\ If you have ever held up a late summer Threat training aids just yet. Remain alert dandelion and blown the tiny, white petals and stay current on the standard, garden- into the wind, you know what has hap- variety tanks and tank killers we’ve come to pened to the Warsaw Pact weapons arse- know so well; and don’t be surprised to see nal. With the restructuring of our old neme- some of the old species flourishing among sis-turned-world-ally, there has been and new high-tech hybrids in the hot-spots of will continue to be a diaspora sending War- the world. saw Pact technology drifting around the Here in our own backyard, we will be busy world in search of a place to take root. in the hothouse - thinking, planning, Once rooted, it is also likely to be culti- designing and growing our own crop of vated, pruned and im- weapon systems. At the proved by local garden- 4-6 May Armor Confer- ers, eventually resulting ence we will plant the in a deadlier variety of seeds that will eventually weapon system. And as grow into a premier Armor the New World Order Force. In this issue of our blooms amid inevitable professional journal, you global upheaval, the will find several interest- United States Army will ing and intellectually stim- be expected to work the ulating discussions of the fields. Even in barren Somalia, American nature of tanks and mobile armored warfare soldiers are harvesting a bumper crop of in the years to come. Colonel Hobbs (Ret.) small arms and light antitank weapons. talks of future tanks and robotics, Major They may not be sophisticated or flashy, Warford looks ahead at the Premium Tank but as one Somali thug told a U.S. journal- Five, and Major Crawford offers us a British ist recently, “an old bullet will kill you just as perspective. These views and others like dead as a new one.” And over in the next them will be the focus of our Armor Confer- ripening field, Bosnia-Herzegovina, they are ence as we plan the dominant role of Armor playing with even bigger toys. So I wouldn’t on the battlefields of 2000+ A.D. throw away those old vehicle ID cards and - J.D. Brewer By Order of the Secretary of the Army: Official: -4- GORDON R. SULLIVAN MILTON H. HAMILTON General, United States Army Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Staff Secretary of the Army 03194 ARMOR The Professional Development Bulletin of the Armor Branch PB- 17-93-1 Editor-in-Chief MAJ J.D. BREWER Feature 6 Tank Gun Accuracy Managing Editor by Major Bruce J. Held and Master Sergeant Edward S. Sunoski JON T. CLEMENS 12 A Black Beret’s Vietnam Odyssey Commandant by Kenneth P. Lord MG PAUL E. FUNK 16 Operation Rinso by Armor Staff ARMOR (ISSN 0004-2420) is published 17 Jousting with Their Main Guns: bimonthly by the U.S. Army Armor Center, 4401 A Bizarre Tank Battle of the Korean War Vine Grove Road, Fort box. KY 40121. by Major Arthur W. Connor, Jr. Disclaimer: The information contained in 18 The Main Battle Tank: Future Developments - ARMOR represents he professional opinions of A British Perspective the authors and does not necessarily reflect the Major S.W. Crawford, RTR official Army or TRADOC position, nor does it by change or supersede any information presented 26 Planning for a Future Tank Must Consider in other official Army publications. Technology Leaps, Robotic ‘Crews’ Official distribution is limited to one copy for by H.H. Dobbs each armored brigade headquarters, armored 30 The Premium Tank-5: The Armor Threat of the 1990s cavalry regiment headquarters, armor battalion by Major James M. Warford headquarters, armored cavalry squadron head- quarters, reconnaissance squadron head- 34 A Visit to the Soviet Airborne Training Center at Ryazan quarters, armored cavalry troop. armor company, 35 Bring Back the Blues and motorized brigade headquarters of the by Captain Brace E. Barber United States Army. In addition, Army libraries, Army and DOD schools, HQ DA and MACOM 37 “The Range From Hell” staff agencies with responsibility for armored, by Major James D. Brewer direct fire, ground combat systems, 39 The Emperor’s New Clothes organizations, and the training of personnel for by Major John F. Anta1 and Lieutenant Colonel Lee R. Barnes Jr. such organizations may request two copies by sending a military letter to the editor-in-chief. 