Poster Comment:
Scott Ritter interviewed. Abrams tanks require 3 hours of maintenance for every hour of combat. So if these tanks got to Poland, they would need to go across Ukraine to the Donbass, survive 10 hours of combat, then be sent to Poland for repair and then returned to the Donbass.
The Abrams tank has a modified jet turbine engine. Few people know how to repair it. It is a turbine and sucks in a lot of air which is fine for a jet 15,000 feet in the air. But it requires a lot of maintenance because it is sucking in air at ground level.
It takes 22 weeks to train a tank crew member. They will require NATO personnel to run them and fix them.
#1: Pinguinite To: Horse (#0)
That's very surprising to me, but maybe it shouldn't be. Our defense industry loves making super sophisticated war machines as they are more expensive and profitable, but I think they forget, or more likely, do not care that actual combat conditions makes such maintenance difficult or unaccessible. There is something to be said for keeping military vehicles of whatever sort all of: low cost -- so far more units can be purchased -- low maintenance and less sophisticated so it can continue to operate in harsh combat conditions.
This F-35, the B-2 and new Spirit bomber are so incredibly expensive and sophisticated that there will only ever be a few dozen made and in a full scale war, will not be able to be operated much of the time. Our military has become so accustomed to fighting wars where we have safe spaces to keep the planes and do this kind of maintenance, but in a full scale war with Russia, those places won't exist.
Pinguinite posted on 2023-02-01 10:27:40 Reply Private Reply
#2: Horse To: Pinguinite (#1)
The Abrams tank sucks in a lot of air and hence particulates.
Horse posted on 2023-02-01 12:06:05 Reply Private Reply
#3: TommyTheMadArtist To: Horse (#0)
TommyTheMadArtist posted on 2023-02-01 12:37:12 Reply Private Reply
#4: Pinguinite To: Horse (#2)
I'm far from knowledgable on the details of turbine engines though.
Pinguinite posted on 2023-02-01 12:45:32 Reply Private Reply
#5: Horse To: Pinguinite (#4)
Horse posted on 2023-02-01 14:51:05 Reply Private Reply
#6: Esso To: Pinguinite (#4)
I was looking at the turbo impeller on a buddy's Cat 3406E semi engine. Even with filters installed they spin so fast that even sub micron dust that gets past the filters erodes away the impeller blades.
I'd suspect turbine blades have the same problem, but I'm not sure they can be filtered very effectively given the volume of air and being used in dirty ground conditions.
Snowblowers don't bother with air filters because there's no dust around, likewise, aircraft aren't subject to dirty conditions while aloft.
Esso posted on 2023-02-01 15:38:53 Reply Private Reply
#7: StraitGate To: Esso (#6)
The guy got really offended, upset, and animated for a minute, because he thought the prof was mocking him! The "Iran hostage crisis" was going on, and there was a lot of anti-Middle Eastern sentiment and epithets (e.g., "sand nigger!") about campus. And, as I recall, back then few Americans appreciated any difference between Persians and Arabs.
We were pretty good friends, that crazy Arab and I.
StraitGate posted on 2023-02-01 16:03:44 Reply Private Reply
#8: Esso To: StraitGate (#7)
I guess it's just a slo-motion sandblast with a super fine media.
Esso posted on 2023-02-01 16:19:42 Reply Private Reply
#9: StraitGate To: Esso (#8)
"How many complete polishing cycles do you think my girls would get through before they lose interest?"
His answer: "Zero."
StraitGate posted on 2023-02-01 17:02:35 Reply Private Reply