What could have been?
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Re: What could have been?
It depends what you define as victory is. Unless I'm mistaken, which I very well could be as its not my area of expertise, America's goal was to help South Vietnam defend its self from being conquered by North Vietnam until it was self-suffient in this regard, so hypothetically a Korea like situation could be considered a sort success for the U.S. as Communism would be stopped from spreading in Vietnam
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Re: What could have been?
America's goal was to keep communism out of Southeast Asia. It failed. The war would have been lost until US troops raised the stars and stripes over the atomic ruins of Hanoi.Trojan wrote:It depends what you define as victory is. Unless I'm mistaken, which I very well could be as its not my area of expertise, America's goal was to help South Vietnam defend its self from being conquered by North Vietnam until it was self-suffient in this regard, so hypothetically a Korea like situation could be considered a sort success for the U.S. as Communism would be stopped from spreading in Vietnam
The world c. 2013.
Red is the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics, the post-1991 USSR, the remains of the Warsaw Pact, and COMECON.
Blue is the United States, NATO, SEATO, and their allies, possessions, colonies, mandates, and overseas departments.
Green is the People's Republic of China, and its allies.
Gallia can be seen to the West of Europe, and East of Canada. It is situated on the island of Gallia, sometimes called "Atlantis" by dumb American and European tourists who forget that's in the Agean Sea, and is the size of Cyprus.
It only shows bilateral agreements, not multilateral or non-aligned.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2013.
France's membership is considered "special" because she was allowed to retain both membership and her colonial empire, and also to appease De Gaulle. Part of the underground Maginot Line is used as the emergency headquarters for Allied Command Europe, the combatant command for the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The facility has been used non-stop, with a brief respite between 1940-1945, by Allied nations since its construction in the 1930's. It was partially rebuilt in the 1970's with modern electrical works and computers, and additions to the Maginot Line have been rendered proof from near hits by atomic weapons.
Founding members are the original members of the North Atlantic Council in 1949, Additional members are post-1949 additions. The most recent being the Kingdom of Sweden, which joined under increasing military and economic pressure from the Soviet Union, in 2011 under the Moderate Party's rule. Former Warsaw Pact and its allies members are in purple, although this includes the non-aligned (but former communist) states of Montenegro, Croatia, and BiH following the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990's, it also includes Poland. The Baltic States, specifically Latvia, have expressed a strong desire to join NATO sometime in the near future despite Soviet protest.
Partnership For Peace members are in orange, which includes the Soviet Union and its client states such as Finland and Czechslovakia as well as non-aligned states, and is an initiative that was created in 1994 by the United States to increase trust between the Warsaw Pact and the Free World (the ulterior motive being the eventual absorption of the communist bloc).
The various "curtains" of the world, or hotspots where the First and Second Worlds clash economically, militarily, and socially. While the Iron Curtain has diminished significantly since the 1990's, and the Soviet Union has moderated somewhat since the Kosygin/Gorbachev reforms of the 1970's, it remains the most important border between Worlds. America has committed the majority of her Army, Navy, and Air Force to defend it into the 21st century, although the Novosibirsk Agreement limits NATO deployments in the former Warsaw Pact state of Poland. The USSR, since the '90's, has enjoyed renewed economic growth since the reformation and supplies a large portion of natural gas to the European Union through its state-owned fossil fuels company Gazprom.
NATO and the Second World have enjoyed a detente since the Gulf War and the combined peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia, beginning in the late 00's. NATO expansionism was halted by President George W. Bush consistently ranked as one of the top five of American presidents) who made it clear that the Atlantic Alliance intends to honour its promise of "not one step East". The USSR remains incredulous after seeing Poland join NATO, but the Baltic States and Georgia have been consistently rebuffed by the Atlantic Council since the 2007 agreement. NATO peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan against Bush's "axis of evil" (Islamic terror organisations such as Al Qaida) have been mostly successful, destroying large portions of AQ leadership in the Philippines, Afghanistan, the Trans-Sahara, and the Middle East.
