Why aren't half-tracks used anymore? They were absolute kino.
Why aren't half-tracks used anymore? They were absolute kino
Jose Flores
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Connor Miller
the worst of both worlds with no benefit
still looks kick ass though
Samuel Davis
too dependent on logistics when we've had large increase in wheeled mobility, redundancy and suspension. Optional tracked addition for back alley, mountainous or amphibious raids could be useful though.
Ryder Russell
Tracks are better on soft surfaces.
Wheels are more fuel efficient everywhere else.
Blake Stewart
the purpose of a half-track was to build a vehicle which offered better traction in soft surfaces than a wheeled truck, but also didn't require special training to drive. There was a need for that during a massive world war, but there is not much of a need for it now.
Yep.
Robert Price
btw the reason they were built is so they turn better with shorter tracks
Eli Russell
The reason half-tracks existed was because we needed to rush tracked vehicles into service but couldn't train drivers in time. Overall, they're basically tracked vehicles with bad ground pressure distribution.
Joseph Cruz
Decidedly not. Wheels meant that it turns like a car when most tanks could lock one tread and turn on the other. Shorter tracks might allow better turning but that's entirely wasted due to the wheels.
Ethan Brooks
also driving a modern tracked vehicle has gotten simpler than the track vehicles of the WWII timeframe
Nolan Gonzalez
Solution to a problem with better solutions now
Isaiah Cooper
>turn better with shorter tracks
They were infamous for flipping-over when turned at speed
Josiah Ward
all half-track open battle taxis were discovered to be death wagons due to thin armor and no protection from air-bursts
Easton Hughes
Its a shame the M3 Scout Car (from which the Halftrack descended) didn't evolve.
Its closer philosophically to the up-armored Humvee
Evan Sanchez
Ian Hernandez
Jordan Rivera
Josiah Jenkins
Julian Butler
Is it me or is the Sd.Kfz._251 way more aesthetic?
Nicholas Taylor
I mean I like the camo pattern and it looks a bit more mean and faster. Definitely the asthetic of the side most people say is technologically advanced
Angel White
I always liked the look of the btr-152
Also Google = Skynet and Boston Dynamics = Cyberdyne Systems; fuck capcha
Jaxon Thomas
>Sd.Kfz._251
that and the panther are some of the most iconic of the war just add Sherman's jeeps, t34s, me109s, spitfires and p51s and you have the normies entire view of the European theatre
Elijah Smith
Not during the second world war. Good way to detrack your tank.
Gabriel Baker
They still got stuck in the mud and lost all power on turns anyways.
Owen Russell
>the maintenance requirements of tracks
>the turn radius of wheels
If you can build a half-track, you're better off building a fully tracked vehicle.
Half tracks were an answer to technical limitations that don't exist anymore.
Angel Watson
Because they sucked and 4x or 6x vehicles do everything they do, but better.
Jose Russell
The quad 50s half Tracks. God tier!
Ryan Morris
you look like ass
Landon Bell
Gotta love the angular design its almost other worldly, american shit was always to box like
Nathaniel Jenkins
Why does the halftrack have a panther turret, would not the weight mean it's to slow to be useful?
Jayden Walker
Deemed too based for our modern sensibilities.
Lincoln Diaz
Only if it's a really shitty tank. See those triangular teeth on the tread? Those go behind the drive sprocket to keep the tread in line.
Sebastian Morales
>when you watch rescuers down under as a kid and think half tracks are the shit
>only to find out theyre extinct
Robert Morris
People have already stated it but a good analogy is that back in the day, particularly circa WW2, if you were going to make a cross-state trip, you could expect to need to change your tier 2-3 times. Nowadays, you have infinitely more durable tires that can almost perform to the same standards as caterpillar tracks given additional support from the suspension and such.
Nicholas Ortiz
We talkin' a state like Rhode Island or a state like Texas. There's a bit of a difference.
But I get your point. Hell, with modern 6X6s and 8X8s you can loose wheels and not give a damn.
Asher Adams
You're right that modern tires are a lot more durable than older ones were, but that's not the point of a half-track.
They didn't use tracked vehicles to avoid punctures, they did it to lower ground pressure. Tracks don't sink into soft ground anywhere near as badly as tires do. Modern tires are a lot more durable than old ones were, but their ground pressure is no better.
Tires are cheaper, more fuel efficient, easier to service, quieter, and generally better all around except for ground pressure. The only time to use tracks over tires is if the vehicle is too heavy for the ground it is meant to operate on.
Easton Martin
It's just a factor in the whole equation. Regarding your second point, I also tried to address that. Things like mudding tires and other seriously off-road capable variants, while again not being a true equal, can bring you very damn close to the same performance. Hence 8x8 APCs are the new trend.
Oliver Turner
Nathaniel Kelly
Didn't differential lock basically nullify the point of a half track, more-or-less? Seems odd that around the time it was patented, half-tracks basically disappeared.
Mason Gray
>can bring you very damn close to the same performance
It depends on what kind "performance" you're talking about. No, they will never give you anywhere close to the same kind of ground pressure as tracks. That's basic math. Otherwise? Yes.
Blake Campbell
A differential lock has nothing to do with ground pressure, so no.
Also, diff locks are old tech. They have existed for long before half-tracks. The point of a half-track is a vehicle with low ground pressure which could be driven by a drafted soldier with minimal training.
