Wow! A barrage of posts on the Chinook and the M777 - illustrating yet again why Brochuritis on BR threads tends to
substitute critical thinking, and a
rather bemusing lack of knowledge about warfare:
1. Brochure X, Specification Y, mentions that Chinook can't carry the M777 above 4-5,000 feet, therefore what use are they both in the MSC?
a) Because clearly anecdotal evidence that the Indian military regularly operates equipment beyond manufacturer-specified limits is hogwash, like this account on the IAF site.
http://indianairforce.nic.in/show_page.php?pg_id=72
Chetaks and Cheetahs ferried men and material to dizzy heights far above the limits set by the helicopter manufacturers
b) Show us the cold hard numbers, or begone with such PR stuff!
Umm...how about an engine change at 20,000 feet under enemy fire. I mean, how is that even possible, when no brochure in the world mentions it!
2. But what about the failed trials conducted on the M777 - I mean you can't even airdrop the thing!
a) Because clearly these evil Americans who faked the moon landings have faked this footage as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXq0-A9Xxw
and this report has been doctored as well...
http://www.aetc.af.mil/news/story_print ... =123297829
During the training, two C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Altus AFB airdropped an M777 Howitzer and Soldiers from Fort Bragg. After the airdrop, members of the 18th FB unloaded a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System from one of the C-17s that landed at Fort Sill. After traveling to the firing location, the soldiers fired six rockets downrange. Soldiers also assembled the airdropped Howitzer and fired 16 rounds downrange during the training.
b) Because it is sacrilege to employ basic critical thinking skills and ask
"why" the air drop trials may have failed in the Indian case? Maybe it was not the M777 but the systems/people delivering the cargo?
3. BUT STILL, the question remains, there is a huge mathematical gap of
10,000 feet, between what Google Maps is telling me is the elevation of the Tibetan AOR and the 7-8,000 feet that one can assume the Chinook can carry the M777 to?
a) Because clearly Indian Military Law Section III, Subsection 2 b) states "any attempt to disassemble a weapon/field strip/or otherwise modify for ease of transport is prohibited. Any soldiers/officers doing so will be court-martialed."
I mean what were people like Thimayya, Cariappa, and Sparrow doing in 1947 Kashmir Ops when they dismantled turrets of Stuart Mk-VI tanks so that they could be carried over weak bridges that could not support the weight of the whole tank.
b) How dare 70 years later someone suggest similar innovation with the M777. Disassembly is for pansies, in fact Rajnikanth can fire the M777 when it is under slung from a Chinook.
4. But the Americans have gazumped billions off us by selling us this "dream" military hardware. If so many mods and adjustments have to be made, why not spend millions on the poor Indian
jawan for whom our heart bleeds?
Because the poor Indian
jawan will be thanking all of us from the bottom of his heart as he has to to lug/push/manhandle a 12t and 14t system as opposed to a 4-6t one.