Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkSheppard
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karagin
I have seen older reports of mixing all three ideas together, use the transports to drop the airborne and gliders into the area and then helicopters to support and evac wounded or bring in reinforcement at critical areas until ground forces linked up.
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By the 1950s, US Airborne Doctrine now centered around STOL capability for transports such as the C-82 and C-119. The idea now was to parachute in and seize something that could be used as an airfield or could be cleared away to act as one; and then using that as an "airhead" fly in the rest of the airborne division. |
Yes and the ideas were a mixed bag of thinking, but many of them never went anywhere. They had grand ideas, but even to this day they still can meet all of them. Keep in mind every 10 to 15 years, some pen-pushing officer comes up with the amazing idea of how air-droppable whatever and how it will revolutionize airborne thinking and warfare and it falls flat either on the overall cost of the plan how to pay for it, or the technology isn't there. Again look at the ideas of hover platforms for both the Air Cav infantry and the traditional infantry and how that never went beyond the testing stage, same with the Jetpacks, regardless of the cool testing the US and British Navies are doing with it, the cost will kill the idea.
Helicopters were seen under both lights, cool and new and expensive. Then came Vietnam and things changed overnight, lots of ideas got tested and all ended up dropped or mixed into the doctrine we saw from the mid-70s to currently. Same with Airborne operations, everyone in the Airborne Corps in the US from private to General wants another D-DAY or Market Garden where airborne forces will win the day in glory, etc...and yet warfare has changed too fast for that to happen again. Yes, the current think is dropping them in to gain strategic targets that can be used by following troops, but they are still light infantry with limited weapons and limited armor. Not saying gliders would fix the issue, but at the same time helicopters aren't the save technological winner either. Let me know when we have a dropship that puts an entire tank battalion on the ground with the same impact as an airborne landing...