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Subject:
Sheridans, Shillelaghs and a missile tank
Desertmole
10/6/2004 4:24:40 AM
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| Having been a cavalryman on Sheridans for several years, I can explain a bit about these vehicles. The Sheridan was designed in the 1950s specifically to carry the Shillelagh missile system. This was in the "never tried before" category and it showed promise, until the accountants got involved. The Shillelagh cost over $20K in 1960 dollars. On top of that, the missile capture range was over 500 meters, so you had little chance of killing targets at short range.
Some whiz kid got the bright idea of adding a conventional HEAT round to the vehicle. The problem was you had a 6" gun on a 17 ton frame. Talk about a NO GO! Every time you fired a conventional round, the front road wheel lifted 18" off the ground and then the vehicle slammed back down. It broke everything over time, including the transmission, torsion bars, not to mention ALL the electronics in the turret. After one or two conventional rounds, the missile system usually refused to function until the turret mechanic had a go at it to push the circuit cards back into their slots.
Had the Sheridan only fired Shillelaghs, they could have fired all day. Before being replaced in Europe, at least one of the Cav Regiments modified 2 vehicles in each 6 vehicle platoon to carry and shoot only missiles. The other four only carried conventional rounds. The two missile vehicles would take up overwatch for the others.
As to a missile tank, it is a nice idea, but most well-trained M1 crews can get a first round hit out to 5000 meters. If not, the second round has about a 99.9% assurance about 10 seconds after the first misses. |
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