WWII History Buffs

[Veloceleste]

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[Formerly YB-2]

Due to its lack of reliability (same with the Panther) the Tiger (all models) had much less impact on both fronts than it could have had. By the end of '44 the Sherman (and its sister, the tank destroyer) with the high velocity gun was clearly the equal of anything on the battlefield due to its reliability, speed, economy and training of its crew. Also, with superior numbers, it rarely, if ever, had to take on a Tiger or Panther in a one-on-one match. Same with the T-34 on the eastern front. Numbers, numbers, numbers.
The Tiger/Panther makes one wonder if we are not making a similar mistake with the F-35. Simply too complex and unreliable. But, making the builder rich with our tax dollars.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by tdelahanty

If I remember correctly the King Tiger was so big it could not cross many bridges in Europe.

Yeah it could have been a bit of a problem with some smaller bridges with the Konigstiger (King Tiger) being a whopping 75 tons...

On the other hand, it almost could sit still and wait for the enemy instead. With its longer barrel and high velocity armor piercing rounds, the KwK43 88mm canon could reach out and say "Auf Wiedersehen" from a range 2 kilometers or 1.2 miles!

The Konigstigerr could penetrate 5" of best armor while the Sherman and T-34 Soviet tanks only had but 2" between them and the 88mm round flying at them at nearly 3,500 ft/s...


But it was the Megalomaniacal "Maus" at 200 tons that really underlined and highlighted the madness of the man with the mustache and his incessant quest to build the biggest and deadliest, to strike fear into the very heart and soul of the opponent. This was of course nearly always against the advice of his best engineers and generals trying to tell him it doesn't make much sense..


Here is the "Maus" at 188 tons. There was only a prototype built and tested before the advancing Soviet forces took over the proving grounds. Had it been unleashed, there would not have been anything that could stop that monster.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

Due to its lack of reliability (same with the Panther) the Tiger (all models) had much less impact on both fronts than it could have had. By the end of '44 the Sherman (and its sister, the tank destroyer) with the high velocity gun was clearly the equal of anything on the battlefield due to its reliability, speed, economy and training of its crew. Also, with superior numbers, it rarely, if ever, had to take on a Tiger or Panther in a one-on-one match. Same with the T-34 on the eastern front. Numbers, numbers, numbers.
The Tiger/Panther makes one wonder if we are not making a similar mistake with the F-35. Simply too complex and unreliable. But, making the builder rich with our tax dollars.

It's a complicated topic. Sure, sheer numbers are effective until the opponent's technology renders it completely obsolete...

Having said that, I'm not sure what country would even have the "cohones" to engage in an all out war with the US to begin with. It would be silly to even try but I do give China another decade or two at most where it will be bald enough and strong enough to actually give it a go if provoked.

WWIII and I hope that never happens will play out very differently that what we are used to seeing in Hollywood movies or the "proxy wars" we are used to.

The F-35 is replacing the F-16 and it has had its share of teething problems. The fact that early testing and actual dogfights actually put the much cheaper and proven F-16 on top of the F-35 that is supposed to replace it, is partly due to the fact that the F-35 was built with a different operational philosophy in mind.

This article is very good at describing the actual differences and compares the two. https://militarymachine.com/f-35-vs-f-16/

[Formerly YB-2]

'Combat Readiness' is a big deal these days. If it can't fight (ala Tiger & Panther) as it won't run well enough to do so, its essentially worthless. The F-16 & F-18 are both good with combat readiness. The F-35 is a totally different story, mission aside.

My personal belief (take that for what it costs you) is that unmanned, AI controlled aircraft and other such weapons will soon rule the battlefield. Though, I really feel that all wars should be fought by the leaders of each country fighting hand-to-hand. Whomever wins is declared the winner and then both countries continue on as before.