God, will the stupidity never end?
The Army plans to arm its force with more than 500 medium-weight Mobile Protected Firepower combat vehicles engineered to bring heavy fire support, high-speed mobility and warzone protection for fast-maneuvering infantry.
Current Abrams tanks, while armed with 120mm cannons and fortified by heavy armor, are challenged to support infantry in some scenarios due to weight and mobility constraints - such as deploying rapidly by air or crossing bridges in a heavy firefight.
"Some scenarios" are a BS justification for this project. The times when we will need to rapidly airlift light tanks are rare. And the times that the situation is so bad to require that will not end well for the few light tanks that make it to the front rapidly with American heavy forces weeks or months behind loading on ships in US ports.
And for any sizable light tank force, given shortages of airlift you quickly reach the point where sealift is actually faster. And really, let's see a show of Army hands for those who believe the Air Force will free up the cargo planes and fighter escorts and all the other supporting assets needed to move the light armor in numbers that could make a difference?
Face it, if we need to cross a bridge in a "heavy firefight," the enemy capable of mounting that kind of resistance will have the hand-held anti-tank weapons needed to blow up the lightly armored light tanks that are spearheading the frontal assault right in the middle of the damn bridge.
Further, explain to me just what scenarios do we anticipate that has an enemy without heavy tanks to support their infantry?
Finally, in what alternate world are leg infantry "fast-maneuvering"? That description is absolutely insane.
Light tanks are stupid. New light tanks are a waste of money. Just call them FBOHs (which I suggest be pronounced "Fu-bohs" to be similar to FUBAR).
Lord, people, has nobody noticed we have a lot of surplus heavily armed, well protected, tracked Abrams tanks not in the force structure that could be given to infantry brigades?