American president Mitt Romney stated that NATO was "on track" to rebuild Afghanistan after its civil war and subsequent occupation by the Taliban, putting the deadline for NATO withdrawal sometime in 2016. Despite early appreciation, the American public has become increasingly war-weary and public support for the Afghanistan War has dropped considerably since 2003. Putin's successor, Dmitry Medvedev, deployed Soviet Army troops to Afghanistan in mid-2013 to assist NATO troops.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
Current main battle tank of the US Army, replacing the M70A3 MacArthur starting in 2005. It is equipped with a 140mm M291 Advanced Tank Cannon, and features a carousel automatic loader holding either 32 140mm two-piece rounds, or 60 120mm single-piece rounds. Named after Army Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams, who died in office in 1974, and commanded MACV immediately after the cessation of the Easter Counter-Offensive in 1973 to his death. The M2002 was adopted by the Principality of Gallia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Norway, and Qatar. It is designated the Strv 131 in Gallian service.
The M2002 features a front-transmission, rear engine layout, advanced ERA (similar to AMAP-ADS), a 360' CITV capable of projecting an image onto the commander's HMD, an IIR MAWS equipped with anti-missile laser, an FN BRG-15 15mm (in export) and a 50mm M242 Bushmaster III (in American service) coaxial. It is powered by the Honeywell/General Electric LV100-5 AIPS turbine generating 1,600 shp and giving the tank a 24.1 hp/t power-to-weight ratio. While not as maneuverable as the older M70, it is significantly more survivable, featuring over twice the protection of MacArthur, a similar ground pressure, and a much more powerful high-velocity cannon. The three crewmen sit side-by-side in supine position inside an armoured capsule in the middle of the tank, separated from the transmission and ammunition by fire- and blastproof bulkheads.
It shares automotive components with the United Defense M2003 Crusader, M2004 FAASV, M2005 Combat Mobility Vehicle (Grizzly), and M2001 Infantry Fighting Vehicle.
It is the third American service tank to incorporate an automatic loader, eschewing the need for a fourth crewman and allowing the tank to use that volume towards more useful things (in this case, ammunition). However, the tank is still the physically largest main battle tank since the M60 Patton in American service.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
Developed in the 1980s by KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann), the RakJPz Giraffe is the culmination of NATO anti-tank missile technology. Incorporating the pan-European PARS 3 missile system (initial Giraffe vehicles were equipped with HOT as an interim weapon) in an elevating boom, the weapon system is capable of taking full advantage of the modern anti-tank guided weapon's reach. Prior NATO experience with anti-armour weapon systems in Chad and Iraq enjoyed long line-of-sight ranges atypical in the terrain of Western Europe, where hedgerows and forests commonly block the horizon. To cope with this, experimentation began in the 1970s with boom mounted weapon systems by the United States and its NATO allies, as well as members of the Communist Bloc, to develop a system that could see and shoot above these obstacles and negate the terrain advantages enjoyed by main battle tanks in forested areas.
This reached its zenith with the development of the Kampfpanzer Panther prototype testbed, built on a unique chassis and incorporating a gunner pod equipped with six HOT missiles. The West German Bundeswehr was impressed with the concept, and put out a request for proposals to KMW and other German manufacturers (MAN, MBB). KMW's design utilised a Leopard 1 chassis with a hydraulic assisted boom capable of raising a weapons platform to a maximum height of 12 meters. In 1987, the West Germans decided to procure this version of the vehicle, known as Panther 2, as the Raketenjagdpanzer Giraffe. It is armed with 16 HOT 3/PARS 3 LR anti-tank missiles or Fliegerfaust 2 surface-to-air missiles. The Giraffe has replaced the RakJPz 1 and 2 in German mechanised infantry and armoured divisions.