44 Army Plans New Smoke Vehicle Authorized Content: ARMOR will print only 45 Small Unit Terrain Board Exercises those materials for which the U.S. Army Armor by Sergeant First Class John M. Duezabou Center has proponency. That proponency includes: all annored. direct-fire ground combat Departments systems that do not serve priman’ly as infantry carriers: all weapons used exclusively in these 2 Letters systems or by CMF 19-series enlisted soldiers; 2 Contacts any miscellaneous items of equipment which 5 Commander’s Hatch armor and armored cavalry organizations use 50 Bustle Rack exclusively: training for all SC 12A, 128, and 12C officers and for all CMF-19-series enlisted 52 Books soldiers; and information concerning the training, of logistics, history, and leadership armor and ATENTION FREE DISTRIBUTION APO ADDRESSEES: Please send your armored cavalry units at the brigadelregiment new address and unit number to ARMOR, AlTN: ATZK-PTD (Ms. Hager), Ft. level and below, to indude Threat units at those Knox, KY 40121-5210. Be sure to include your current mailing label. levels. Material may be reprinted, provided credit is s.cOnd-~buonicbi null posIags pid d Fort Knox, KV. nd dwdnulling OMS~Posmwwc given to ARMOR and to the author, except send sddreSS changes IOEdh. ARMOR. ATTN: ARK-PlD, Fort Kno~,KY u)121-5210. where copyright is indicated. Distribution RestricUon: Approved for public dbtributionis unlimiW USPS 467-970 January-February 1993, Vol. CII No. 1 WIesel-Mounted Scouts Pedtaps the Army should consider further ewr. replacing the M-998 HMMWV with downsizing from the HMMWV to the the HMMWV Heavy Variant (HHV) would Wiesel, a small, three-ton, fully-tracked ve- gain mor protection, but lose airmobility Dear Sir: hicle fielded with German airborne forces. by Blackhawk. Wiesel has been field-tested as a poten- In 1990, the U.S. Army decided to Compared to the M-998 HMMWV, Wiesel tial carrier for a TOW missile launcher, au- downsize the mobility of scout platoons in is: * tomatic cannon, 60-mm mortar, and cal.50 tank and mechanized infantry battalions *Armor-protected against 7.62-mm am- machine gun. An MK 19-3 40-mm grenade from the heavier, higher-profile M3A2 Cav- munition, grenade, and mortar fragments, machine gun could also be mounted. alry Fighting Vehicle (CFV)to the lighter, *Less detectable (smaller frontal pre- Wiesel-mounted scouts would have an ef- lower-profile M-998 High Mobility Multipur- sented area), fective self-defense capability, if ambushed. pose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). *More deployable by strategic airlift (six Disengagement would be facilitated, as Proponents argued that the HMMWV Wiesels for file HMMWV) or sealift (nine both covering and maneuvering vehides would enhance scout stealth, an important Wiesels for four HMMWVs). would be mor-protected. factor in successful ground reconnais- Both Wiesel and the HMMWV are airmo- In an emergency, Wiesel-mounted scout SanCB. bile by UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. How- platoons could conduct armed reconnais- (Note: Fort Knox Defense Switch Network (DSN) prefix is 464. Commercial prefix is Area Ccde 502- DIRECTORY - Points of Contact 624-m). ARMOR Editorial Offices U.S. ARMY ARMOR SCHOOL Editor-in-C hief Commandant (A'IZK-CG) Major J. D. Brewer 2249 MG Paul E. Funk 2121 Managing Editor Assistant Commandant (ATSB-AC) Jon T. Clemens 2249 BG Larry R. Jordan 7555 Editorial Assistant Vivian Thompson 2610 Chief of Staff, Armor School (ATSB-DAS) Production Assistant COL John B. Sylvester 1050 Mary mw 2610 Command Sergeant Major Contributing Artist CSM Richard L. Ross 4952 SPC Jody Harmon 2610 Armor School Sergeant Major SGM Douglas K. MemU 5405 MAILING ADDRESS: ARMOR ATTN: ATZK-PTD. Fort KIIOX, KY 40121-5210. Maintenance Department (ATSB-MA) COL Gary M. Tobin 8346 ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: To improve speed and accu- Command and Staff Department (ATSB-CS). racy in editing, manuscripts should be originals or clear copies, either COL Pat O'Neal 5855 typed or printed out double-spaced in near-letterquality printer mode. We also accept stories on 5-114" floppy disks in MultiMate. Weapons Department (ATSB-WP) Wordstar. Microsoft WORD, WdPerfect. XyWrite. Xerox Writer, COL E. G. Fish I1 1055 and ASCII @lease include a double-spaced printout). Please tape cap- Directorate of Combat Developments (ATZK-CD) tions to any illustrations submitted. COL Edward A. Bryla 5050 PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS/ST. GEORGE-ST. JOAN NCO Academy (ATZK-NC) AWARDS: Report delivery problems or changes of address to CSM Johnny D. Duncan 5 150 Ms. Connie Bright, Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 607. Ft Knox, Reserve Component Spt Div (A'IZK-PTE) Ky. 40121 or call (502)942-8624, FAX (502) 942-6219. LTC Billy W. Thomas 5953 UNIT DISTRIBUTION: Report delivery problems or Ofice of the Chief of Armor (ATZK-AR) changes of address to Ms. Mary Hager, DSN 464-2619 commercial: COL Don Elder 7809 (502)624-2610. Requests to be added to the free distribution list FAX - 7585 should be in the form of a letter to the Editor-in-Chief. TRADOC System Manager ARMOR HOTLINE - DSN 464-TANK for Armored Gun System (ATZK-TS) (The Armor Hotline is a 24-hour service to provide assistance with COL Charles E Moler 7955 questions concerning doctrine, training, organizations, and equipnent Mounted Warfighting Battlespace Lab (A'IZK-MW) of the Armor Force.) COL David L.