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Video: Inside the Airborne Tank Units that Never Were
🕑 Added 2024-01-27 14:33:15 +0000 UTCNew video on the M8 Armored Gun System, which was an airborne light tank that almost entered service with the US Army in the 1990s but was abruptly cancelled after it was type classified.
The video specifically covers the two units that would have received it. 3rd Battalion, 73rd Armor (a light armor battalion under the 82nd Airborne Division) and the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light), the reconnaissance and security formation working for the XVIII Airborne Corps
This is going to have a sponsored segment so this version is ad free
Comments
Battle Order
I intend to do a dedicated video for the old ACRs
Aaron Neumann
Yeah, the big problem with US procurement is that it's completely at the mercy of Congress, which can (and WILL) go 'stupid' either on its own (which is historically the case for most of the US's history, as Congress was always 'penny wise, pound foolish' when it came to the military) or by instigation (usually at the behest of the USAF). As an example of the former, the M8 AGS and Bradley ADATS (would have been the M6 Linebacker if Congress hadn't canceled it), both were needed (the AGS because the Sherriden was considered a lemon in US military circles and the latter due to notes taken from the various Arab-Israeli Wars (and later vindicated by Serbia and now Ukraine) that a good air defense network can be only taken out from the ground), but Congress going back to being 'penny wise, pound foolish' canceled them. Bradley ADATS was only troubled because the turret wasn't fully compatible with the Bradley and needed some elbow grease to fix. An example of the latter would be the C-27J Spartan air transport. The USAF made a major stink about it, got Congress to give them sole control over them, and then canceled the entire project because they didn't want the Army to have nice things under the guise of 'budget cuts.'
Gustavo Sanchez
Outstanding. It might benefit from some extra time spent on the 2d ACR. You talk about how the 82d would integrate and operate with the M8s, but not so much on exactly what screening and cav ops are (or would be). Cav (armored and otherwise) isn't one of the best understood concepts in the US mil, as it's not JUST recon. Maybe use examples or vignettes for how the 2nd ACR(L) was envisioned to work in either crisis response/contingency ops and conventional ops?
Micah Falcon
Excellent video, as always
