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Originally Posted by nero1234 Good comments, but I know of at least two other forms of propellant yet to be used in either gun or missile rounds and both hold considerable potential. As to rail guns, who knows if we'll ever see these operable and deployable in mobile assets in our lifetimes. |
Missile rounds have some problems.
1) They can be shot at quite long distances, however it means time between `fire` and `hit` increases enough for target to take countermeasures.
2) Missile needs to be guided, otherwise it will not hit the target. Guidance process implies using some revealing technologies - lighting up target with laser pointer (manual method) or using radar principles for target acquire (automatic or semi-automatic). Both emits electromagnetic impulses, which can be detected by target.
I.e., missile guidance technology warns a target of danger and relatively low speed of missile lefts some time for target to use countermeasures (flash impulse in direction of ATGM operator or smoke screen to blind him, radar jam impulse or just anti-missile defense system on the tank) to avoid hit.
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Ultimately, the MBT will most likely take the form of a semi autonomous advanced combat robotic. It could be done even now and the returns from the commercial applications of the component systems and their core technologies would vastly exceed the cost of production of a few thousand advanced MBTs of this type. Likewise the elimination of the human component in a MBT considerably reduces it's complexity and thus its cost. Tankers would still get to drive and shoot 'em but you could just as easily do it from home base. In the case of American forces, the operators could be sitting back home at their base of origin, whilst the tanks and their maintenance and logistics crews were deployed overseas. Vastly improves combat crew survivability don't you think?
Its not a joke, the technology concept paths for both a discreet communications system and high speed/capacity data processing systems has been thought out decades ago and was lightly touched on with both MCTL and DARPA years ago.
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But there is another problem, which appears by removing human element: a channel of permanent communication between tank and command center is needed. In war against `Al Qaeda` type low-tech enemy if could work, but more technical enemy eventually will find the way to jam or block this channel, and that most likely leads to lost of the tank.
Remote controlled tank is too dependent of such communication channel.