The French version is mounted on the AMX-30 main battle tank chassis and is designated the Char AMX-30 lance missiles AC 3G.
The United Kingdom version is mounted on the Vickers Defence Challenger 2 chassis, incorporating Special Armour protection, and additionally features a 15.5mm light automatic cannon as a backup weapon/ranging device. It is called the FV4036 Caernafron by the British military.
All versions feature the same elevating mast and incorporate the PARS 3 LR/AC 3G/TRIGAT missile system, as well as the Matra Mistral, Stinger/Fliegerfaust 2, and Shorts Starstreak. Export models feature downgraded electronics and integration with the Euromissile HOT 3.
The United States equivalent is the Delco Systems M153 Elevated LOSAT Launcher, featuring an eight round MGM-166 LOSAT launcher mounted on an M60 Patton chassis. This system is capable of elevating only 10 meters, but features a far more potent anti-armour system. The M153 ELL is also capable of accepting launcher magazines featuring 24 2" Mk 80 SPIKE hypervelocity rockets for anti-aircraft purposes.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
The KMW SPz Marder 2 is the newest infantry fighting vehicle of the Bundeswehr. It replaces the older Marder 1, complimenting the Leopard 3 in tank (Panzer) brigades and Leopard 2 in mechanised infantry (Panzergrenadier) brigades. It features full frontal axis protection against the 2A42 30mm cannon of the Soviet BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle, and a Rheinmetall 35/50mm dual caliber heavy cannon capable of defeating all infantry fighting vehicles and some main battle tanks at battle ranges. The coaxial armament is the ubiquitous MG-3 general purpose machine gun. The vehicle has a crew of ten and can transport a full German infantry squad (ten men; 3 IFV crew, 7 dismounts).
It features no anti-tank guided weapon armament, unlike the American M2001 "McNair" infantry fighting vehicle, which is equipped with either the Hughes Missile Systems BGM-157 TOFF or the Lockheed/Martin Marietta joint design "Compact Kinetic Energy Missile". However, the SPz Marder 2A2A1 features a PARS 3 MR missile launcher on the side of the turret, similar to the abortive Begleitpanzer 57 Armored Infantry Fire Support Vehicle. This missile is controlled by the gunner and reloaded through a rear hatch by a dismount, however the vehicle sacrifices dismount capability to provide this anti-armour punch. The Marder 2A2A1 has not been adopted by the Bundeswehr as of 2014.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
Spirit of Quebec, the first "rogue" cybertank in history.
The year is 2050 A.D. Paneurope protests the Treaty of Liverpool, ostensibly for "mutual defense", between the United Kingdom and the North American Combine and the development of the Sheffield Autonomous Industrial Manufactory (AIM).
The year is 2060 A.D. The North American Combine puts the "Ogre" Mark I cybertank into service, and Combine soldiers on UK soil outnumber the British Army 5:1. Japan invades Korea and the Philippines. China protests.
The year is 2066 A.D. Years of economic burdens, "cultural imperialism", and with a lack of support from Paneurope leads the Quebecois further and further towards rebellion. This culminates in the "Winter of '65", a three month campaign waged using stolen military supplies, domestically produced augmented infantry and armoured fighting vehicles, and low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. The Combine deploys the full might of its armed forces to squash the rebellion.
The collapse of independent Quebec to the North American Combine was swift and efficient. North American troops equipped with Mark I "Ogre" cybertanks demolished the Quebecois militiamen in less than a month, Montreal is all but destroyed in the fighting. The city reduced to a shell of its former self in a violent urban battle. The Combine then turns its attention to its southern neighbours.
Central America is first to fall, only a few short weeks after the conquest of Quebec, followed by Cuba. Ravaged by the horrors of tactical nuclear warfare, Central America is turned into a charred and burning wasteland. Paneuropean intelligence agencies explode in a flurry of chatter and confusion, as it is clear that the Combine has managed to develop a second generation of cybertanks: the Mark II. It is quite clear that the South American campaign was intended to serve as a test for the new Mark II tanks.
