Sheridan

[William M. Aldo]

From "William M. Aldo" <nzt...@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil>

>From nt...@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
>
>In article <BzEzG...@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> dm...@dec5120a.ccs.northeastern.edu (Dave Mak) writes:
>
>>The 82nd still uses the Sheridan "Armored Recon Vehicle" with cannister rounds
>>used as recently as Panama.
>
>I think this was the Shillelagh missile. If I'm not mistaken it was
>fired out of the main gun somehow.
>
>What _is_ the Sheridan's main gun? How capable was the Shillelagh?

The Sheridan's gun is a 152-mm conventional gun/launcher. The Sheridan's desig-
nation used to be AARV, I don't know if that has changed over the years or not.
AARV for (correct me if I'm wrong;-) Armored Assault Reconnaissance Vehicle....
but then, I guess that could be Airmobile Assault Recon Vehicle.

The 152-mm gun/launcher was also the main weapon installed on the sh*tty piece
of junk that was called an M60A2. At least they wised up for the M60A3 and
went back to the 105-mm.

On the Cannister/Beehive issue: although they existed for the 105-mm in our
M60A1, they were not part of our combat load when I was in Germany...not really
needed at the time. We were more concerned with being outnumbered tank-to-tank,
so our 63 maingun rounds were HEAT, APDS, and HEP...mostly HEAT.

--

Mark Aldo UUCP: (osu-cis)!dsacg1!waldo INTERNET: wa...@dsac.dla.mil
"...Hotel Quebec Six Six...You are clear to begin your night run on
Range Eight Zero....Good luck, good shooting...Tower, out" -- radio
transmission from Control Tower - Range 80 at Grafenwoehr,Germany (TCQC 8/72)

[Rick Pavek]

From Rick Pavek <kury...@bcstec.ca.boeing.com>

In article <C017C...@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> "William M. Aldo" <nzt...@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil> writes:
>
>The 152-mm gun/launcher was also the main weapon installed on the sh*tty piece

In the 3rd ACR in the 70's we still had the M-551. Personally, I liked it
but it was an old piece... also, for a 6' to sleep inside the vehicle he
had to be a contortionist.

My fondest memory of the Sheridan's missile system was the caveat:

Thou shalt not fire the main gun if thou dost wish to fire remaining
missiles.

That was because firing the main gun created a shock that was almost
certainly going to knock the missile electronics out.

Biggest thrill: Firing missiles during stockpile tests. Most exciting:
The one that went straight up. (Or was it the one that dived less than
100m from the bunker...?)

Biggest wonder: Watching a lapse and seeing my former Sheridan exit
the C-130 and tumble across the LZ. Broke the machinegun mount clean off,
but after righting it the crew got a missile "go".

Biggest laugh: Watching the previous tank to the above go out too late
and nosedive from 450'. Creamed it so bad that the vehicle couldn't
be stripped for any parts. After this mission, LAPSE was verboten.

Biggest bonfire: When a cable under the turret floor snagged and ignited
the hydraulic fluid on the hull bottom. Bad? Sure. What was worse was
the vehicle had just cleared an ammo point for the next range run and was
full of live (not practice) main gun rounds. The crew felt they would be
more useful elsewhere and dismounted the tank in record time. (We called
it "Unassed the vehicle".) After burning for 10 minutes a torchlike flame
appeared from the open hatches and a few moments later the turret was blown
out of the turret ring by an explosion. Gee, I'd never seen aluminum melt
before... The ammo point was saved by the heroic efforts of the troop
commander who drove his vehicle between the ammo point and the problem
vehicle. We took a vote after that and awarded him the title of the
"CO with the biggest balls". Should have received at _LEAST_, an
ARCOM. Of course, since the tank was totaled/melted, and he was the
CO, and was responsible for the maintenance, they didn't. Go figure.

Most fun: Driving the M-551 in the El Paso desert at 2:00AM with no moon
at 30 MPH dodging sand dunes. I _knew_ there was a reason I joined the
army...

Rick Pavek
--
Rick Pavek | Never ask a droid to outdo its program.
kury...@bcstec.ca.boeing.com |
Seattle, WA | It wastes your time
| and annoys the droid.