If you need low ground pressure you still need tracks.
Mason Sullivan
Yes this is why you can actually let a tank drive over you with no damage to yourself, the weight is spread over so much surface.
Kayden Barnes
The M3 needed roads to get around and mainland Europe and Russia were shitholes with barely any road infrastructure at the time.
Ryan Barnes
You forgot bombers.
David Bennett
Tanks certainly have high enough ground pressure to crush shit, but it would be far worse with wheels.
Parker Brooks
My great-grandfather was the gunner on one of those during the Normandy campaign. He never even saw an enemy plane though. They just drove him around, using the Quad 50 to chew up German bunkers and houses instead. He did that for like three straight months until his vehicle ran over a mine and he nearly lost his leg in the explosion. They sent him back to England after that.
Jason Gray
The 251 looks like shit compared to the 250 (alt).
t. biggest wehraboo around
Christopher Collins
at least his deal was better than the AA gunners at Chosin, they were the only thing stopping the Army from getting over ran. The M16s and M19s were never destroyed from enemy fire, they simply ran out of ammo before the Chinese ran out of men.
Alexander Bennett
All solved by multi axle dualies
Ethan Bailey
Mmmm, potatoes.
Matthew Carter
Do not remind me
Julian Cook
how the shit does this work? Why did they think this was a good idea?
Brandon Martinez
the sherman couldn't pivot turn
Jaxson Adams
Old friend of my dad was a gunner on one in Korea. He said they couldn’t spin the mount fast enough to track the early Migs when they were in range. He also mentioned having to move the track a vehicle length every half hour so the treads wouldn’t freeze to the ground. Then he got really drunk and wouldn’t talk about it anymore.
Ethan Collins
Ugly
Isaiah Martin
the turret could rotate at 60 degrees/sec. even if the plane was relatively close (say, 500 m) and flying exactly perpendicularly to the m16, it would have to be traveling at 2545 kph to evade the m16's tracking potential if i've done the math correctly.
Michael Martin
For mah boomers
Cameron Butler
Caleb Baker
Fuck
Jack Lopez
Considering great-grandpa spent the remainder of the war banging his pregnant fiancé in a town in Southern England, I'd say he definitely got the better deal.
Tyler Long
Maybe irrelevant, but I have never seen those ammo cans before. They were exclusively used with that quad?
Sebastian Lee
Retard begone.
Easton Torres
M16s were always a terror in COH2 Spearhead.
Ayden Wood
It couldn't Neutral Steer. Few WW2 tanks could. However, virtually every tank ever built could lock one tread and run the other. It's practically a requirement to turn at all because tanks don't have pivoting wheels like cars do.
...Except the BT- series. Christie really wanted a racing tank.
Jonathan Evans
Sounds about right. .50s were actually underpowered for AA work. On the other hand they were DEATH to anything softer than a tank.
Easton Ortiz
Too bad it sucked.
Who's fucking idea was it to make a REAR WHEEL DRIVE ONLY halftrack? There was no reason not to bolt a transfer case and a live front axle to the drivetrain. None whatsoever.
Adrian Morris
Halftracks were made before a 4x4, 6x6 wheel differential was invented. Guess what happened next?
Luke Hughes
Sounds comfy actually. Is vehicle gunner the comfiest job in the military?
Noah Walker
You've got it the wrong way around, the CCKW wants a word with you. We had PLENTY of 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 trucks at that time with power to all wheels. Half tracks aren't a compromise with being able to make trucks, they were made because we needed FULL track battle wagons and we couldn't make them simple nor reliable enough, nor could they neutral steer effectively. By going with a half track instead, it allowed designers and manufacturers to get away with much simpler and less costly running gear, automotive driveline components, much less maintenance and much simpler training. If an M113-like vehicle was technically and logistically feasible in 1941 we would have had them instead of M3s.
Andrew Hernandez
Depends on the vehicle.
Daniel Sanders
Depends on the probability of anyone shooting back.
Christian White
I think they were used in naval AA guns to if I remember correctly
Logan Nelson
I looked it up. They are referred to as 'tombstone' M2 Ammunition Chests and take 200 rounds each. The M45 guns were tested navally in the Pacific but were considered as too weak and slow for picking down Kamikazes. Maybe not so strange; the wiki indicates that only two barrels were fired at a time while the other two cooled down.
Austin Wright
It worked great actually. Fantastic light tractor. Used the shit out of them at airfields as flightline tugs and elsewhere for transport and short distance towing duty.
Zachary Thompson
Notably best at killing infantry and light vehicles.
Kayden Campbell
IT CUTE!
Cameron Murphy
Multi axle trucks help, but a) they existed during WWII as well, and b) they are still not as low ground pressure as a tracked vehicle is.
Logan Watson
Just because the turret can traverse that fast doesn't mean the human gunners can react that fast.
Alexander Watson
in WW2, driving a tracked vehicle was hard. half-tracks on the other hand were driven like trucks
after WW2, they figured out how to make driving a tracked vehicle like driving a truck. thus half-tracks disappeared from the earth.
Robert Reyes
*Chuckles in kangaroo RAM*
Aiden Baker
Apparently it was in mountainous terrain. I’m assuming there was a very small window of opportunity to engage after the target was identified and tracked.