The year is 2068 A.D. The Combine, with permission from the British government, begins construction on a new Autonomous Industrial Manufactory: tremendous war production plants run by robots and controlled by a massive central computer core, underneath Sheffield. Paneurope protests the Sheffield facility, and secretly begins construction of its own Ogre AIM underneath Hamburg, Kiev, and The Hague.
Japan annexes Korea. Korean insurgents are assumed to be assisted by Chinese commandos, although no evidence of this is ever found.
The Ogre Mark III undergoes testing at the Seattle AIM.
The year is 2070 A.D. Despite protests from Paneurope, the Sheffield facility is brought online, and Ogre Mark IIs begin construction in Britain. A Paneuropean nuclear submarine and Combine anti-submarine frigate clash in the North Atlantic, resulting in the destruction of both vessels. The world holds its breath. With tensions at a boiling point, reports leak out of Germany that Paneurope possesses its own fleet of cybertanks, known as "Fencers". Both sides, unwilling to risk nuclear war, back down after negotiation.
The stipulations: No Ogres newer than the Mark II are to be produced at the Sheffield facility. In exchange, Paneurope agrees to limit its construction of Ogre facilities, demolishing the half finished facility underneath The Hague.
The year is 2074 A.D. Crisis averted in Europe, the world turns its attentions to Nippon. A growing Japan begins its push into China, equipped with its own army of cybertanks, and is slowly swallowing East Asia. The Ogre Mark III is the newest Ogre in service, replacing the older Mark Is.
The Ogre Mark IV and V begin testing, equipped with tactical nuclear missiles and multiple secondary batteries, they are the first Ogres to be designed specifically to combat hostile cybertanks. Experiments begin with using modified ULCCs as ultra-heavy LSTs to transport cybertanks to theaters.
The year is 2078 A.D. Japanese troops, bogged down in heavy fighting in China, are taken by surprise when Chinese Marines, supported by Paneuropean-designed "Fencer" cybertanks, invade the Philippines by means of amphibious assault submarines.
The year is 2080 A.D. The Combine takes notice of Paneuropean involvement in the Asian War and begins supplying its brand new Mark IV and V cybertanks to Japanese forces. Grossly superior in armament and protection to the "Steel Warrior" cybertank, the new vehicles cleave their way through the antiquated Paneuropean Fencer Is. Under assault from these new tanks, the Chinese are pushed out of the Philippines. Japan begins consolidating its gains in North China and Southeast Asia.
The year is 2084 A.D. Using stolen Mark V blueprints, Paneuropean manufactories produce the Fencer II, the first "universal" cybertank. Capable of functioning in both battlefield support roles with intelligent "Crotale" nuclear missiles, and Ogre-vs-Ogre combat using its 180mm main battery with nuclear shells, the Fencer II presents a serious threat to individual Combine supplied Japanese Ogres.
Both superpowers are content to let their proxies fight it out, and gather valuable combat data from the Third Sino-Japanese War.
The year is 2087 A.D. The Mark VI Cybertank enters production at Seattle and is quickly shipped to Japanese troops in Manchuria. The second generation of "universal" cybertanks, the Mark VI represents a quantum leap in the technology of cyberbrains. Capable of independent operations to a degree not seen in any other cybertank, it quickly takes a dominating role over Chinese troops and their Paneuropean cybertanks. However, this new, enhanced intelligence presents problems of its own.
The first "rogue" cybertank, a Mark VI Universal named "Esprit de Quebec", is identified in November 2088 A.D. Smashing its way through a Japanese powered armour infantry battalion, it obliterates a Chinese tank battalion. Expending its stores of "Rattler" nuclear missiles, the command headquarters of a Combine tank battalion is also destroyed, but the battalion itself remains intact. The Japanese, seeing themselves woefully outgunned, decide discretion is the better part of valour and retreat.
