FutureWARTHINK 013: LIGHTning Infantry Needed Today: Bring Back the Wiesels
"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer"
--General George S. Patton, U.S. ARMY
WAR: LIGHTning Infantry vs. LIGHT Infantry
The U.S. ARMY's Lightfighters in the 1980s REFORGER Light Infantry Divisions (LIDs) set to fly as seated passengers in USAF transports to Germany to somehow off-load and hide in the closed terrain forests that will unfortunately get shot-down in flames before even getting that far--dies on today in the non-parachute, Light Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (L-IBCTs); crapola Humvees replaced by JLTV trucks that can't even fit inside C-130s to land at unexpected dirt assault zones (ALZs) or inside CH-47D/F Chinook helicopters landing them into rural pastures--both easily incinerated by enemy high explosive fires igniting their air-filled rubber tires. L-IBCTs will have to be flown in large USAF jet transports requiring hard runways at urban area airports that will be cratered and/or bio-chem slimed by enemy Terrain Fire Power Saturation (TFS) if not shot-down by enemy MIGs and S400 long-range, Surface-to-Air-Missiles (SAMs) Precision Directed Munitions (PDMs)--all fatal outcomes driven by trying to direct-deliver foot/wheeled truck-immobile LIGHT infantry to forests where they think they can hide--like Daniel Craig's Defiance Bielski partisans.
The 1st answer is to be able to place LIGHTning infantry instantly where needed and where feasible on the Non-Linear Battlefield (NLB) by parachutes like the Russians did at Viazma to stop the Nazis from reaching Moscow in WW2. Every L-IBCT Soldier should be jump-qualified from One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Fort Benning, Georgia so in emergency, EVERY Light BDE can be deployed into off-set ALZs avoiding airfield dependence & destruction. LIGHTning Infantry must not be once on the ground, forced to fight with desperation manpack weapons--war at less than 50 pounds--and not depend on burrowing into the ground to hide from enemy C4ISR & TFS/PDM fires--it must be light tracked mobile with bullet & shell splinter armor protection--in the same weight envelope as the road/trail-bound JLTV truck but compact enough to RO-RO from C-130s/CH-47s for battlefield re-positioning as MECHANDO Dragoons.
War @ Less Than 50 Pounds
Ponder the stark contrast between an U.S. ARMY heavy Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) that operates by 3, 000 pound empty PLS flat racks moving their bulk ammo and fuel driven by the fuel-hungry M1 Abrams with a negative 7 gallon-per-mile fuel un-economy that needs 500 gallons of JP-8 and 44x man-handled but under 100 pound break-bulk 120mm main gun rounds to be resupplied with the L-IBCTs where every supply is under 50 pounds. What does the U.S. ARMY get from a heavy MHE-dependent force? What is its maximum combat effects?
By not being hand-limited, the H-ABCT can fire crane-resupplied guided 227mm rockets out to 60 kilometers; its bulky tube artillery out to 30 kms. Its not-very-mobile Patriot SAMs can defend the air and space out to 100 kms--but not be there with maneuver elements to stop MIGs from Stuka and P-47ing them into incinerated ruins. The ARMY must obtain its own trailer-mobile MUDFIGHTERS to defend its own air space above its maneuver elements and not depend on the USAF that will be DOTG at its comfy static air bases. Even HQDA realizes our air defenses are weak.
"None of this is going to matter if you're dead. And that's why you need air defense." General Mark Milley, then U.S. Army Chief of Staff, said those words as he defined the Army's six modernization priorities in October of 2017.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/06/16/none_of_this_is_going_to_matter_if_youre_dead__modernizing_integrated_air_and_missile_defense_must_remain_armys_top_priority_115381.html
In contrast, a LIGHTning IBCT could do the same as above with a XM1108 Super Gavin light tracked tank firing a single 227mm pod and be hand-breakbulk resupplied by 5-gallon cans like the Swedish "S" tanks had attached to their side skirts, or FLEX-CELL bladders or 55-gallon drums that can be rolled by a single Soldier. The LIGHTning Force would use Weasel-like tracked tanks that sip fuel at a reasonable 3-7 mpg rate rendering resupply and armored maneuver in the face of enemy fires like the early WW2 German Blitzkrieg had with its light tanks to win with high-OPTEMPO "lightning war".
The Germans were also highly successful using Quick-Detachable trailers to have their prime movers transport vital supplies--these can be called carts if small enough to be towed by infantry on foot or bikes.
combatreform.org/trailers.htm
Why No War Wagons Today?
Ancient armies were smarter than today's Luddites who insist on the Soldier carrying everything on his back as a human pack mule--they had wagons/carts towed by animals steered by a pair of helpers for every Roman Legion squad. Today, the animal "horsepower" can be done by electric motors and Weasel-like tracked prime movers.
