Compare uses of tracked vehicles and combat walkers?

[ohcrapitsnico]

Ghost in the Shell teaches us combat walkers (of the spider variety) are superior to everything they'll ever encounter, 'cept The Major, but no one else is that leet and thus we must accept that combat walkers will eventually pwn everything.

Yep I was going to mention that.

Problem with walkers is that they are slow and impractical for moving over rough terrain. Unless you can make them light enough to be highly manouverable and one-manned like the arm suits in GitS.

 

[brainpan]

The Irony being that a battlefield composed of Giant Staircases would problably be the only situation that would require something with legs in order to move about.

What about the forested planet that the talking teddy bears live on? Haven't any of you seen the original Star Wars movies?

Edit: Sorry sourboy. I didn't see your post before I made mine.

 

[Ecofarm]

4) can't carry heavy weaponry to remain agility
ability to use heavy weapons: tracked > walker/crawler > infantry

Debatable.

TOW

The M220 launcher is used by infantry, but can also be mounted on a number of vehicles, including the M151 jeep, the M113 APC, and the M966 HMMWV. This launcher is technically man-portable, but is quite bulky. This launcher has been upgraded to include a thermal optic to allow night time usage, and has been simplified to reduce weight.

You need 1 man to carry the computer and batteries, 1 man to carry the "U" piece and tripod, and 1 man to carry 2-3 missiles (plus their personal infantry goodies, of course).

Vs. tanks - one shot one kill.

Then there is the Mk19 automatic grenade launcher, the M2 machine gun, LAW rockets, AT-4 anti-tank shoulder fired missiles, claymore mines, mortars, and other goodies that infantry can use to level buildings and provide withering fire across acres.

You cannot airdrop an Abrams (you can lapes one). There's an airborne tank, but it does not compare to the Abrams. You can airdrop humves. Can you airdrop mechs?


Comparing a tank or mech to a single man is not fair. Let's compare them to at least a squad, if not platoon, size element.

I saw a very creepy video of a starfish-esque robot crawling around. They lopped off on of its legs, and you could see it get confused, and then learn to move without it. That would be sweet.

Infantry can do that. It's called LGOP (Little Groups of Paratroopers)

After the demise of the best Airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield. This effect is known as the rule of the LGOPs. This is, in its purest form, small groups of pissed-off 19 year old American paratroopers. They are well-trained, armed to the teeth and lack serious adult supervision. They collectively remember the Commander's intent as "March to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you..." or something like that. Happily they go about the day's work....
-Jim Gavin

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Walkers worked better on Hoth, but were suspect on Endor.

So, as long as we keep the Ewoks away from our walkers, we're okay, right?

 

[Integral]

Guys, if we had gundams and/or walkers, the sheer "cool!" factor would cause our enemies to cower before us.

But they look damn cool.

 

[Ecofarm]

Guys, if we had gundams and/or walkers, the sheer "cool!" factor would cause our enemies to cower before us.

Agree. If I was in combat and some space-age spider death machine came crushing upon me... I'd be like "screw this, I ain't no kamikaze".

 

[hossam]

power armour with jet packs beats everything

 

[LesCanadiens]

Agree. If I was in combat and some space-age spider death machine came crushing upon me... I'd be like "screw this, I ain't no kamikaze".

Yeah, but a trained, professional soldier would know he'd only have to land a single well placed shot to take it out.

 

[Ecofarm]

I didn't know they made mechs with little soft spots so you can kill them with a single shot. They should do that with tanks too! Sure... if I had a portable anti-mech missile system it would be different, but I thought we were talking about stuff even tougher than tanks here.

 

[LesCanadiens]

I didn't know they made mechs with little soft spots so you can kill them with a single shot. They should do that with tanks too!

It would be impossible to armour a walker adequately. The joints would be too vulnerable to fire, as would the legs. Besides, where would the engine be located? If it's located in the chest cavity, that's far too much weight being placed on the feet, as opposed to a tank where the weight is spread out across the treads. A walker would collapse under its own weight before it even arrived in the combat zone.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

C5 FTW

 

[Bill3000]

I didn't know they made mechs with little soft spots so you can kill them with a single shot. They should do that with tanks too! Sure... if I had a portable anti-mech missile system it would be different, but I thought we were talking about stuff even tougher than tanks here.

You never played Metal Gear Solid?

 

[El_Machinae]

I saw a very creepy video of a starfish-esque robot crawling around. They lopped off on of its legs, and you could see it get confused, and then learn to move without it. That would be sweet.

That robot was a bigger breakthrough than most people realise. It was a self-learning software package that would explore its environment and its motor outputs in order to enact goals. It learned how to get what it wanted, based on what it was given.

Functionally, it's the first robotic-animal life.

 

[mrt144]

I think the whole obstacle issue is moot. how often are battles taking place in places with terrible terrain, and how often are strategic places of importance in such environments.

 

[Kozmos]

You never played Metal Gear Solid?

But not every man is the toughest mofo on the world called Solid Snake.

I think the whole obstacle issue is moot. how often are battles taking place in places with terrible terrain, and how often are strategic places of importance in such environments.

You'd be surprised.

 

[mrt144]

But not every man is the toughest mofo on the world called Solid Snake.



You'd be surprised.

battles of the future?

also the cost effective countermeasures would make this stupid.

 

[Kozmos]

It is stupid, but to deny that battles take in places with terrible terrain with loads of obstacles is madness.

 

[Ecofarm]

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Mecca...

 

[Yuri2356]

5) urban combat scenarios in an infantry support role
more agility than tank, heavier weaponry than infantry
Furthermore the presence of actuated arms would allow a mecha to deal with infantry that manage to get into direct physical contact with the mech, something that tanks are currently unable to do.

power armour with jet packs beats everything

There lies your answer to "Agile Heavy Infantry support". Take a soldier, wrap him in an armoued bodysuit, let hilarity ensue. A mech would be slaughtered in an urban battle for the same reasons that Tanks do not-so-well: They're a big heavy target that can't do much in the way of taking cover. Powered Infantry would only have a slightly larger profile than the usual kind, making them more useful in a such a position.

Guys, if we had gundams and/or walkers, the sheer "cool!" factor would cause our enemies to cower before us.

Until you strip away the Anime-Magi-Physics and they get splorched by a cruise missile / artillery barrage / high-calibre tank shell / Rocket lauched by hidden infantry... Rednering them just as vulnerable as any other armoued vehicle, but rediculously more expensive to build and maintain because of all the extra moving parts...

Ergo, we stick with ye olde Tanke.

 

[mrt144]

We just bomb the crap out of them when the terrain doesnt suit land units.