I know what you mean, CDAT. When I taught high school sophomores, the first unit of study was physical geography, part of which was maps and such. Kids these days really struggle with maps. They don't see a need, since every smart phone has a app for maps/directions. What will happen when modern people are deprived of phone/text communications, and the information superhighway (or dumpster fire) that is the internet? Extrapolate that and apply it to modern/near-future warfare.
Back to Chalk's question:
A lot of high-tech gear will be useless when deprived of a reliable power source (i.e. batteries) and computer networking systems. Even with solar rechargers and whatnot, battery life is finite. After a while, all batteries will lose the ability to hold a charge. After that, your NVGs, radios, drones, blue force trackers systems, powered exoskeletons, etc. become really expensive clubs.
That's the beauty- and limitation- of any iteration of Twilight 2000. Start the timeline anywhere you want, start with whatever tech you prefer- it doesn't really matter once the nuclear war destroys the means of production, and pre-exchange supplies run out. At that point, warfare returns to late 19th, early 20th century tech. levels and participants must make do with what they can scrounge or manufacture themselves.
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