Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther Al
Couple of things:
If it is a brigade scout platoon, its less cav than it is pure localized recce - whats over the hill in front of us, around the corner, and maybe the next town. DivCav squadrons - the lowest level of unit to be designated Cavalry - is focused on what will effect the division itself: Whats in the next town, how is the route to it, and the counter-recce mission. The only time it is supposed to get in a knock out drag out fight is in the counter recce role, as well as being able to make short work out of anything it stumbles into - but not to go out and look for trouble. Where as the scout platoon would be best mounted in light vehicles like the humvee, DivCav would be well suited to riding into battle in Light Armoured Vehicles. Enough armour to handle small arms fire, fast and light to take full advantage of the road network, and able to run off road almost as good as a tracked vehicle with enough firepower (In the MPGS) to deal with any small units it bumps into. And they wouldn't dismount except to form OP's: Most if not all of the recce they would do would be done mounted, for DivCav operates forward of the main line of battle, and they need the mobility to do the job.
|
It was always recognized that the DivCav Sqn was incapable of screening the division's entire front and flanks. Its mix of two ground and two air cav troops are an almost classic case of "too little, too late". According to the various manuals, the division's recon role had to be closely coordinated with the battalion's scout platoons in order to provide the most basic coverage. During the 1980s/90s, there was a lot of talk of boosting the DivCav Sqn up to three ground and three air troops or adding a full ground cav squadron and a full air cav squadron to the division.
It was also recognized that a pure M-3 troop simply didn't have the firepower to take on a Soviet Regt Recon Company. The Soviets had started adding a tank platoon to reinforce the usual BRDM/BMP mix. This is when the Army started experimenting with adding a Abrams platoon. Desert Storm saw several different mixes of DivCav. You had M-1/M-3, straight M-3, and even HMMWV/TOW, HMMWV/AGL and HMMWV/HMG. Of these, the M-1/M-3 worked the best.
Quote:
Corp level cav is in the form of the ACR. These have to be heavy: These form the same role German Gepanzart Aufklarungsschwadrons had in the second world war. One is to provide a corp level recon element, that had the strength and firepower to fight its way through (And by this, it is understood that its more a case to allow them to slip through, not destroy units holding the line) the enemies front line, and to operate in the backfield performing a level of recon that straddles the border between strategic and tactical levels, and then return to friendly lines. The second, is as a form of corp level fire brigade - a compact reserve force that can be committed as a hip pocket formation that is fully contained within itself, and doesn't need corp level assets to perform whatever mission is assigned to it. In this mission, the Stryker - or any similar vehicle for that matter - doesn't have the firepower or protection to pull it off. Which is why converting the ACR's from its heavy formation of Abram's and Bradley's is a huge mistake in my opinion.
As to armour isn't good at hiding, goes to show you haven't dealt with sneaky SOB tankers. The M1 is very good at sneaking and peaking. Better than the Bradley oddly enough - the Abrams is very quiet, lower, and has much better optics. While, and I said this earlier, the Stryker has a huge advantage, even over the very quiet Abrams, in the noise it generates - to a point, you still have that noisy diesel. I've personally snuck up to the back of a Brad in an Abrams, close enough to where the first they saw me was when my tube snagged the tarp hanging off of the back of it. I could have nudged the troop door closed, but I didn't trust my driver that much that close to another vehicle. I have *never* seen a CVC thrown so hard, so far, in my life. 
|
The M-1 is one of the most quiet tanks in service, the turbine can rarely be heard much beyond 100 meters. On numerous field exercises, M-1s could get closer to red force units than Bradleys or even M-113s. When the Abrams first reached Germany, it earned the nickname "Whispering Death"...bestowed by the Canadians who were surprised at every turn by the speed, agility and near silence of the Abrams.
Stryker may have a use in a Peacekeeper role, but when the Army makes the decision to gut the Armor Force in favor of large numbers of a glorified RV....its only a matter of time before troops will pay the price.