Future WARTHINK 048: To B-47 or NOT B-47?

FutureWarTHINK 005: Shoot Your Roman Missiles, Americans with Rifle Grenades!

The Hollywood depiction of ancient warfare as mostly sword-fighting is dangerous bunk aka lies. 

The Roman Legions won by swarming their foes with short-range, missiles--first 6-foot long, poking pikes/spears that could be also thrown called Pilum, and later very lethal darts called Plumbata--several held either at the waist or 4 to 5 behind their protective shield. This Roman missile fire stripped away the enemy's shields so they could indeed close in to do the sword/shield fighting everyone is so in love with today. 

When the Romans lost it was from enemy armored shock action--War Elephants, close-range surprise ambush from closed, vegetated terrain--and long-range missile volleys.

Mongol Sneak Preview: Parthian Horse-Archers Defeat Roman Legions from Safe Stand-Offs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVaADXhnxuE&vl=en

The Parthians kept up a constant barrage of horse-archers' arrows by camels resupplying them. Asshole Crassus who put down the Spartacus slave revolt got his comeuppance. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus

His legions were defeated at Carrhae (modern Harran in Turkey) in 53 BC by a numerically inferior Parthian force. Crassus' legions were mainly infantry men and were not prepared for the type of swift, cavalry-and-arrow attack in which Parthian troops were particularly adept. The Parthians would get within shooting range, rain a barrage of arrows down upon Crassus's troops, turn, fall back, and charge forth with another attack in the same vein. They were even able to shoot as well backwards as they could forwards, increasing the deadliness of their onslaught.[34] Crassus refused his quaestor Gaius Cassius Longinus's plans to reconstitute the Roman battle line, and remained in the testudo formation to protect his flanks, thinking that the Parthians would eventually run out of arrows. The Parthians had stationed camels carrying arrows to allow their archers to continually reload and relentlessly barrage the Romans until dusk. The Romans successfully retreated to Carrahe, leaving many wounded to be later slaughtered by the Parthians.

Subsequently Crassus' men, being near mutiny, demanded he parley with the Parthians, who had offered to meet with him. Crassus, despondent at the death of his son Publius in the battle, finally agreed to meet the Parthian general; however, when Crassus mounted a horse to ride to the Parthian camp for a peace negotiation, his junior officer Octavius suspected a Parthian trap and grabbed Crassus' horse by the bridle, instigating a sudden fight with the Parthians that left the Roman party dead, including Crassus.[35] A story later emerged to the effect that after Crassus' death, the Parthians poured molten gold into his mouth as a symbol of his thirst for wealth.[36]

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Not very romantic--but the missile swarm at sea saved Caesar's amphibious landings on Briton and is on the verge of sinking the bloated TIN CAN U.S. Navy that is supposed to know better--but instead lies about naval war. They even selected a new vulnerable TIN CAN frigate made in Italy to be our Sailor's new flaming death traps with no escape jumping into the sea because we have no SEAPLANES to rescue them. The sharks will be well-fed without needing Halle Berry's ample breasts to nibble on (she is in a shark movie, Dark Tide). 

On land, the U.S. ARMY and moron korps are not much better with their tankless delusions and tiny warhead, 40mm grenades lofted by a few Grenadiers--no MASSED MISSILE SALVOS LIKE THE ROMANS HAD. 

We need to correct this with purchases of off-the-shelf, RIFLE GRENADES launched by regular bullets and develop a new RIFLE-HAND-GRENADE (RHG) adapter that turns baseball grenades into German-style stick grenades for 10 meter more reach as well as bullet-launched to beyond 300 meters like a Mongol horse-archer could do with a bow & arrow. 

combatreform.org/riflehandgrenades.htm

The Japanese and French Armies wisely use RGs. 

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-the-french-army-loves-rifle-grenades-21562

Why the French Army Loves Rifle Grenades

France has kept shoulder-busting muzzle launchers alive. 

by Robert Beckhusen

More than four years ago, French troops dropped into Mali to fight back Islamic militants. While in combat, the French Soldiers with their bullpup FAMAS rifles lobbed rifle grenades — a relatively rare weapon in the 21st century and distinguished from modern grenade launchers by being launched from a rifle’s muzzle.

