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Old 05-02-2021, 12:58 PM
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Raellus Raellus is offline
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Default Always a Need

Back in the day...

I'm just surprised that the US Army didn't see a need for a fast-moving*, mobile AAA platform during the last few years of the Cold War. At that time, the Soviets were spinning up their new Mi-28 Havok and Ka-50 Hokum attack helicopters, both of which posed a threat to US armor (especially when it was on the attack). This would have been the perfect excuse for the US Army to request a new SPAAG. Perhaps the expensive boondoggle of the Sgt. York program soured all involved on SPAAGs.

I think this was the rationale behind the M691 Diana SPAAG in the v1 US Army Vehicle Guide. I used to think it was silly, and probably prohibitively expensive given the pricey M1 chassis, but now I'm not so sure. It had to be speedy enough to keep up with Abrams on the run. I think my main gripe now is that it's armament of twin 20mm canon seems too light. If you're going to use an MBT chassis, load it up! I think 40mm or 30mm would have been a lot better (longer-legged and heavier hitting)- or 25mm at the minimum.

Today...

Drones are becoming a pervasive feature of the modern battlefield, and are already in use as improvised AT weapons (either in suicide attack mode or dropping bombs on AFVs' thinner top armor). In my mind, this brings back the need for SPAAGs. I imagine a Vulcan canon would make short work of most low-flying drones. However, once drone swarms start arriving over the battlefield...

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