Posted on 11/12/2012 1:49:28 PM PST by JerseyanExile
What may weigh more than an M1 Abrams tank and carry 12 soldiers? The Army's Ground Combat Vehicle. New weight estimates for GCV, released this week by the Congressional Budget Office, will likely go over like a lead ballon with the program's critics in Congress and in the Army itself.
Depending on the model and add-on armor package, an M1 weighs 60 to 75.5 tons. According to the CBO report, the General Dynamics design for the GCV weighs 64 to 70 tons. BAE s proposal is still heavier, at 70 to 84.
Two years ago, when the Army withdrew its original Request for Proposals for the GCV and revised its requirements, part of the reason for the change was shock at the sheer weight of the proposed designs: 50 tons for just the basic vehicle, up to 70 with all the optional add-on armor packages for the most dangerous missions. "You're telling me this is going to be 70 tons, which is the same as an Abrams," Gen. George Casey, then Army Chief of Staff, said incredulously at the time, in an interview with Defense News. Now it looks like the revised requirements have led to a vehicle that's even heavier.
(Excerpt) Read more at defense.aol.com ...
twitchy finger with my zeroes! Only one thousand tons, not ten thousand tons.
They added an APU to the M1A2 to eliminate the need to idle the turbine for vehicle power, but that 72-ton monster is still a beast.
The C-5 can handle the “outsized” cargo requirements for Abrams deployment, but they’re getting old and there isn’t enough. Transport by ship and pre-positioning have been the primary modes for such cargo.
The Pentagon Wars.
Somewhat unfair, because the press looked at the Bradley as a tank, when it was nothing of the sort. Sure, some things like the swim curtain were stupid, but the Bradley has EASILY proven itself in multiple wars. When the Marines took Fallujah, 1/3 of the combat personnel were Army Cav soldiers and Bradley’s for support. The Marines just didn’t have anything comparable, not even the LAV. I don’t know if they’ll get their new EFV, but they could have used it then.
Close.
“The Pentagon PAPERS” was the movie about Daniel Elliberg’s release of classified RAND documents about the Vietnam War.
The Pentagon Wars.
I think there’s one of those outside the Armor Museum at Ft. Knox. Freaking HUGE.
You’re correct. I curse my poor memory. Thanks.
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