Post by Keith Heitmann on Jul 25, 2004 0:42:06 GMT -5
July 4, 2004: Japan is planning to cut its force of 1020 tanks by at least 400 vehicles. The 210 fifty ton, Type 90 tanks will remain in service. These were first introduced in 1992 and are in the same class with U.S. M-1 tank. Most of Japans tanks are the 38 ton Type 74. This vehicle, with a 105mm gun, is roughly equal to the widely used American M-60A3 or late model Russian T-72 class tanks. The Type 90 was built to provide Japan with protection against a possible amphibious invasion by the Soviet Union. But this threat faded with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Production of the Type 90 was cut back, and now the overall tank force will be cut as well. Japan sees ballistic missiles and terrorism as more of a threat than an invasion by a hostile armored force. Moreover, few Japanese highways can handle the 50 ton Type 90 tank.
July 2, 2004: The U.S. Air Force is experimenting with using robotic vehicles to help guard air bases. The air force has used some robotic vehicles for security for several years, but it is now equipping them with weapons and voice capability to allow for interrogation of intruders, and the use of lethal and non-lethal force if the intruders don’t back off. Building these robotic vehicles is easier today because there is a lot of effective terrain avoidance software and hardware (sensors) available. You can see this by the fact that, for less than $200, you can buy a Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. For about $200,000 you can modify an all-terrain vehicle to make it’s way around the perimeter of an airbase, through just about any kind of terrain, and transmit videocam views of what it around it, to a human controller many kilometers away. The controller can monitor several robotic sentinels at once, as the software will give an alert if a sentinel encounters a suspected intruder. There is motion detection software to handle that. The controller can then use a translation device to announce one of dozens of phrases (“stop!”, “drop your weapon!”) via a loudspeaker on the sentinel. The sentinel can also carry a remotely controlled weapon (rifle or machine-gun), or something like a pepper spray dispenser. The remotely controlled weapon system is currently used by American troops in Strykers or armored hummers. The air force is taking the lead in the use of robotic sentinels because it has airfields all over the world, often in out of the way, and unruly, places. Moreover, airfields tend to cover a lot of territory, and it’s expensive to send air force security personnel to these distant bases, and not always easy to get reliable locals to do the guard duty. So the robotic sentinels are an attractive alternative.
June 30, 2004: Mechanized warfare still makes use of a lot of specialized unarmored vehicles. One of the most enduring of these vehicles is the ROKON all-terrain motorcycle. Developed in the late 1950s, these lightweight motorcycles use a two wheel drive system, making it possible to easily move over rough terrain. The original market was hunters and outdoor types. It still is. But the U.S. Army Special Forces began using these motorcycles during the Vietnam war, and used them again during the 1991 Gulf War, and still use them today. Brazilian and Jordanian Special Forces also use them. The basic model weighs 185 pounds and can float (to get it across deep rivers or streams.) The basic fuel load is about five gallons, enough for 6-9 hours of operation (or traveling about 500 kilometers) with its ten horsepower engine. Top speed is about 72 kilometers an hour. But mainly the bikes are built to gear down and get their passenger (often carrying several hundred pounds of weapons and gear) up steep slopes. The bikes can nearly triple their range by using extra fuel tanks (holding up to nine additional gallons) in the wheel hubs. A common .accessory allows the bikes to drive electric generators or pumps.
The Jordanian Special Forces have ordered a new model, which is heavier (at 210 pounds), and often carries water in the wheel hub tanks. The Jordanian model (the “Desert Ranger”) is quieter than the standard Trail Blazer. This is expected to make it an easier sale to Middle East and North African governments, who are looking for something to replace horses in terrain that four wheel vehicles cannot handle, but smugglers and bandits can. Jordan is jointly producing the Desert Ranger model with American manufacturer ROKON. The Jordanian connection makes it easier to sell to other Arab nations in the region. The ROKON bikes cost about $5,000 each, or more depending on how many accessories you add.
June 28, 2004: The Israeli answer to armored hummers is the German Dingo. This vehicle is actually a commercial Mercedes-Benz UNIMOG 4 x 4 truck with an armored body. The vehicle, with armor, weighs 4.4 tons and normally carries a driver and four passengers (although as many as seven people can squeeze in). It's roughly similar in size and capability to an armored hummer. Israel is buying a hundred of the Dingos. The vehicles will be used for patrolling hostile areas, where small arms fire and roadside bombs may be encountered. The German army has also bought 56 Dingos.
