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Anti Tank Vespa

en.wikipedia.org

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21–30 of 75 posts

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#21

Post by sio8ohPi »

RecycledEle wrote: post #7

Yes, we want you to take a motorcycle up against a tank. It's cheaper, you're expendable, and we will win with the budget we have. You joined the Legion to die, and we are sending you where you can do that. No, we do not cover you with life insurance.

The scooter is just a light, air-droppable vehicle for schlepping the gun around the battlefield to a location where it can be set up and ideally dug in. It's no different than moving a light artillery-piece with a jeep, a truck, a tractor, or a mule (except that a mule is going to object rather vehemently to being booted out of a plane).

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#23

Post by sio8ohPi »

trilbyglens wrote: post #20
StimDeck wrote: post #2

Sadly nothing about how it fared in combat.

Seeing as it was developed in the 1950s, it likely never saw combat.

There are various photos online that claim to show it in the field in Algeria during their war of independence. Given that it was used by French paras who were deployed there during that time, I have no particular reason to doubt those captions.

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#24

Post by golergka »

RecycledEle wrote: post #7

Yes, we want you to take a motorcycle up against a tank. It's cheaper, you're expendable, and we will win with the budget we have. You joined the Legion to die, and we are sending you where you can do that. No, we do not cover you with life insurance.

> a tank

Imprecise terminology often causes bad thinking. A “tank” could be a MBT, or it could be an armored personel carrier with very limited offensive capabilities.

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#26

Post by rpmisms »

perilunar wrote: post #18

> ...in an emergency it could be fired while in the frame, and while the scooter was moving. You'd have to have balls of steel to fire that thing while riding the scooter. It's recoilless, but you are sitting right on top of it.

Not to mention the blast from the missile after it leaves the tube, and the aerodynamic effects. I've fired a 9mm pistol from a moving motorcycle, and it's already tricky to maintain balance. Can't imagine this wouldn't end with the rider on the ground many feet away from the bike.

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#27

Post by meheleventyone »

rpmisms wrote: post #26
perilunar wrote: post #18

> ...in an emergency it could be fired while in the frame, and while the scooter was moving. You'd have to have balls of steel to fire that thing while riding the scooter. It's recoilless, but you are sitting right on top of it.

Not to mention the blast from the missile after it leaves the tube, and the aerodynamic effects. I've fired a 9mm pistol from a moving motorcycle, and it's already tricky to maintain balance. Can't imagine this wouldn't end with the rider on the ground many feet away from the bike.

It’s a recoilless rifle, the exhaust gases go out the back so the net force on the rider and bike would be pretty low. It’s also designed for transport, with the rifle statically deployed on a tripod rather than firing in motion.

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#28

Post by smartis2812 »

mzi wrote: post #12

In Sweden, like other developing nations, we had our soldiers cycling with their anti tank weapons (first picture): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_infantry

Which is much better for the environment. (Y) Kudos

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#29

Post by hutzlibu »

dragontamer wrote: post #3

Still a thing. https://www.eurasiantimes.com/electric-bikes-in-ukraine-are-...

A big improvement. A vespa is loud. A electric motorbike/bicycle is silent and way better offroad so greatly improves survival rates of teams using these in real combat.

Re: Anti Tank Vespa

#30

Post by rkagerer »

I've never had any interest in driving a scooter until now, but there's something tantalizing when I picture driving a big bazooka down my street.
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