Wednesday, September 09, 2015

BMP-3 with a 57mm cannon? via Defence Blog

Thanks to Galvars for the link!

Note:  We've been a bit "Russia" heavy lately.  I'm well aware but it just runs in cycles.  We've had "China" heavy coverage, "Turkey", "Iraq" and so on...its just the way things go.  Deal.


No spoilers, read the article here.

I find this interesting and don't know where this will finally go.  A 57mm cannon on an IFV?  You can't make a troop carrier heavy enough to defeat that round unless its over 70 tons (which would take us back to the original Ground Combat Vehicle the Army was pursuing).  Have we reached a point where IFVs are about to become extinct and light tanks (which the above vehicle could easily be classified)/armored personnel carriers come back into vogue?  Does this mean that the dismount points are now a couple or more miles away from the objective due to the direct fire threat to the transports?  Are we seeing the beginning of the end to the anti-tank missile used in the utility role--why pump a 100,000 dollar or more missile at an IFV/bunker/fortification when you can reliably kill it with your cannon?

I'm not sure.

What I do know is that the US Army's proposal to upgrade the Stryker with a 30mm cannon seems like a feeble attempt to catch up.

The armor race is on...and the ground forces of the USA won't be able to ignore it for much longer.

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