A war futurist writes:
"Reading the book on the Pentomic had me reading c1957-8 copies of Infantry for more detail. The transport side is probably the most interesting. Other articles included an early glance at the new T113. At the very end is a discussion of the problems of moving 106mm RCLR on a jeep, and details of experiments in using the unarmoured M56 hull to mount the 106mm, and also other weapons such as the 4.2". The author does lament the non-availability of 4,000lb unarmoured tracked vehicle, which naturally enough made me think of the M29."
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LTG Gavin in On to Berlin praises the M29C Weasel's tracked, x-country, over-snow mobility for winning the Battle of the Bulge by moving ammo, wounded etc. so they could courageously hold-on for that "minute longer". Gavin's self-reliant and actualizing Paratroopers did not have a complete and utter ego collapse like today's LIight INfantry Narcissist (LINNIEs) have when they absurdly define "infantry" as being tankless aka things operated by fat & out-of-shape, "mech pussies"--which is uber stupid. The feel-good, do stupid, (FGDS) LINNIE mentality of wasting half the duty day in endorphin-creating sports PT is dangerously obsolete. The French "spirit of the bayonet" attached to the end of slow-firing bolt-action rifles failed miserably in WW1 when war machines trumped by mowing these egotists in human wave attacks. The Weasel was created by the earlier ANGLO-AMERICAN, PYKE FORCE to parachute drop from under RAF bombers to tie-down several German divisions there.
combatreform.org/reconinforce.htm
Today's ruling LINNIE faction of the Army doesn't want to operate ANY big machinery. Running presence patrols from comfy Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) to permissively peacekeep surround by hostile rebels for globalist traitors like the Clintons wanting to wear-down American military powers by endless occupation is as "Big" to them as they'll tolerate--frankly, a civilian car--is still too much "maintenance" for them. These are Luddites. It takes HUMILITY to trouble-shoot and keep machinery running...yelling & screaming has no place in this; hence the LINNIES don't want any machinery unless operated by someone they can look down on like a Jessica Lynch underclass--and doesn't take the ego limelight from them. Never mind, General Gavin's "All American" paratroopers helped hold St. Vith using tracked Weasels in WW2 and successfully paradropped M551 Sheridan light tanks into combat in Panama in 1989:
combatreform.org/lighttanks.htm
Our war futurist adds:
"Similar is said about the DUKW and Sicily. Something like 70% of the materials used during the invasion were moved ashore by these. The evidence for the usefulness of amphib transports is clear. Likewise, so is the need for vehicles that can go where standard vehicles cannot. One article on the Pentomic suggests replacing the quarter-ton trailer in a TOE with a M274 mule. These can be towed as trailers and can 'take ammo to anywhere the mortars are likely to be'. The M56 was down on the Pentomic TOE at Battle Group level. In the interim, its role was filled by 106mm jeeps or M48 tanks. Was due to be replaced by the Dart missile, which may have had a tracked carrier--possibly M56-based."
What can we get for combat effects from an under 50-pound shell/rocket?
I wish our departed friend, retired Red Leg artilleryman, LTC Larry Altersitz aka "Ranger Larry" could have seen this video of the WW2 Trailer-mounted MLRS or Mini-TMLRS:
T-66 24x 4.5" (110mm) Trailer Multiple Rocket Launchers
Camouflage cover
15 meters away to fire safely
0 to 45 degrees up/down
10 degrees left/right
288 rounds to destroy are area target by TFS
48x tube 105mm howitzers & 2, 000 men within 60 seconds
or:
12x T-66 MRLs, 120(?) men within 15 seconds [Shouldn't this be 60 men?]
42.5 pounds
Fin or Spin-stabilized
5000m effective range
Muzzle-loaded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfAGq5yuZOQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBMjmZQmIo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M8_(rocket)
The officially-named U.S. Army T34 Calliope launch system was mounted on top of a M4 Sherman tank; once fired, the launcher could be detached and discarded, allowing the tank to be used in conventional combat, while the "xylophone", officially the T27, was carried on a 2½-ton truck's cargo bed.[3] A 120-round launcher, designated T44, and a 144-round T45 launcher were also developed; these were intended for use by the United States Navy, being mounted on DUKW amphibious vehicles and LST amphibious warfare vessels. Single- and twin-14-round launchers were also developed.[3]
The M8 showed poor effectiveness against hardened targets;[6] this resulted in the development of the Super M8, which had larger fins, a more powerful rocket and a more powerful warhead. The Super M8 underwent testing in late 1944, but failed to see combat.[6] The M8 was replaced by the improved spin-stabilized M16 rocket during 1945.[3][9]
T44
120 round fixed launcher. No elevation or traverse. Mounted on DUKWs and LVTs.
