George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 178
- Points
- 710
We can talk about the role that the MGS may have found in the WoT and in Afghanistan, but we also have other options to the MGS and who should employ/crew it. I don't believe it is an Armour role to crew and deploy the MGS if its' main role in life will be to support the Infantry in mostly a Defensive role. I can not see it being used by Armour in the Advance as an option in Tank on Tank scenarios. I look at it as being an Infantry Wpn, much the same as the TOW, Assault Gun, and Anti-Tank Gun were in the past. The use of it in Convoy Escort, does not automatically make it an Armour role, just as a Section or Platoon of Infantry in the Escort does not make them Armour. The MGS is more in line of what the TOW was to the Infantry Bn than what a Tank was to an Armd Regt.
Currently there is a Turreted 120mm Mortar version of the LAV III. It has a very high profile, and perhaps serious 'roll-over' concerns. What is to say we can't have a 120mm Mortar version, without turret, along the same lines as our former 81mm Mortar Bisons? With the improved munitions for the 120 mm Mortar, it has become a very versatile tool. It could offer more to an Infantry Bn, and in fact an Armour Regt, than the MGS ever could. They would be just as deadly, if not more so, than the MGS in a Convoy Escort in Afghanistan. They would be able to drop rounds in behind the enemy in the hills. They would be able to provide "Guided" Munitions to troops equipped with Laser Designators. They offer good Range. They could provide illumination, both White Light and IR, at night. All things that the MGS is incapable of doing effectively.
In the end, are we creating a role for a piece of kit that could easily be replaced by better kit, and crewed by more appropriate troops?
Currently there is a Turreted 120mm Mortar version of the LAV III. It has a very high profile, and perhaps serious 'roll-over' concerns. What is to say we can't have a 120mm Mortar version, without turret, along the same lines as our former 81mm Mortar Bisons? With the improved munitions for the 120 mm Mortar, it has become a very versatile tool. It could offer more to an Infantry Bn, and in fact an Armour Regt, than the MGS ever could. They would be just as deadly, if not more so, than the MGS in a Convoy Escort in Afghanistan. They would be able to drop rounds in behind the enemy in the hills. They would be able to provide "Guided" Munitions to troops equipped with Laser Designators. They offer good Range. They could provide illumination, both White Light and IR, at night. All things that the MGS is incapable of doing effectively.
In the end, are we creating a role for a piece of kit that could easily be replaced by better kit, and crewed by more appropriate troops?