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Old 04-27-2018, 03:23 PM
madmikechoi madmikechoi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Wiser View Post
M-247 was a failure, period. It should be pointed out that Gepard turrets on the M-48 chassis were one of the contenders in the competition, but NIH kicked in,...
https://www.quora.com/How-effective-...wn-helicopters

For those of us who tl;dr. The fire control was definitely able to track and engage the doppler return from rotary a/c. In face engaging that mobile latrine w/ the fanblades was actually a good thing since the hardware/software recognized anything with large rotating blades could be detrimental to health of the weapons system. Keep in mind post production software/hardware builds- new systems needs time to mature and/or user input to make them effective.

While a demonstrated failure of the 3000 psi hydraulic systems was to be replaced a 5k psi in production, bottom line Congress killing the M247 meant that Uncle Sugar wouldn't/couldn't make funds available to make the M48/M60 series of vehicles viable long term platforms for the US military.

Second, while much was made of the DIVADS lack of mobility remember Big Army doctrine made a clear distinction between being able to maneuver w/ and "compatible" mobility- ie being able to follow up tanks and PCs/IFVs on road marches. This line of thinking sorta fell by the wayside in 91 during VII Corps envelopment/pursuit of Saddam's forces.

Bottom line Big Army chose a 40mm L70 twin gun system b/c at the time the 35mm KDA didn't fire a projectile w/ a proximity fuze and it's only been in the past 10, maybe 15 years tops that's been rectified (and AHEAD sorta cheats w/ being prefragged w/ a really interesting neat muzzle brake datalink/programming thingie). The APG-66 was also lighweight and air cooled- and that's pretty crucial on a ground based mobile platform.
The issue that cause TACOM the most concern was the automatic feeding
of the twin 40s- the Dusters used multiman crews to top of the 40mm L60s
w/ two loaders feeding 4 rd clips into the thing- Sgt York was supposed to have 580 rounds fed from the turret basket and straight into the breech.


Chosing a Gepard based system may not have fared better. The 35mm guns wouldn't outrange Soviet based helo launched anti-tank missiles and the lack of proximity fuze and a smaller projectile generally may not have made up
for a higher cyclic rate of fire.

Finally, never ever forgot politics and the fundamental ignorance of politicians who have the power of the purse. That while ADA is expensive they accomplish their mission of the enemy pickles off their warload and RTBs or in the case of a helo, they breakoff and head somewhere else maybe w/ many holes in the side to remind the bird's crew they too are mortal and the oozlefinch isn't a creature to be taken lightly. In any even said ADA system still did what it was supposed to prevent air attack on friendly forces.
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