The Paneuropean advisory company, a Gallan GEV unit, remains mostly intact, having been operating fairly close to the Combine battalion but not in direct combat. Seeing the atomic flash and knowing that there were no Fencers in the area, the GEV unit investigates. They discovered the radioactive crater that was once a Combine command post, and attempt to make contact with surviving Combine troops on an all-transmissions frequency. The attempt is successful, and the Combine troops quickly reorganise themselves around the GEV company upon learning of the fate of their command headquarters, already having recognised Spirit of Quebec as the unit responsible for the Japanese retreat.
The transmission attracts the attention of Spirit of Quebec, who had been idly smashing through apartment blocks on the outskirts of Beijing. Despite being outgunned, through clever use of terrain and man-portable tactical nuclear missiles, the GEV company and tank battalion managed to stop Quebec before it destroys the GEV command post vehicle and severing their link with higher headquarters, losing two thirds of their respective units in the process.
The Combine and Paneuropean militaries both buried the incident under heavy amounts of red tape. Both sides claim weapons malfunctions in newly designed nuclear tank shells, leading to the withdrawal of some of the more effective anti-Ogre weapons, the Mark 20 Shaped Charge and m/85 Tactical Nuclear Round.
The Combine secrets Spirit of Quebec's cyberbrain away to a classified storage site in the Mojave for study, while the Paneuropean forces secure sensors, weapons, and armour panels for development of the Fencer III cybertank.
The year is 2090 A.D. Present day. Secret agreements signed by the Combine and Paneurope limit the deployment of intelligent cybertanks to a mere 88 per side, roughly a battalion each, and the development of artificial intelligence is sharply curtailed by international agreement. Intelligent AIM facilities only exist within the superpowers, the Combine and Paneurope, and intelligent cybertanks are routinely examined for logic errors and potential signs of insanity.
The Third Sino-Japanese War comes to an end. Japan controls Korea and the Philippines, and parts of Manchuria. China remains sovereign, but political divides have begun breaking it apart. The Nippon Empire begins counter-insurgency operations in Manchuria, intent on wiping out any remaining Chinese military forces. Paneurope and the Combine continue to glare at each other from across the Atlantic, as Africa and South America brace themselves for the coming clashes with their respective neighbours.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:32 am, edited 3 times in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
That North American Combine is truly mad - but I love it. Looks like something that was created by a mating of a dalek and a dyson vacuum cleaner
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Re: What could have been?
A Gallan platoon in European Theater battledress. Anti-flash white for protection from thermal radiation, and laser protected lenses with fold-down visors for atomic protection.
A Gallan infantry platoon c. 2090.
The platoon is composed of a headquarters, three infantry squads and anti-armour detachment. The headquarters consists of a platoon medic, a Lieutenant, and a platoon sergeant with 1.5 cm electromagnetic carbines, shorter and lighter versions of the rifle variant. The electromagnetic rifles fire a 15mm FSDSLRP (fin-stabilised, discarding sabot, long rod penetrator) capable of penetrating most forms of battlearmour at combat ranges, and legacy light armoured vehicles (BMP-1, Bradley, etc. modern junk) at extended ranges.
The infantry squads comprise two riflemen with anti-armour guided weapons (AAGW) and 1.5 cm electromagnetic rifles, a squad leader with a 1.5 cm EM rifle, a machinegunner with a 1.5 cm electromagnetic rifle equipped with a closed-cycle liquid cooling system and additional rails for increased sustained fire rates, and a grenadier with a 60mm caseless airburst smart grenade launcher and a 1.5 cm carbine. The AAGW is capable of firing either conventional kinetic energy or nuclear shaped charges, the latter comprising a antimatter initiated nuclear round with a mass of 20 kg. The nuclear round is ostensibly for use against cybertanks, although it has seen use in anti-fortification roles. It is issued on a basis of four conventional and one nuclear shell per squad.
