tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21894908.post5207583064427077765..comments2023-11-01T02:19:14.796-05:00Comments on Elements Of Power: Bazooka: ‘Magnificent Weapon’ or a ‘Crapshoot Fielded Too Soon’?SMSgt Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08126690689798203866noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21894908.post-36776734307088684442012-07-09T21:36:25.703-05:002012-07-09T21:36:25.703-05:00Thanks Don! I'm looking for an opportunity to ...Thanks Don! I'm looking for an opportunity to revisit this subject and am planning to use your observations concerning your Fulda Gap days.SMSgt Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08126690689798203866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21894908.post-91239551042404471942012-07-09T20:05:23.238-05:002012-07-09T20:05:23.238-05:00Great article.
Keep in mind that in the 30s, the...Great article. <br /><br />Keep in mind that in the 30s, the preeminent antitank weapon of the US was the 37mm cannon and the .50 caliber M-2 machine gun. The 37mm cannon was the same design as that mounted on the German Pzkw III, and that used by Polish cavalry against the Germans in 1939.<br /><br />Germans had independently invented shaped charges, but reserved them for combat engineers, placing them by hand against Belgian fortifications in 1940.<br /><br />US antitank defense was dominated by General Leslie McNair, and he correctly thought that the best answer was highly mobile large caliber guns. That line of thinking led to independent Tank Destroyer groups and battalions with the 75mm howitzer mounted on halftracks, as well as the M-10 Tank Destroyer with 3 inch gun, the M-18 Hornet TD with 76mm gun, and the M-36 (and M-36bis 2) TD with 90mm guns. Those were supplemented with towed 57mm guns. Infantry was provided with instructions on how to place grenades down open hatches, how to use ropes to pull mines on sleds in front of tank tracks, and how to throw bottles of gasoline onto the vehicle aft deck, all of which are more likely to get the infantryman hurt than to kill a tank.<br /><br />That was the state when the Bazooka was invented. It was a great advance, but insufficiently developed as you correctly point out. It was so good that when captured, the Germans turned it into two weapons. The Russians eventually copied it as the RPG, now seen around the world.Don Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06057058763094040058noreply@blogger.com