T45
2x14 round launchers fitted to M24 tanks, LVTs, and trucks. There was no traversing mechanism but it was able to be elevated from -5° to +35°.[16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_(rocket)
The M16 was a 4.5-inch (110 mm) spin-stabilized unguided multiple rocket launcher developed by the United States Army during the Second World War. Entering service in April 1945 to replace the earlier fin-stabilised M8 rocket, it was used late in the war and also during the Korean War before being removed from service.
Air Observation vs. Camouflage: Get off the Roads!
The war practice film below visibly shows the vulnerability of wheeled columns along roads/trails to enemy C4ISR and destructive fires.
Air Reconnaissance and Observation for World War 2 Airmen (1943- Restored)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruQzK29PTqs
LIGHTning Forces must not be Stuka, P-47, MIG and Katyusha road kill by being instead cross-country mobile.
Creating LIGHTning Infantry Today
LIGHTning Forces Must Be Able to Go Anywhere: Swim Across Lakes/Rivers
Step 1 is making every L-IBCT parachute GeoStrategically 3D maneuver capable by all Soldiers being jump-qualified at OSUT.
Step 2 is creating MECHANDOs using upgraded M113A4 Super Gavin light tracked tanks in every battalion's "D" Dragoon weapons company to offer armored x-country mobility to HHC, A, B, C rifle companies as needed.
combatreform.org/itmaneuversabattalion.htm
The Super Gavin can transport a 9-man infantry squad crewed by a Driver, Commander and Gunner for a 30mm autocannon/ATGM Remote Weapon System (RWS) and VULTURE brackets for using captured enemy weapons & ammo against them.
LIGHTning Forces can be resupplied by capturing their enemy's weapons/ammo furthering their Operational Maneuver Group (OMG) powers by Step 3, creating VULTURE teams in every infantry platoon.
SIDE BAR A: Confederate VULTURES: Johnny Reb's Enfield Rifles Could Shoot Captured Yankee Cartridges!
http://www.thomaslegion.net/americancivilwar/civilwargunslistweapons.html
Resembling the Springfield, it was a three-band, single-shot, muzzle-loading rifle musket, and it was the standard weapon for the British Army for fourteen years. American Soldiers appreciated this rifle because its .577 cal. barrel allowed the use of .58 cal. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies. Lacking adequate production of munitions, Southern Soldiers were known to scavenge the Union dead on the battlefield hoping to locate the precious .58 bullets needed for the next fight. If the Union Springfield was recovered on the killing fields -- good. But if its interchangeable .58 caliber nuggets were located -- outstanding. Because without ammunition, both the Enfield and Springfield were reduced to burdensome objects of mere wood and metal. [EDITOR: NO, they could be used as PIKES with bayonets fixed on their ends]
SIDE BAR-IN-A-SIDE BAR:
http://www.thomaslegion.net/americancivilwar/civilwargunslistweapons.html
Perhaps the most prominent account of the employment of edged weapons during the conflict was during the battle of Gettysburg, when Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, commanding 20th Maine Volunteers, was ordered by his brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Strong Vincent, to hold at all cost the Union left flank, extreme left to be exact, on Little Round Top. Arriving by forced march, the 15th Alabama, led by Colonel William Oates, made repeated assaults against the dogged Mainers only to be repulsed. Low on ammunition, casualties mounting, and without reserves to reinforce his position, Chamberlain, now fearing his line would either be rolled back or his position would simply be flanked by the relentless Confederates, ordered his men to "Fixed bayonets!" During the fog of war, however, there was initial confusion from the Mainers. Chamberlain, nevertheless, advanced and in piece meal his unrelenting men, with fixed bayonets, followed thus overrunning and even capturing 101 of the stunned Alabamians. Chamberlain was credited by both Union and Confederate generals alike, that if the 20th Maine had collapsed or if Oates had flanked the unit, the determined Confederates would have poured onto the Great Top and forced Meade to withdrawal his left wing, abandoning the high ground to Lee.
Oates later conceded that Col. Chamberlain's skill and persistency and the great bravery of his men saved Little Round Top and the Army of the Potomac from defeat. Because if one more Confederate regiment had stormed the far left of the Army of the Potomac with the 15th Alabama, "..we would have completely turned the flank and have won Little Round Top, which would have forced Meade's whole left wing to retire." He concluded, philosophically, that "great events sometimes turn on comparatively small affairs." Chamberlain, for his heroic and selfless actions on that contested top, would later receive the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism on 2 July 1863, while serving with 20th Maine Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top."
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The demand from both firearms made the .58 caliber the most lethal as well as wanted gauge of the conflict. Originally produced at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, England, approximately 900,000 of these muskets were imported during 1861–1865, being used in every major battle from Shiloh onward. [EDITOR: Thank-you very little, U.K.!] Many officers, however, preferred the Springfield muskets over the Enfield muskets—largely due to the interchangeability of parts that the machine-made Springfields offered.
