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Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and done it
By:Quirel
Date: 5/7/15 1:12 am

So, I was arguing with Grizzlei a while back about the Scorpion's design. There's a common criticism that two crewmen are woefully inadequate to man a tank. Grizzlei made a good point when she said that the separate roles of driver, gunner, and commander are absolutely integral to the operation of a tank in a warzone, and you can't force those roles onto fewer tankers without overworking them. I said that automation would let the tank itself take care of most of the duties, and maybe the crew could be reduced to just a commander and a gunner.

Well, the Russians are going to give it a try. At their annual Giant Missile Parade this Saturday, they're going to unveil the Armata-14 tank, their first new MBT since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Most news outlets like CNN are reporting that the Armata-14 will have a two-man crew, with just a driver and a gunner. Most outlets are going with this number, which indicates that the Russians spend a lot of time bragging about it.

Others (Like the BBC) report that two men can operate the Armata, but the actual crew size will be three. Which sounds a little more plausible, and it wouldn't be the first time that the Russians have oversold their hardware.

A tank is a machine, machines break. I work in a factory, and I know just how finicky automation can be. If something breaks on an Armata during a war, three soldiers are going to have a much, much harder time keeping it running than the four crewmen in a comparatively simple (maybe) Abrams tank.

Given another 500 years of tech development, though, and maybe automating it down to two crewmen won't be such a bad idea after all. If a tank breaks down, a Pelican can return it to the depot faster than a full-sized crew can repair it, if they could repair it. And in the kind of war the UNSC is fighting, maybe main battle tanks are considered to be disposable?


Messages In This Thread

Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and done itQuirel5/7/15 1:12 am
     Re: Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and donGrizzlei5/7/15 4:21 am
           I thought this was about Halo Online :( *NM*gamerguy20025/7/15 11:13 am
                 Oh no you don't!Grizzlei5/7/15 2:57 pm
                       ^ThisQuirel5/9/15 4:23 am
                             Re: ^ThisGrizzlei5/9/15 1:38 pm
                                   So... gun talk.Quirel5/11/15 12:43 pm
           Re: Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and donQuirel5/9/15 4:15 am
                 Re: Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and donGrizzlei5/9/15 2:42 pm
                       Re: Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and donQuirel5/9/15 5:29 pm
                             Re: Those crazy Russian bastards have gone and donZackDark5/9/15 10:07 pm

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