Infantry Fire Support.
The enemy soon learned that their infantry weapons outranged our own and would engage us at max distance. It pushed the rebirth of the Sniper in the countersniper role, Designated Marksman Concept and led to the development of new weapons like the US Army's Punisher Weapon System.
It did one other thing. It got the military to rush tanks to Afghanistan.
But the problem remains. How do you provide timely Direct Fires when the infrastructure and logistics don't support the widespread use of 60 plus ton vehicles?
You at least experiment with the idea of placing low recoil, large caliber cannons on MRAPs.
It might be a non-starter for several reasons but we have several big vehicles to choose from and one might be suitable. If the Cougar (in the pic above is too small) then the BUFFALO MRAP(pictured below) should be able to handle a low recoil gun in the 90 to 105mm range.
The US military is praying to all that's holy that the age of the IED is over. I don't believe it is. Troops in the Pacific are facing the IED threat in jungles from the Philippines to Malaysia.
Putting a cannon on an MRAP might not be so far fetched after all...especially if you're going to get fire support to troops when they need it.