June 25, 2004: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which tank is the baddest of them all? This is a question that will touch off a major debate, particularly when one compares two tanks head-to-head. The latest such matchup is the 50-ton T-95, which is in development in Russia, versus the M1A2 Abrams, the front-line tank of the United States Army.
July 2, 2004: The U.S. Air Force is experimenting with using robotic vehicles to help guard air bases. The air force has used some robotic vehicles for security for several years, but it is now equipping them with weapons and voice capability to allow for interrogation of intruders, and the use of lethal and non-lethal force if the intruders don’t back off. Building these robotic vehicles is easier today because there is a lot of effective terrain avoidance software and hardware (sensors) available. You can see this by the fact that, for less than $200, you can buy a Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. For about $200,000 you can modify an all-terrain vehicle to make it’s way around the perimeter of an airbase, through just about any kind of terrain, and transmit videocam views of what it around it, to a human controller many kilometers away. The controller can monitor several robotic sentinels at once, as the software will give an alert if a sentinel encounters a suspected intruder. There is motion detection software to handle that. The controller can then use a translation device to announce one of dozens of phrases (“stop!”, “drop your weapon!”) via a loudspeaker on the sentinel. The sentinel can also carry a remotely controlled weapon (rifle or machine-gun), or something like a pepper spray dispenser. The remotely controlled weapon system is currently used by American troops in Strykers or armored hummers. The air force is taking the lead in the use of robotic sentinels because it has airfields all over the world, often in out of the way, and unruly, places. Moreover, airfields tend to cover a lot of territory, and it’s expensive to send air force security personnel to these distant bases, and not always easy to get reliable locals to do the guard duty. So the robotic sentinels are an attractive alternative.
June 30, 2004: Mechanized warfare still makes use of a lot of specialized unarmored vehicles. One of the most enduring of these vehicles is the ROKON all-terrain motorcycle. Developed in the late 1950s, these lightweight motorcycles use a two wheel drive system, making it possible to easily move over rough terrain. The original market was hunters and outdoor types. It still is. But the U.S. Army Special Forces began using these motorcycles during the Vietnam war, and used them again during the 1991 Gulf War, and still use them today. Brazilian and Jordanian Special Forces also use them. The basic model weighs 185 pounds and can float (to get it across deep rivers or streams.) The basic fuel load is about five gallons, enough for 6-9 hours of operation (or traveling about 500 kilometers) with its ten horsepower engine. Top speed is about 72 kilometers an hour. But mainly the bikes are built to gear down and get their passenger (often carrying several hundred pounds of weapons and gear) up steep slopes. The bikes can nearly triple their range by using extra fuel tanks (holding up to nine additional gallons) in the wheel hubs. A common .accessory allows the bikes to drive electric generators or pumps.
The Jordanian Special Forces have ordered a new model, which is heavier (at 210 pounds), and often carries water in the wheel hub tanks. The Jordanian model (the “Desert Ranger”) is quieter than the standard Trail Blazer. This is expected to make it an easier sale to Middle East and North African governments, who are looking for something to replace horses in terrain that four wheel vehicles cannot handle, but smugglers and bandits can. Jordan is jointly producing the Desert Ranger model with American manufacturer ROKON. The Jordanian connection makes it easier to sell to other Arab nations in the region. The ROKON bikes cost about $5,000 each, or more depending on how many accessories you add.
June 28, 2004: The Israeli answer to armored hummers is the German Dingo. This vehicle is actually a commercial Mercedes-Benz UNIMOG 4 x 4 truck with an armored body. The vehicle, with armor, weighs 4.4 tons and normally carries a driver and four passengers (although as many as seven people can squeeze in). It's roughly similar in size and capability to an armored hummer. Israel is buying a hundred of the Dingos. The vehicles will be used for patrolling hostile areas, where small arms fire and roadside bombs may be encountered. The German army has also bought 56 Dingos.
June 25, 2004: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which tank is the baddest of them all? This is a question that will touch off a major debate, particularly when one compares two tanks head-to-head. The latest such matchup is the 50-ton T-95, which is in development in Russia, versus the M1A2 Abrams, the front-line tank of the United States Army.