, plus an NBC filtration system for the over-pressured IAC cab option if required.[4][9] The reinforced roof can take the weight of two soldiers and the recoil forces of a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun in a ring-mount. A riot protection kit is available for the cab.[7]

  To meet increasing demands for crew protection on deployed operations the HX range was designed from the outset with protection options in mind. Appliqué protection kits, for which vehicles are prepared to accept at the production stage, were developed for the cab. Known as the Modular Armour Cabin (MAC), these kits offer protection according to STANAG 4569. Weight of these kits is about 1,500 kg and the hard-top remains removable for air-transport if required.[9] A swap-cab armouring solution known as the Integrated Armour Cabin (IAC) is also available. The IAC was originally developed in conjunction with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) for the SX range of trucks, this is suited to models with twin front axles only. A Rheinmetall-developed IAC option is available, this is suitable for all HX range trucks, depending on front axle rating and protection levels.[7]

  en.wikipedia.org/…/RMMV_HX_range_of_tactical_truc…

  If you want the most general, all around applicable picture of what air defense looks like with this kind of platform, JLTVs are as good representation of this category as any, and JLTVs are essentially MRAP hiluxs, which is what you need when absolutely everything in the air and on ground is hunting you.

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  • Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    , but every new generation of people looking at war inevitably say “ah, this next war we won’t need armor we need to make everything as lightly armored as possible!” and then that strategy fails spectacularly until people create more heavily armored version and the cycle repeats…

    Seems like you have an interesting historical annecdote your drawing on where this has happened. Is it a story worth sharing?

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    • supersquirrel@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The type of vehicle the US military became convinced was optimal for a fight against a near-peer foe.

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      The type of vehicle that the US realized was essential to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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      The type of vehicle the US military became convinced was optimal for a fight against a near-peer foe.

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      The type of vehicle that the Ukraine realized is essential for a fight against a near-peer foe.

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      • Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Ah yes, the humvee. I like that line from the humvee commander in the movie Black Hawk Down. “These things are bullet magnets!”

        I suppose a possible answer if they’re determined to have heavier armour is compartmentalised and autonomous setups. Having the operator in a separate location to the cannon could reduce the armouring requirements of both and splitting them up could make delivery separately on those c130’s possible. Of course the draw back is a platform far more susceptible to electronic warfare.

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