[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by Olefin

Actually it isnt - considering the fact that the Mexican Army probably by 2001 has used almost every anti-tank weapon they had a WWII Sherman tank is probably very effective - especially against infantry armed with just rifles - they were very effective against German and Italian infantry that tried to fight them without anti-tank weapons so they will just as well in 2001

Irrelevant... ATGMs are not necessary to kill tanks. ATGMs are a defensive system, tanks are primarily killed by artillery with other tanks being number two. A tank spotted by an FO gets gifted contact fused HE really, really fast.

The WW2 comparison is a non starter too. Training even for Support troops includes how to kill tanks. The “tank terror” of the past is just that, in the past. A WW2 Sherman doesn't have enough armor in the hull sides to resist a 40mm HEDP round and those are used by both sides. Any infantryman is taught to make improvised explosives and Sappers even better. Saddle bag charges, satchel charges, and platter charges will do it and anyone is able to make thermite with brillo pads and aluminum powder from a paint supplier. A WW2 Sherman is up against 1990s Infantrymen with night vision, squad radios, and precise on call artillery support. Any 40mm HEDP or rifle grenade is going to punch right through the side armor of either the hull or turret. Once that happens the penetrating jet will slice right into the exposed ammunition, fuel cells, and crew in this tank with no spall liners or compartmentalized ammunition. Ronson, is the nickname, I believe.

Originally Posted by Olefin

As for obsolete - tell that to the Israeli's - they used Shermans until the late 70's and they did very well with them

That had more to do with the Arabs very poor training, lack of coordination, little or no Command and Control locally, and lack of concentration of effort. On the Israeli side very superior training and outstanding air ground operation.

Very Well? Source Tank Encyclopedia. M50 "But the main test in large scale came with the Six-Day War in 1967. Virtually all M-50 and M-51 were thrown in action in Golan Heights and the West Bank and the Sinai peninsula, confronted with soviet WW2 era T-34/85s (Battle of Abu-Ageila) and SU-100 tanks. However, in 1973, these tanks were again committed in large numbers, despite their obsolescence and due to the desperate nature of the struggle. Losses were heavier since their opponents were better armed. however, it was shown that the 105 mm armed M51s were able to score kills on the T-54/55 and T-62s using HEAT ammunition."

The analogy boils down to …... Good troops with poor equipment will defeat poor troops with good equipment, all other considerations being equal, in any engagement.

[/QUOTE]- and Littlefield had a lot more than just old Shermans - he had armor from the 1950's and 60's - including two fully operational M60 tanks with live barrels, a Conqueror with a live barrel as well that was fully operational, a M50 modernized Israeli Sherman, one M47 Patton, and a Centurion Mk13 - again all fully operational and all with live barrels - by my count that's at least six tanks that would still be effective on a modern battlefield - especially against a Mexican Army whose best armored vehicles were from that same era - they werent taking on T-80's at the Fulda Gap [/QUOTE] The only ones worth a damn in that paragraph are the two M60s and the M47. Ship the Centurion to Canada in trade for something else. There is no ammo in the supply chain or spare parts for them. Most importantly there is no one trained to operate them or repair them. No place to train on them or instructors with knowledge on them. Give the Sherman to the California Highway Patrol to guard the Governors mansion or the State Treasury.

A tank with no ammunition, no radios, no spare parts, no one to operate it, no one to repair it, and no training available to fix that is a drain on scarce resources.

Originally Posted by Olefin

as for its location - sorry but no nuclear blasts anywhere near it - you might want to look at the canon nuke locations - its in the mountains between Santa Cruz and San Jose - they would have had to hit San Francisco with a 25 megaton ground pounder to even possibly affect it - and they didnt - the city is still there - Littlefields depot is fine and dandy - and the perfect place to bring those Bradley's, M1A1 and M109's that need to be repaired

It is near enough the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and the Stanford/Palo Alto/ Menlo park areas to not have faired well at all. Indeed, the people that work or volunteer at the plae are probably dead from strikes on the Naval, Marine, and Air Force facilities all around the Bay.

As to Canon game material, you don't follow all of it, picking and choosing what you agree with and using that.

Originally Posted by Olefin

Also - he had a complete tank repair facility including the equipment and welders to do armor welding - which is a hell of a lot more than just a facility that can repair heavy earth moving equipment - I know I used to work at BAE and the kind of equipment he had was every bit as good as what we were using for repairing armored vehicles that came in with battle damage - or that we used to make brand new M88A2's for Iraq - he could and did take beat to hell tanks that looked like they were one step from the scrapyard and make them into fully restored and operational tanks - and your average heavy earth moving repair shop couldnt even begin to do that

Armor welding isn't magic. Thermite welding is used in Heavy Equipment too. There is nothing about the facility that isn't available 1000 times over spread out over the State wherever there is a Mine or earth moving contractor. The armor welding your alluding to special knowledge of, corresponds to welding composite armor, the layered steel, titanium, ceramic, depleted uranium, lead, and resins. Something that none of the tanks mentions has as part of its armor, hull, or chassis. Since all of these hull are Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA) the worst possible to be behind in modern times that doesn't matter.