Query on 1980s British Armoured divisions
Just wondering about the organisation of British armoured divisions in the late 1980s through to today, particularly with regard to the tank regiments. An ORBAT I've seen for circa '88 states that an...
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I remember reading somewhere that they were brigade sized formations, but could not be called brigades at the time as the MoD, in its infinite wisdom had decided to abolish the brigade level of...
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A "Field Force" was a 7-8 (large, 4 rifle coy and spt coy) Battalion formation, including the recce regiment. Essentially they were 2 Brigade Divisions. 1st-4th had two subbordinate HQ's (Task...
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So, essentially, the 82 reorganisation was: 2nd Armoured Division's 2 Brigades (4th and 12th Armoured) are switched to 1st and 4th Armoured Divisions, making them triangular. 3rd Armoured Division...
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Whats your source on this? I'm not buying the 2 Bde (or TF) per Field Force. They might have been given old divisional designations and they might have been of a size but the CSS assets of it scream...
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Well, the infantry were the 3 TA Para Bns (4, 10 and 15), but I'd have to check on the other arms. I know 100 and 101 RA were Field Arty for 5th and 7th FF, and the RY and QOY were their formation...
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I meant the TA TFHQs. Everything I have read suggests that the Field Forces were large brigades with CS and CSS at the appropriate scaling. They might be the size of armoured divisions in terms of...
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The Chieftain and Challenger I didn't enjoy great reputations for reliability. I have heard that to make a single operable division for Gulf War I every tank in Germany had to be canibalised - and...
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Quote:The Chieftain and Challenger I didn't enjoy great reputations for reliability. The Chieftain had two main problems. The perfectly working powerplant was converted to multi-fuel. Bad idea. The...
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That was my understanding. I've read in Rob Griffin's (an ex-tankie) book on the Chieftain that the majority of the L60s problems were sorted out by the late '70s, early '80s, basically by dropping...
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My main reference was General Rupert Smith, commander of the Gulf War I armoured division who sort of describes the Challenger as the worst tank ever made. Perhaps he was a little biased.
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When did he say this?Andy ("Never trust anything you've got to sign for - look what happened to Chamberlain.")
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Here, at the bottom of the last page: www.policyexchange.org.uk...ration.pdf
View ArticleRe: Query on 1980s British Armoured divisions
Funny that, beacuse Major General Patrick Cordingley, GOC 7th Armoured Brigade in GW1, has been on record as saying that he thought Chally 1 had some advantages over Abrams. General Smith was a para,...
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Come on, compared to the Marines the Paras are all oxford professors! Seriously, if you've read Smith's book The Utility of Force you'll agree he passes the test for being an intellectual. His point...
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Quote:His point about Gulf War I in that is that it was won by air power and the ground forces could have been a lot lighter. I suspect he regards heavy metal like the Challenger and Abrams as just an...
View ArticleRe: Query on 1980s British Armoured divisions
Smith points out that the last time two tank armies fought it out with the decison deciding who won the war was 1973. He'd probably admit you still need tanks, but they are less important than other...
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A thing like a modern tank weighing 65tons is a logistcal and maintenance nightmare without question to have a vehicle weighing 30 tons or better still 15 with the same protection and fire power would...
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Quote:As an infantryman the idea of going to war in a big noisy steel box emmitting all sorts of detectable emmisions is terrifying but tankies are comfortable with it (they would rather do anything...
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Who wouldn't want an indestructable mass of metal behind you when going into battle - but it does come at a cost. What if you were medium ranking military power and you had to decide where to spend...
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Quote:Would you go for a flight Eurofighters or a regiment of Challengers?Would you go for a flight Eurofighters or a regiment of Challengers? Both, or depend on the Americans ;-) I'm sure 3 Cdo Bde...
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