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Step 4 towards LIGHTning Infantry is equipping the Supply & Transportation (S&T) platoons in each battalion with reduced-size M113 "Mini-Gavins" or Wiesel 2 or Bv206S light tracked tanks to regain x-country resupply & transport capabilities we had with the original Weasels that are internal CH-47D/F Chinook heli-transportable--unlike horrid JLTV trucks. The helicopter-centric 101st Airborne (Air Assault) L-IBCTs would use Wiesel 2s or Bv206es instead of larger Super Gavins in their "D" Dragoon MECHANDO companies. Bv206S or Wiesel 2s as prime movers of QD trailers/carts can drop them off to the infantry who can tow them thereafter using electric hub motor propulsion.
SIDE BAR B: Using What You Got to Maximum Effect?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgBj66JYuMs
10:39 / 10:40
War Dept Film Bulletin 3: Tests Of Gun Carriers Etc 1942 (full)
Freely downloadable at the Internet Archive, where I first uploaded it. National Archives description: "Part 1, a Christie tank-type carrier is driven over a test course at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. A 75-mm gun is fired from an experimental half-track carrier. Part 2, incendiary bombs are tested on the roof and porch of a wooden building. Part 3, a hole driller is tested at Ft. Belvoir. Va. Charges are exploded in the holes and tanks try to pass through the resulting craters. " National Archives Identifier: 24414
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The ironies shown are tragic; instead of the ineffective 37mm gun imagine a 40mm (2-pounder) gun shooting the awesome Bofors 40x311mm cannon shell....the 4x4 Jeep and Christie light tank with 40mm Bofors cannon would have been able to knock-out enemy tanks and hardened positions--ditto the same for 76mm, 106mm Recoilless Rifles when available. Had we kept upgrading 40mm on trailers and light tanks, a 360 degree swiveling mounting connected to radar would offer anti-aircraft capabilities; air bursting shells could explode drones out of the sky. However, you can't do anything if you have NOTHING to work with.
The Key things is to have the light tracked tank mobility platform with which to work with that our current L-IBCTs lack. If the L-IBCTs had light tanks, their infantry could ride on back if there were no room inside. The U.S. ARMY in many ways was better weaponized than we are TODAY--and there is no excuse for this!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofors_40_mm_gun
In 1938 the United States Army introduced a 37 mm gun of their own design, but found it to be of limited performance. In early World War II, six British Bofors were imported for testing, along with Kerrison Predictor directors, and they proved to be superior in all areas. By the middle part of the war, most of the 37 mm guns had been replaced by the 40 mm.
In U.S. Army and marine corps service, the [towed] single mount Bofors was known as the 40 mm Automatic Gun M1.[14] The U.S. version of the gun fired three variants of the British Mk. II high-explosive shell as well as the M81A1 armor-piercing round, which was capable of penetrating some 50 mm of homogeneous armor plate at a range of 500 yards.
Shell Complete round:
L/43 40×311mmR
L/60 40×311mmR
L/70 40×365mmR
Shell weight 0.9 kg (2 lb 0 oz)
Caliber 40 mm L/60–70 (actual length varies from 56 to 70 calibers, based on model)
Barrels 1 or 2[3]
Carriage 522 kg (1,151 lb)
Elevation
L/60: −5°/+90° (55°/s)
L/70: −20°/+80° (57°/s)
Traverse Full 360°
L/60: 50°/s
L/70: 92°/s
Rate of fire
L/60: 120 round/min[1]
L/70: 240[1]-330 round/min
Muzzle velocity
L/60: 881 m/s (2,890 ft/s)
L/70: 1,021 m/s (3,350 ft/s)
Maximum firing range
L/60: 7,160 m (23,490 ft)
L/70: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)
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Step 5 is every 9-man infantry squad must have 4x electric All-Terrain, All-Purpose Carts (eATACs) to get their rucksacks off their backs for 3-7 mph foot mobility compared to a slow, dismal 1 mph slog. The eATACS would have a lightweight ballistic protective roof for 2x Soldier BUDDY TEAM to lie in the prone weapons facing left/right to be their TBATE-protective "tent" as well as their TBAM "BATTLEBOX". This administrative aka "admin" mentality of going into the field and pitching flimsy tents must stop--every time we FTX its exactly as how we would fight.
Step 6 is every LIGHTning squad would have 4x 2-man, electric, Fat-Tire Folding Mountain Bikes to tow their 4x eATACS at high 30 mph speeds--batteries recharged by their Super or Mini Gavin or Wiesel 2/Bv206S mother track.
Step 7 would be a TMLRS firing unguided and guided 2.75" Hydra 70mm rockets like the T-66es of WW2/Korea using the same rockets/missiles as attack aviation uses.
Semper Airborne!
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