rdfox

Actually, the US Marines, for one, give all recruits a brief bit of training on the small arms of various potential enemies, for two reasons... first, to recognize their sounds, and secondly, just in case they need to pick up weapons from the enemy. Don't know if other forces do that, other than special forces...

Man, that is one *nice* photo of a nuke test... where'd you get it? I've got the entire collection off the High Energy Weapons page, and I don't recognize that... RDF

Yes, it is legal to buy and own a Barrett in the US, though it can be hard to find ammo for it. Check out Barrett's homepage (www.barrettrifles.com) for info on all three Barrett rifles and purchasing them. And someone above said that the Barrett isn't an anti-materiel rifle... which doesn't explain why the USMC refers to it as such... RDF

Most likely, Nh-75 is the Soviet/Russian designation for it. RPG-7 is a NATO-issued designation, like AA-14 or SS-20. RDF

Sorry about this folks... but Air Force Learjets and Gulfstreams are used basically to haul generals around the US, with a secondary role of hauling light, need-it-now cargo and medevac patients. You can't parachute out of them, because the design of the door makes them unstable with it open, not to mention jumping out would result in either being bisected by the wing, or sucked into the engine... A better choice might be the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter. (If you've seen "Air America," it's the ugly beast that Mel Gibson landed into the fuselage of a wrecked cargo plane.) Slow, durable, ugly, needs about six hundred feet of runway at maximum gross weight, and is commonly used for skydiving--plus the military has used it in the past. Could probably hold, in a utility configuration, eight paratroopers and their weapons. It CAN'T, however, carry vehicles; it's just not large enough to fit them... RDF

Ah, it gets down to the "Americans have more choppers than the Soviets" argument again. OK, let's cover it from two sides here. First off, the Soviets designed their helicopters to be all-purpose vehicles. The Hind, for example, is equivalent to both the Apache AND the Blackhawk, being used as a "gunship" attack helicopter AND a troop-carrying assault/cargo/utility helicopter. Likewise the Mi-17 was used in both roles. The US, however, used more specialized designs for various jobs. Imagine trying to use an AH-64 to transport a squad. As for the OH-58, that actually is related to the fact that the US Army's first combat helicopter units were the Air Cavalry, and the Cavalry traditionally has had a role as scouts. The Soviets, not having that role required of their helicopter units, did not build a small scout helicopter, at least during the game's era. On the other hand, to answer the question about, "What can a Huey do that a Blackhawk can't," the answer, of course, is nothing. The Blackhawk was bought to provide MORE capability than the Huey. However, you might as well ask, "What can a Cobra do that an Apache can't?" They're both in the game because, in 1985, they were being used side-by-side in Army Aviation units. Likewise, in 1985, the Blackhawk hadn't fully replaced the Huey yet in frontline units, much less in the "less important" units like the garrisons on Malden and Everon are examples of; for realism, you'd have the Huey in the game to fly alongside the Blackhawk. (As a note, there are STILL some military Hueys flying today, as evidenced by my occasionally hearing one from my town's Air National Guard base. And by 1985, there were a large number of Hueys on the civilian market; if you want a resistance helicopter that's a bit more accurate than the "Armed Jetranger" repainted OH-58 on OFPEC, a Huey--or Bell 47--would be an ideal choice.) RDF

Ugh, the Sheridan. Nasty little hunka crap--the Army admits that the only really *useful* service it's given us is providing a chassis for the visually-modified vehicles the OPFOR uses at Fort Irwin... For the record, the An-124 is the Russian equivalent to the C-5, while the new C-17 is supposed to be capable of hauling a fully-loaded M1A2, just like the Galaxy, but with the short-field capabilities of the C-130. While I don't doubt it can carry an Abrams, being able to do so on three thousand feet of runway? THAT I'll believe only when I see it... RDF

I've actually got a copy of SMP 1985 around here somewhere... and it's really not that great a source. The huge red "PROPAGANDA" stamp on it is fairly accurate. You'd be better off getting some Jane's publications from '85 or '86, really... RDF

Konyak: I've never personally driven a tank, but I've seen footage of a brand-new M1A2 being put through its acceptance testing at the factory... and one of the trials is a stop from 40 mph... in all of 15 feet. Thing bloody near noses right on over, man. RDF

Actually, the original M1 (no A1 or A2) had a 105mm rifled gun, the same gun as on the M60A3. (This is the one visually depicted in Flashpoint.) After it was finally recognized that the old 105 rifle was badly underpowered, the Army adopted the Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore cannon that the Germans had developed for the Leopard 2. As for damage levels, there's a story from Desert Storm that gives some anecdotal information. An M1A1 got stuck in mud at one point, and was left behind by its unit. While waiting for recovery vehicles to come extract it from the mud, three Iraqi T-72s stumbled across it. The first T-72 fired a round from about 500 meters that simply bounced off the M1's armor, and was promptly dispatched by the Abrams. A second one got two rounds off, one of which bounced off and one of which grooved the armor. The M1 blew that T-72's turret off with its second round of the engagement. The third T-72, seeing that continued engagement wasn't a viable option, attempted to hide behind a sand berm, but the M1 targetted with its thermal sights, and put a round through the berm and killed the T-72 from two kilometers away. Once the tank recovery vehicle and its escorting M1A1 arrived, it was unable to free the stuck Abrams, so the escorting tank was ordered to destroy it to prevent it from being captured. The first three rounds fired essentially point-blank from the M1A1 bounced off the Abrams's armor. The fourth one did finally penetrate the turret's ammunition stores, but the blow-off panels on the turret did their job and vented the explosion out the top instead of it destroying the tank. By this time, two more recovery vehicles had arrived, and were able to free the tank. It was hauled back to a repair depot, where they found that all that was needed to return it to combat was patching the hole, replacing the blow-off panels, recharging the Halon extinguishers, and re-aligning the sights. RDF

I've been mulling over doing some missions based on Tom Clancy's "The Bear and the Dragon," but there's one little stumper that's keeping me from trying... does anyone here know how to submerge a vehicle partially into the ground, like done to the M113 in the "Armored MG" add-on? I tried looking over its config.cpp file, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it... (I ask because the first in that series of missions will require some bunkers made of submerged tanks... BTW, is there any interest in a mission that has you commanding about six immobilized, submerged-to-their-turrets T-72s while defending against a few hundred Chinese infantrymen?) RDF