Quote:
Originally Posted by wulfir
Not knowing anything about the author(s) I was surprised to read about the use of the SPA Gun 2S1 in the assault gun and anti-tank role by both the Russians and Ukranians...(?)
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No surprise there, mentioned by Isby in his book "Weapons and tactics of the Soviet Army", 1981. His schematic of the attack shows the attached battery of 122mm SP following 3-4000 yards behind.
USSR is quite happy even to use towed 122mm firing over open sights in an attack support mode, and they also use the current SPAs for that job as well, just like they used the SUs in WW2.
Makes sense, if fighting on open terrain where you can see for greater distances than inf-ATGM range (circa 2000m) to hold back just outside that and pulverise any that do show themselves. SP 122mm can displace more easily than the towed ones of course.
Against that, I suppose the light inf-atgm should be positioning themselves behind blocking terrain (hills, woods, villages) , aiming to fire flanking shots into the exposed flanks of any penetrations made.
122mm HE is a decent killer of lightly armoured vehicles as well, according to the report. It is also good in the game I have found against tin-plated APC and IFV. But then again, in WW2 I am perfectly happy to fire SU-152 HE onto tigers. The 6 inch bricks can deal with them, and it clears any surrounding infantry at the same time while at least giving the big cats a headache!
In MBT, I generally prefer cheap light tin-plated APCS like the BTR-60/80s or Saracens, to give my guys
protected mobility only. I also tend to get the grunts out and walk over the last few yards too, using the mobility to get to a hidden debussing point near to the objective. I'm not a great fan of tin-plated IFV, nor any IFV with tiny dismount squads (7 or less bayonets say). They tend to die too quickly against tanks and other IFV if you put them out in the open and try to fight with them. The only useful IFV have decent protection IMHO - such as the Israeli models. And since the whole point of APC/IFV is the infantry they carry, then they have to carry a useful squad size too (8-10 dismounts).
IFV though are very nice to have if the enemy doesn't have
too many, or high tech, MBT. And also has mainly APC mounted infantry. So South Africa with Ratel vs Cubans say. But if Cuba turns up with lots of the laser equipped model of the T55, it can be slaughter for the Ratels...