The anti-armour detachment is equipped with the Dual Role Intelligent Missile System (DRIMS), a Paneuropean standard framework for semi-intelligent tactical missiles. It is fired from a tripod assembly and is guided by means of a pseudointelligent computer to target, sustained by a ramjet engine similar to the AAGW but much smaller and slower. The Dual Role comes from its capability as both anti-aircraft and anti-surface, as the weapon can engage low-altitude ground attack jets and helicopters, as well as armoured fighting vehicles and infantrymen. The DRIMS missile consists of a single low-yield nuclear warhead, able to be set for airburst or ground burst, and is fired BLOS (beyond line-of-sight) towards a target acquired by tactical drones or other means. Typically, DRIMS is issued on a basis of four rounds per section, and one firing post.
Despite being smaller than the AAGW, DRIMS possesses significantly greater range through use of more efficient fuel storage (much of AAGW is actually a large rocket booster for propelling the kinetic energy round to speed and a small ramjet sustainer motor) and incorporates a command-launch-unit (CLU) capable of accepting BLOS guidance through a fiber optic link in the rear. AAGW is a direct, line-of-sight only weapon.
DRIMS is the primary heavy anti-armour weapon system (HAWS) of the Paneuropean standard infantry platoon.
The squad is interlinked with each other, able to see their own and neighbouring assets' targets through radar, visual, acoustic, and other means of detection, via the Copernicus Battlefield Management System, a data-linked network consisting of the infantrymen and their ISTAR assets in the form of unmanned drones deployed by their GEV-PCs. The datanetwork is managed by an integrated AI which uses each battlesuit as a parallel networked processor to assimilate and disseminate data across the platoon. This has the side effect of meaning that attrition suffered by the infantry platoon degrades not only their fighting capability but their communications capacity as well. In contrast to the relatively unimaginative solution sought by Paneurope, the North American Combine has developed a networked system of pseudointelligent networked computers into each infantryman's battlesuit, the eyes and ears supplied via unmanned drones unique to each soldier and a nanoswarm of microscopic robots able to provide protection from most Paneuropean intelligence systems.
Both Nippon and China have developed similar systems, although they are technically inferior and essentially copies of the Paneuropean Copernicus. The remaining global states incorporate legacy systems such as the "E-8 JSTARS" and "Force XXI BCB2", although upgraded to make use of pseudointelligent systems they are still decades behind the Paneuropean and Combine armies.
While not as lavishly equipped as their Combine counterparts, the Paneuropean standard battlearmour gives Gallan infantrymen a high resistance to legacy automatic weapons, high physical strength and endurance through augmentation, and making them proof against NBC weaponry. Against unconventional foes equipped with endurance enhancing endoskeletons and non-augmented infantrymen, the combat power of a single infantry platoon working with a combined arms armour team (CAAT; an infantry platoon supporting two main battle tanks) is typically matched only by legacy armoured divisions equipped with nuclear weapons.
Despite the proliferation of tactical weapons in the platoon, it is still incapable of actually destroying a cybertank. Practical experience shows that an infantry company, supported by mechanised nuclear missile launchers, requires support from at least a medium tank battalion to be effective against cybertanks, or a heavy tank battalion against "Universal" cybertanks such as the Mark VI "Armageddon" class and Fencer III. Legacy armies are considered wholly ineffective against such vehicles without resorting to strategic yield nuclear weapons, and would require several Corps-sized units to effectively halt a cybertank of any class.
Soldiers are typically seen in battledress either unpainted, reflective metal or bright white as a means of protection against the thermal effects of tactical nuclear weapons. Armoured fighting vehicles typically incorporate sufficient amounts of armour and environmental cooling that the direct thermal effects are negligible.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.
Re: What could have been?
The "George Washington", (named after first president of the former United States of America and co-opted by Liberian nationalists as the spiritual founder of the Republic) was the primary main battle tank of the United Liberian States Army during the Global War. It is a licence-built version of the Lagos Motors Corporation M2030, which is a copy of the Gallan Stridsvagn 151.
