Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
Overlooking AFVs so new that their cousins are still in service is, in my mind at least, absolutely criminal!
|
I'd tend to agree on this, with regard new enough equipment like M60 MBTs. On the other hand, I'm not sure how many of those would actually be on static displays in the Twilight timeline, when it was still a mainstay of ARNG armored units that had just begun transitioning to the M1 series, versus our timeline when post-1989 and Gulf War current generation equipment basically rained down on the reserves with the military draw down.
Anything pre-M113 or pre-M48 series tank would essentially be irrelevant and more trouble than they're worth, even as training vehicles due to the logistics piece and other issues I've discussed concerning my opinion about resurrecting things like WW2 vintage armor for Twilight War service in other threads.
Now, post nuke changes things, and state NG organizations are probably the most likely operators of wacky vintage armor -- as discussed above they might have access to parts (or additional vehicles to part out) and mechanics who, while not school house trained on the vintage equipment had been able to tinker with it. The collapse of the nationwide distribution network is going to be less of a show stopper at the state level (well, at least the smaller ones -- places like Texas and California are probably a mess for state-level lines of communications post TDM). How long they could actually keep anything resurrected from the bone yard running is an open question with the usual answer probably mostly being "not very long." Even without ammo for main guns and such, however, being able to park a tank shaped object in places of heavy civil disturbance during the winter 97-98 would help restore or maintain order.
By 2000, though, I'd guess that most vintage armor the states may have been able to put back in operation are back to essentially static display status like the non-functional tanks turned into turreted bunkers around Krakow. Even without main gun ammo it looks scary, and a turreted coax machinegun can lock down an entry control point even if it is subject to sporadic sniper fire and other harassment that might make guys manning gun towers iffy.
(Additional observation about NG and weird stuff still in inventory -- during the early 90s I served with a couple guys who were WW2 reenactors who noticed a pair of half tracks lurking in the back corner of the AL ARNG UTES cite at Ft McClellan/Pelham Range. They were definitely in the fixer-upper category, but those two guys spent some time climbing around on them and thought they could probably put together one working vehicle from what was present. Or at least "working" in the relatively low demand context of WW2 reenactment. They tried asking around with the UTES personnel on what the actual ownership status of the halftracks was, since there is a market in the reenactment community for that sort of thing, but I think their research never got further than the "hell if I know" answers they got from guys who worked there.)