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Subject:	Tanks or Power Armor
Newsgroups:	lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space
Date:	Tue, 24 Aug 2004 16:49:59 GMT
Highlighted:	(details)
Viewed:	2699 times

Hello everyone. I was checking out Ryan Wood’s Jade Empire Hong Hovertank post and he mentions that we have seen little in ground combat vehicles other than power suit. That got me thinking, when you have Power Suits available, should tanks be used / are they really needed? Can tanks add anything that power armor cannot?

As a power armor fan myself I believe that they can replace tanks and do a better job than mechanized armor. They can carry a diversity of weapons; they are a bipedal weapons platform system. They can access areas that tanks may not. They can perform “surgical” strikes and with less collateral damage. What do you think?

David Rabadan

Message has 14 Replies:

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) I think tanks will still remain useful as siege weapons, spearheading assaults, and general heavy battle. Power armor might be very useful for surgical strikes, and urban warfare. But in an open field, or over long distance, I think tanks will (...) (20 years ago, 24-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) I think so. Since a tank (I'm talking about real life MBTs, not hovertanks) is firmly situated on the ground, it is a more stable firing platform. Also, even if powersuits are eventually developed, I doubt that they will be able to carry the (...) (20 years ago, 24-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) Those are all powerful advantages but I think that tanks are more efficient at providing an armored and enclosed area because they're closer to a spherical shape than a power suit, and because they get mass fraction advantages. Anecdotally: (...) (20 years ago, 24-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) Another thought is maintainability and cost. Consider that WWII Germany was able to produce several tank destroyers for the cost of a single tank, simply because the expense of the turret went away. As the end of WWII approached and money (...) (20 years ago, 24-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) That entirely depends on what technology you want to speculate on. Power armor would require an incredibly powerful and small power source. I suppose that is a given if you are saying that power armor would exist. The problem with power armor (...) (20 years ago, 24-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) I used to think that bipedal war machines had absolutely no advantages over their tank-al equivalents beyond "wow" factor (and face it, getting your enemy to say, "wow, that's cool that they can do that," just before he blows you to kingdom (...) (20 years ago, 25-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) I don't know jack about real-world tank design and specifications, and haven't given much thought to potential powersuit concepts, but this has been a very cool discussion to read all day. I certainly see a place for tanks in the future, as (...) (20 years ago, 25-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
Very interesting discussion everyone. In my opinion, MBT's will always have the advantage over powersuits in terms of cross country mobility, firepower and protection. There are a few situations where a single man powersuit would have significant (...) (20 years ago, 25-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) Since power suits are near future sci-fi and we are talking about tanks everyone should check out Keith Laumer's Bolo series. It concerns a really cool (and scary in many dimensions) future military developement idea: Bolo's Giant tanks run by (...) (20 years ago, 25-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) This is an interesting discussion that I've seen before in other places, but never commented on before, so I figured I'd add my own $.02. Most of the time, it seems that the comparison is made between future power armor systems and current (...) (20 years ago, 26-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
To offer a different POV, I believe that power armor should be used in space as an asset to ship-to-ship combat operations as commandos or raiders It could also be used in a repair role where dexterity is needed but the area is too dangerous for a (...) (20 years ago, 26-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
I'm surprised no one so far has answered the "tanks or power armor" question by saying, "missiles!" As information, positioning, sensor, and guidance technology continues to improve, it gets easier and easier to hit a ground-based target from long (...) (20 years ago, 27-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
I believe that tanks will stay in service, but will eventually face competition from PA. Many people have justified that the size of MECHA will keep tanks in service, bypassing the issue that even the modern PA is still roughly human sized. While a (...) (20 years ago, 28-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

		Re: Tanks or Power Armor
(...) None of these statements about Power Armor can be considered factual as none are in existance, nor are they being used by ANY military for tests or used in actual combat. You'd be amazed at how powerful REAL LIFE weapons can be. Ever thought (...) (20 years ago, 28-Aug-04, to lugnet.off-topic.geek, lugnet.build.mecha, lugnet.space, FTX)

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