From: Thomas Barclay <Thomas.Barclay@s...>
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 22:41:39 -0500
Subject: camo and tanks
Camo is designed to break up a visual outline (the human eye picks up smooth curves like helmets much easier than broken ones like a boonie hat or a helmet with scrimmage attached). OTOH, I have heard it reported that scrim attached to modern IR-dispersive BDUs messes makes you stand out under TI or IR viewing. I dunno, never had a $5K TI scope to test the theory (or fancy IR dispersive jams either). Anyone know if this is "urban military myth" or factual? (I think the argument went something like dead plants will have a different IR sig than your suit so they'll stand out against it....) But, for all that, the visual daytime non-sensor advantages are great enough that I won't abandon facepaint, scrim, or other visual camouflage regimens until 1) everyone starts using IR/TI all the time (assuming the above is true) or 2) they deploy an effective IR and visual camo suit. Anyone seen the new Canadian Cammie Jammies? The new BDU is computer generated and works like the dickens. Stare at it.... your EYES hurt. It is really disturbing to look at as your eyes just don't want to lock in on it. Looks like a pain in the arse to paint on minis (the pixelated look... how to get that?). It looks like a bad old C-64 sprite image, but boy does it work. Course, I don't know about its abilities in the thermal bands.... As for tanks, the Sherman wasn't a bad tank, it just wasn't the equal of the German tanks. But they cost a bundle to make, were a logistical nightmare (complex and sometimes unreliable), and if you could afford to make 3x as many Shermans and use them in line like artillery, you didn't care. And if you were backed up by Typhoons and Lightnings and Mustangs, those Panthers and Tigers didn't stand much of a chance. And a Tiger or Panther out of ball-bearings, grease, spares, or gas isn't much use.... which is another way that the Allies beat the Axis. One of the best tanks of the war, though rarely the best commanded, was probably the T-34 (later models, the early ones had some interesting flaws such as gunner seat not attached to turret....). Simple, robust, and fairly tough. And as for Whitmann taking out a column of Brits, he did exactly what he should do in an ambush. But in order to hit them, he had to be able to bear with his main armament, so they should probably have been able to shoot back. His tank had to be capable of surviving the return fire, which it apparently did. Of course, so much of a WW2 tank battle is spotting and target acquisition. In older tanks (or even in modern ones), buttoned up is a sure way to have command and control issues, but having your commander up is a lovely recipe for a dead track commander. Not like some sort of 2190 vehicle with full immersive three-d imagining (virtual synthetic environment) for track crews that makes being unbuttoned needless and stupid (at least till they start peeling off chunks of hull sensors and you have to!). My usual 0.02... Cdn.:) Tomb