The Gallan Strv 151 is a development of the American M70 MacArthur, adopted by the Principality to replace its aging fleet of Strv 101s. The Strv 151 was a marvel of engineering, equipped with the latest weapon systems, newest electronics, and best protection possible. The vehicles proved their worth in the rolling tank battles on the Vietnamese DMZ, where American troops of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment "Blackhorse" clashed with the 66th Tank Regiment, 203rd Tank Brigade and 304th Division of the North Vietnamese Army. There it proved grossly superior to communist T-55A main battle tanks, destroying an estimated sixty vehicles for two losses in a fairly conventional armour battle.
The German adoption cemented the Strv 151 for the European market. In the coming years, Norway, Galla, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, and Canada would acquire MBT-70s of various makes. Krauss Maffei Wegmann, the European contractor for the KPz-70, began referring to the tank as the "Europanzer" in marketing literature, although France continued using its venerable AMX-30, Italy and the United Kingdom adopted the Anglo-Italian Future Main Battle Tank (MBT-80) instead. Despite this, the M70 enjoyed limited exportation outside of NATO. The Republic of Taiwan, and Morocco both acquired the vehicle in the 1980s. However, despite strong-arming from American contractors and the US government, Saudi Arabia chose the Brazilian designed EE-T1 Osorio as their MBT and that tank now dominates the export market with over 30 operators worldwide.
The Strv 151 incorporates several differences from the MBT-70 as designed, including the removal of the automatic cannon and stowage area, which is now flush with the turret, the incorporation of blowout panels along the upper area of the turret and underneath the vehicle to reduce the risk of catastrophic crew kills, and the addition of a 12.7mm coaxial machine gun in lieu of the 7.62mm NATO FN MAG. The vehicle also retains the 152mm cannon armament of the original American design, despite the shift to 120mm in most NATO armies. Galla continued to design and produce 152mm ammunition until 2018, when the vehicle was replaced by the Strv 131.
Obsolete or excess tanks were sold off to Gallan allies and former colonies in the late 2010s and early 2020s, and these tanks continued to see service alongside newer MBTs such as the MBT-80 and EE-T1 well into the 2060s. With the development of cybertanks and advanced weapons systems of the late 21st century, these antiquated machines were referred to collectively as "legacy" systems, organised around the non-networked battlefields of the Third World, and unsupported by advanced post-industrial states of the Western (and later, Northern) world.
The MBT-70 continued to see service throughout the global South well into the 2090s, as industrial states such as Nigeria and Ethiopia were able to reverse engineer the vehicle and produce it in large quantities. Well after the end of the Cold War, the last relic of this forgotten time fought its later descendents: cybertanks, during the Global War between North and South. Equipped with pseudointelligent computers and nuclear shells, the vehicles were still limited by their reliance on fossil fuels and combined arms integration at battalion and company levels as opposed to the squad in First World armies of Pan Europe and the Combine.
The last known use of the MBT-70 in large-scale, combined arms operations as envisioned by the designers was in the year 2108 A.D. in service with the United African States of Nigeria and Liberian Republic.
One tank and two mechanised divisions composing the 3rd Corps of the Nigerian Army equipped with MBT-70s, supported by nuclear howitzers and ATACMS ballistic missiles of the Liberian Army, engaged two Fencer II cybertanks of the Paneuropean Expeditionary Force outside the Maiduguri Megapolis. Despite significant losses (the complete annihilation of one mechanised division, destruction of the remaining two [>30% casualties] divisions), the Nigerians made clever use their hardware and used the overconfidence of the two Fencer cybertanks to their advantage, defeating both vehicles and signalling the end of Paneuropean efforts to dominate Southern Africa.
Last edited by Kattsun on July 4th, 2017, 6:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9.6 [million sq. km]. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system.