Rifle grenades still show up in wars, but they’re less common than they used to be. The French Army — along with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force — are two regular armies which still keep them in significant numbers. The Israeli [EDITOR: and U.S.] Army fields some interesting [Simon RLEM aka U.S. designation: M100 GREM] rifle grenades designed for blowing doors off their hinges.

The U.S. Army and marines scooped up Belgium’s popular and powerful Energa grenades during the early 1950s due to the threat of North Korean T-34 [EDITOR: medium tanks], and then developed the M31 which could launch from the M1 Garand, M-14 and M-16.

SIDE BAR

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U.S. M31 HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) Rifle Grenade

While disastrous experience against increasingly thick armor on German tanks in WWII set in motion U.S. development of the Super Bazooka with its 3.5-inch diameter warhead, no such luck in rifle grenades. So when G.I.s went head-to-head with North Korea’s Soviet-supplied T34 tanks in 1950, the puny HEAT was all but useless.

In hasty desperation, the American solution was to field the M28 HEAT rifle grenade, a version of the formidable European ENERGA, capable of easily blowing through the T34/85’s thick frontal armor. This was quickly followed by the improved M31, a beefy 1.56 pounder with even greater penetration.

Produced in enormous quantities by Mecar of Belgium, the ENERGA and variants were widely used by NATO signatories and other nations.

M31 HEAT Tech Specs

Length: 16.9 in.
Weight: 25 oz.
Warhead: 66mm (2.6 in.) diameter, 8.9oz RDX/TNT Composition B-shaped charge
Fuze: Piezoelectric
Penetration: 8in steel armor, 19in concrete

Notes: Launched with powerful grenade blanks to nearly 200m, its 22mm-diameter tailboom is compatible with all U.S. rifle grenade launchers and right off the barrel of most every NATO standard rifle.

Mecar’s HEAT-RFL-75 Super ENERGA is a rocket-boosted, bunker-busting and tank terror with an effective range of 150m against moving targets out to a maximum range in excess of 500m. Its shaped charge warhead of 328g of PETN punches through 275mm (10.8in) of armor plate and 600mm (23.6in) of reinforced concrete. Caution: DON’T FIRE IT FROM THE SHOULDER!
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With every Soldier potentially carrying a grenade launcher, a French platoon or company retains a considerable amount of portable anti-tank and anti-personnel firepower.

On the other hand, the French Army uses the APAV40 rifle grenade, which packs more punch and is capable of penetrating 100-millimeters of armor. The FAMAS also relies on a bullet-trap device which allows a standard cartridge with a bullet attached to propel the grenade — as opposed to blanks which can complicate logistics and add extra weight to the Soldier.

Without a bullet-trap device, you would not want to accidentally load and fire a live round into the grenade mounted on the muzzle.

The APAV40 is powerful enough to punch through the armor of a T-55 [EDITOR: medium] tank from the sides and rear, which is the kind of tank the French Army with its expeditionary focus is most likely to face. More to the point, the French emphasis on elan, or dash, emphasizes speed and efficiency, reflecting the French Army’s small size and tight budget.

These limitations create an “an insistence on modest objectives, on limiting strictly the aims of a military invention in line with a modest assessment of what the military can accomplish,” political scientist Michael Shurkin wrote in a 2015 article for Politico.

“The French thus aim low and strive to achieve the minimal required. Whenever possible, they try to limit the use of the military to missions for which militaries really can be of use. Meaning, militaries are good at violence; if violence is what is required, then send in the military. Otherwise, not.”

Following this logic further, is it strictly necessary — the juste mésure — to expend a $78,000 Javelin missile to destroy an enemy sniper when a $200 rifle grenade will do? If it isn’t, then hit him with a rifle grenade.

France is replacing the FAMAS with the HK416, a carbine closely based on the AR-15, gradually over the next decade. However, unlike other versions of the HK416, France’s standard-infantry version comes with a bayonet lug and a mount — naturally — for launching rifle grenades.

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Airborne!