Gun Trucks

[Brother in Arms]

Raellus

Technically I think both the Ural I mentioned and the KAMAZ these days would be called technicals (a sorry attempt at a pun) I think the difference between the two would be the ad hoc Armor that the gun trucks had.

I didn't know the soviets used them in Afghanistan....the US used gun trucks again in Iraq, For the same basic purpose as in RVN.

There are a ton of pages about gun trucks. In fact one group of fellows rebuilt a gun truck in new jersey and collegue of his wrote a book called

The Hard Ride
by James Lyles
Volume I
ISBN #971-93037-1-9

Its an exspensive but awesome book volume 2 should be out soon and it covers other gun vehicles. Like Jeeps 3/4 tons ect.

Check out the interweb though you wont be disappointed.

Brother in Arms

[Brother in Arms]

Oh I found this today though its more about technicals than gun trucks it shows some pretty crude armed vehicles in Somalia in the early 90's I think this is totally the sort of stuff that would show up in T2K

http://membres.lycos.fr/France40/techphot.html

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Brother in Arms

Technically I think both the Ural I mentioned and the KAMAZ these days would be called technicals (a sorry attempt at a pun) I think the difference between the two would be the ad hoc Armor that the gun trucks had.

So, armor is the difference between gun-truck and "technical"? My understanding is that a "technical" is just some sort of truck (civilian models, especially) where someone has plunked an HMG or light AA gun on the back. I think the term was coined in Somalia. If I remember correctly- and I probably don't- Somali militias came up with it (the name, not the concept).

It seems like a purely semantic distinction to me.

The KAMAZ I mentioned is purpose built as a SPAA gun. I'll post a pick or two this weekend some time.

Graebarde, I like your list. A "Flying Battalion" is a cool idea and one that I fully endorse.

May I suggest "Boudica" as a truck name, in honor of the photo O'Borg posted.

[Graebarde]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Graebarde, I like your list. A "Flying Battalion" is a cool idea and one that I fully endorse.

May I suggest "Boudica" as a truck name, in honor of the photo O'Borg posted.

I like that "Boudica". Armed to the gills, and crewed by women. Hummmm.. gives me ideas for some other names too, and female crew, or at least commanded by a female.

Thanks for jarring the rust.
Grae

[Mohoender]

Here is an MTVR currently used by US troops in Iraq. Up armored truck are coming out as soon as war starts.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

Here is an MTVR currently used by US troops in Iraq. Up armored truck are coming out as soon as war starts.

Nice pic, Mo. That thing is a beast.

I'm not sure you woud see many armored trucks until later in the war when...

a.) Dedicated AFVs became rare and replacements ceased to appear

b.) The front become more fluid and lines of supply became more exposed

Armored and "gun" trucks tend to appear when supply lines are threatened and supply convoys require armed escorts, hence the historical precendents of American involvement in Vietnam and Iraq and American and Soviet involvement in Afghanistan.

[Mohoender]

The main advantage that you get from armored truck is that they are often cheap and easy to make if not always that efficient. Nevertheless, when that is the best you have, you do with it, just look at the Haganah before and at the time of Israel's creation.

They were using sandwich armored truck that were made from two thin metal sheets with plywood in between. I'm not sure if that would still be efficient today but that might deserve some thought. Any idea?

Here is a picture of sandwich truck, the only one I found.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Mohoender

The main advantage that you get from armored truck is that they are often cheap and easy to make if not always that efficient. Nevertheless, when that is the best you have, you do with it, just look at the Haganah before and at the time of Israel's creation.

They were using sandwich armored truck that were made from two thin metal sheets with plywood in between. I'm not sure if that would still be efficient today but that might deserve some thought. Any idea?

Here is a picture of sandwich truck, the only one I found.

In my village, during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), an existing tractor factory, specialized in the production of tracked tractors, was converted to an armored vehicle factory by the Republican government under the name of "FÃÂ*brica Z" ( Z Factory). My great-grandfather, an appreciated blacksmith at that time, worked there. As usually in time of war, child must help to the war effort, and my grandmother (who had transmitted me the whole history) was not an exception, working at the side of her father until the very last moment, when they escaped to France through the Pyrenees (she was about 14 years old then). She explained me that in the most desperate moments of lack of supplies, a kind of sandwich armor was produced in the factory. In a recent documentation published by a local historian, I've found the confirmation (explained in more technical terms) about the sandwich armour described by my grandmother.

In this case, between the two metal plates, the workers of the FÃÂ*brica Z used compressed sheep wool extracted from mattresses (I hope it would be correct in English...). The bullet penetrated the outer plate and, hopefully, lost enough velocity in the wool to do not pierce the inner plate. Of course, always talking about small arms fire. I have no idea about the effectiveness of this type of armour, but I suppose that, in a very rudimentary way, uses the capacity to absorb kinetic energy of a dense and flexible material (compressed wool in this case) like a modern personal armour. This type of sandwich armour was used in light tanks.

And returning specifically to the thread, one of the main works in the FÃÂ*brica Z was to add armor plates to the Chevrolet trucks bought by the Republican government to the United States. Sadly, I have no photos of these trucks.