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Mike DZ Profile picture
Mike DZ
@rude_mechanic
Redoubling my efforts to make this station operational as planned. Tanks, ships, missiles and lasers. All views my own.
Jan 31, 2023 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Lots of us have been commenting negatively on the British Army’s Future Soldier structures - and specifically the lack of ‘punch’ in its Heavy Bde Combat Teams.

I suspect new fantasy fleets isn’t on the cards anytime soon - so what might be a realistic get-fit plan now?
🧵 1/7 First off - let’s make some realistic assumptions as to what would be achievable with minimal impact:
- no ‘new’ equipment acquisition
- no change in overall liability
- no change to Arms & Services liability
- no (major) change to basing
2/7
Jan 18, 2023 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
In some recent threads about sending MBTs to 🇺🇦, the possibility of a ground-zero approach to MBTs has been discussed, followed by a suggesting to go all-in on a ‘next-gen’ tank.

I’ve been a bit sniffy on some of these, but prompts the question “what’s a next-gen MBT?” 🧵 1/ Tanks such as Challenger 2, M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2 (to name but a few), are generally considered 3rd generation.

No real convention to this, but they generally share similar characteristics:
- Integrated ‘complex’ armour
- >120mm high-pressure gun
- Digital FCS
- TI sights
Dec 27, 2022 • 22 tweets • 9 min read
Bit of talk about Mastiff recently. Lots of pros and cons for ditching the fleet - which I’m not going to get into (at least initially!) - but I thought this might be an opportune moment for a trip down memory lane before another Christmas makes it too fuzzy…
🧵 Note of caution: this is all from memory, and given that my official records from the time would have been classified - and inappropriate as a source - this is more a personal perspective than official record.
Jun 5, 2022 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
‘Coffins on Wheels’

The British Army took a lot of criticism from the press, public opinion, and - eventually - Chilcott over its continued use of Snatch Land Rover, and late development of Protected Patrol Vehicles.

Was it justified?
🧵 1/13 During summer ‘04, the threat in SE Iraq really began to ramp up beyond the usual SA/RPG/Molotov attacks - mostly driven by imported EFP IEDs.

2/13
Mar 6, 2021 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
Light Cavalry - a thread.
(Input from @thinkdefence @EdOBrien and others v welcome!)

Any officer or soldier joining the RAC in the last 5-10 years could be forgiven for assuming that Lt Cav is a traditional role, and that the Jackal platform was designed for the job... Light but heavily-armed vehicles have been part of the Army’s DNA for years - including the iconic vehicles of the SAS and LRDG in North Africa during WW2...