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Post by ironhold on Aug 23, 2023 22:25:14 GMT
Pondering again. Is there any tactical advantage to fielding halftracks on the modern battlefield? I mean like these - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_half-track . Or are they just relics of the 1940s? |
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Post by the light works on Aug 24, 2023 1:57:39 GMT
they are more of a utility vehicle than a combat vehicle. that said, on a swampy world, a modern half track would be a good logistics vehicle. although with modern drive by wire controls, a fully tracked vehicle is pretty easy to drive.
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Post by GTCGreg on Aug 24, 2023 2:34:46 GMT
I think that the development of 4 and 6 wheel drive supplemented by electronic traction control have made half-tracks pretty much obsolete.
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Post by ironhold on Aug 24, 2023 16:00:48 GMT
they are more of a utility vehicle than a combat vehicle. that said, on a swampy world, a modern half track would be a good logistics vehicle. although with modern drive by wire controls, a fully tracked vehicle is pretty easy to drive. It's another off-shoot of the massive fictional world I'm developing, which is pretty much reached OCD levels at this point. The world is meant to be like ours, but is different due to a variety of factors above and beyond what companies I have and haven't been able to include as I try to come up with lawyer-friendly substitute brand names. Part of the difference is that in some regards, technology has gotten a bit better than where we are, such as the F-19 fighter being a real aircraft that was simply in development hell for an extended period as it bounced between companies ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-19 ) but which is now being fielded by the USAF... in support of the F-16, F-111, and A-10, all of which are still in active production and simply have had the snot upgraded out of them. The same company that pulled off making the F-19 real is the same company that managed to field a fully functional "hover tank" (basically, a hovercraft the size of a luxury sedan with a .50 machine gun, a 7.62mm machine gun, and six anti-tank missiles). So it'd be within their capabilities to convert an existing truck chassis over to halftrack for military purposes, especially since one of their divisions makes trucks. ...But then again, this is a world where hover tanks are now a thing, giving tactical advantage to the US military not just on water, but also on sand, snow, and swamp, the three terrain types where halftracks would have had an advantage. So halftracks are largely irrelevant in this setting. In our world though, the only hovercraft available are large cargo haulers and personal novelty water craft, and we've yet to find that middle ground. So could halftracks return as a stopgap until we do? Hence my question. |
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Post by the light works on Aug 24, 2023 17:09:33 GMT
they are more of a utility vehicle than a combat vehicle. that said, on a swampy world, a modern half track would be a good logistics vehicle. although with modern drive by wire controls, a fully tracked vehicle is pretty easy to drive. It's another off-shoot of the massive fictional world I'm developing, which is pretty much reached OCD levels at this point. The world is meant to be like ours, but is different due to a variety of factors above and beyond what companies I have and haven't been able to include as I try to come up with lawyer-friendly substitute brand names. Part of the difference is that in some regards, technology has gotten a bit better than where we are, such as the F-19 fighter being a real aircraft that was simply in development hell for an extended period as it bounced between companies ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-19 ) but which is now being fielded by the USAF... in support of the F-16, F-111, and A-10, all of which are still in active production and simply have had the snot upgraded out of them. The same company that pulled off making the F-19 real is the same company that managed to field a fully functional "hover tank" (basically, a hovercraft the size of a luxury sedan with a .50 machine gun, a 7.62mm machine gun, and six anti-tank missiles). So it'd be within their capabilities to convert an existing truck chassis over to halftrack for military purposes, especially since one of their divisions makes trucks. ...But then again, this is a world where hover tanks are now a thing, giving tactical advantage to the US military not just on water, but also on sand, snow, and swamp, the three terrain types where halftracks would have had an advantage. So halftracks are largely irrelevant in this setting. In our world though, the only hovercraft available are large cargo haulers and personal novelty water craft, and we've yet to find that middle ground. So could halftracks return as a stopgap until we do? Hence my question. the biggest avantages tracklayers have over hovercraft are their lateral control, and their visibility (and lack of visual profile) put simply, a hovercraft will always sideslip downhill and to the outside of a corner. a tracklaying vehicle won't until the sidehill gets much steeper or the corner gets shorter. a hovercraft, until you get repulsorlift, will always make a cloud of dust or spray, potentially impairing the driver's vision and making it easier to see coming. tracklayers won't kick up so much. the biggest disadvantage tracklayers have is the faster you drive them, the fsster the track has to go to get back to the front of the track section. that's why the fastest tracked vehicles are in the 60 MPH range. and then, of course, when you build a half track, you are combining the disadvantages of a tracked and a wheeled vehicle; and the only advantage the half track gives is easier steering design, and longer wheelbase without the attendant challenges of steering long tracks. - but an articulated fully tracked vehicle also makes easy steering and long wheelbase. so if you want hover tanks and tracked support trucks, by all means do it. the trucks can be slow and heavy but relatively reliable. |
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Post by ironhold on Aug 24, 2023 19:29:37 GMT
so if you want hover tanks and tracked support trucks, by all means do it. the trucks can be slow and heavy but relatively reliable. Tracked support vehicles like the snow cat already exist, so it wouldn't be beyond what we could do *today* to create fully-fledged cargo and fleet vehicles on a tracked chassis. |
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Post by the light works on Aug 25, 2023 0:59:03 GMT
so if you want hover tanks and tracked support trucks, by all means do it. the trucks can be slow and heavy but relatively reliable. Tracked support vehicles like the snow cat already exist, so it wouldn't be beyond what we could do *today* to create fully-fledged cargo and fleet vehicles on a tracked chassis. yes, there are tracked support vehicles. the most popular one is an articulated vehicle. it's pretty nimble and can go on most terrain. here is what looks to be its big brother: or you could take a modern tank running gear and make a heavy haul truck in either half track or articulated configurations. |
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Post by the light works on Aug 25, 2023 1:04:44 GMT
if you wanted to, you could even build convertible trucks
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Post by wvengineer on Aug 25, 2023 1:55:30 GMT
Here is another option. Strap-on wheel tred kits.
Another option is a tri-wheel setup like the Landmaster from Damnation Alley. The movie built a full scale, fully drive-able vehicle. They found that it actually was very good for off road driving. If you hit a ditch or big hole, the whole trianglular wheel assembly would rotate and climb out of it. That thing could easily climb over a 6 foot high rock.
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Post by the light works on Aug 25, 2023 13:37:53 GMT
I see shopping baskets with that wheel arrangement from time to time. I would think a vehicle with that wheel design wouldn't perform quite as well as he remembers it performing.
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