Iran unveils squadrons of flying boats

Oh and fun fact...

The m113 is more fuel efficient and FASTER even in 1970's trim than the stryker... with modern upgrades it is WORLD's ahead and has a lower silhouette to boot...

the canadians and the northern Europeans just BONED us LOL

reply to post by roguetechie


Apparently we are upgrading our current M117 chassis-based vehicles with Stryker variants, like with ADATS. So question is, what is more optimal for the Canadian Forces, tracks or tires? Probably tracks considering our terrain but military upgrades here are usually politically driven by old men in parliament, hence the massive spending on CF-35s when we need real next-gen long-range interceptors like F-22s or T-50s.

Your afghanistan deployed troops appear to be using highly upgraded m113 variants after sending home the strykers... and several other nations that talked the US into buying flippers errr I mean strykers

(btw fun fact you can fit two m113 acav's and a platoon into a c130... at best you can get one stryker and then the mobile gun system variant has to be partially DISASSEMBLED to do it)

Originally posted by roguetechie
Your afghanistan deployed troops appear to be using highly upgraded m113 variants after sending home the strykers... and several other nations that talked the US into buying flippers errr I mean strykers

(btw fun fact you can fit two m113 acav's and a platoon into a c130... at best you can get one stryker and then the mobile gun system variant has to be partially DISASSEMBLED to do it)

I guess it would be easier to replace a couple tracks over multiple large tires (which are probably worth over 100 grand a piece).

PS I meant M113 in my last post, damn weed

Originally posted by roguetechie


Rather than using 60 million dollar eurocopters (not even made in the country that bought a crap load of them namely the US GOVERNMENT) for search and rescue and interdiction patrols.... oh and this isn't even to mention the ASTOUNDING cost of jet fuel per HOUR of use and tear downs and and and....
you get my drift on what our NON RESPONSIBLE government is doing?

Excellent point. America could have thousands of these for the cost of one helicopter. Damage to the enemy could be much more extensive, especially when a $90 missile can take down a helicopter. A comedian once said that the money spent on tanks should have been spent on Cadillacs. Imagine 1 million Cadillacs coming across your country, driven by guys who want to drive Cadillacs. It would also save the American auto industry.

Just looking at them you can see multiple reflective surfaces including an unshrouded propeller. The STEALTH claim is mere hyperbole. Low visability maybe. Sitting on the sea surface with engined stopped for long periods they would be even less dectable.

Depending on their purpose they could be seen as an imaginative bit of lateral thinking. Generally every millitary is trying to fight the last war with weapon systems that solved the last arms race. In a war against commerce like the tanker attacks of 1987 these WIGE aircraft could be very problematic, but in a gloves off declared war they wouldn't last more than five minutes.

Just to note, they claimed to be "radar evading" not stealthy. While that might seem to be a semantic argument, they could just as easily mean "we'll never fly these things within a thousand miles of a working radar".

Originally posted by aegis80
Just to note, they claimed to be "radar evading" not stealthy. While that might seem to be a semantic argument, they could just as easily mean "we'll never fly these things within a thousand miles of a working radar".

Or maybe they are designed to glide in the air low enough to be under the radar line while avoiding sonar because these are boats that are above water. This is what they mean by radar evasion. In a full blown naval or beachhead assault, it would be very advantageous to have a group of these things collecting recon data or even shooting off a few anti-ship missiles while enemy forces are busy engaging your conventional forces.

Most Western naval vessels these days employ automatic radar laid gatling guns as defence against sea skimming missiles. If these WIGE craft were within 2000 metres they would be cut to shreds. There would have to be an entire squadron of these craft in an attack on one warship to overcome it's defences.

Originally posted by sy.gunson
Most Western naval vessels these days employ automatic radar laid gatling guns as defence against sea skimming missiles. If these WIGE craft were within 2000 metres they would be cut to shreds. There would have to be an entire squadron of these craft in an attack on one warship to overcome it's defences.

I despise these arguments. You're assuming the battle is in optimal conditions. Weapons are as only as good as their operators and American weapons are far from simple.