Leon,
Sorry about the extended moment of silence, but for the past week I've been pleasantly occupied and haven't had much to complain about. I've been spending my free time watching Japanese TV dramas and a hysterical BBC sitcom called "The IT Crowd."
Now, penny for my thoughts: I recently had the chance to play around with the RG-31, one of the Army's new toys. This piece of equipment is a large SUV-style vehicle that comes heavily armored with portholes in the thick windows that can be fired from.
It's been seen to survive IEDs and is predicted to drastically reduce the deaths of American soldiers like myself. However, the gravy on those potatoes is the fact that the vehicle is equipped with remote-controlled .50-cal or Mark 19 turrets that can be fired from the safety of the inside of the vehicle, via a joystick and computer screen.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it is.
Despite these advantages, the vehicle has its defects. First of all, let me point out that I now know what a sardine actually feels like — minus being dead of course.
The vehicle can be configured to accommodate 10 personnel, but ours had room for the driver, the Truck Commander, the gunner and four passengers. Now, being the former three of that list isn't really a problem. It's the passengers that have it the worst.
There are two seats that line each side of the back of the vehicle, each one just barely large enough to conform to my ass — and I am by no means a large person. Add the fact that there's roughly an inch of space between each side-by-side seat and about one-and-a-half feet between the opposing seats. This fact left me shoulder-to-shoulder with the guy next to me and sharing the experience of having someone's knee, and my weapon, in my crotch with the guy across from me.
The top hatches on this vehicle can be pushed open, allowing soldiers to stand up to provide fire from outside the vehicle, with the armored hatch providing cover. Of course, as is the case with the seating, there's barely enough room for two. When the time finally came to exit the vehicle through the new-fangled hydraulic back door, it felt great to work some feeling back into my left leg and ass cheek.
This brings me to actually exiting the vehicle, which is a timely and cramped task, making the procedure sorely inefficient, should it be required in a firefight.
Now, you may be thinking, "What about the turret?" Yes, the turrets provide excellent coverage and suppressive fire, but this brings me to the next issue: reloading said turret.
Having had first-hand experience with this weapon allows me to say that its accuracy is something to be envied, and applying the three-round burst to any target with the .50-caliber munitions is more than enough to neutralize the opposition before having to reload. However, in the case that you do have to reload, you're looking at a genuine Matrix: Revolutions situation.
Any available soldier will have to climb on top of the vehicle, break open an ammo box, and reload the ammunition cache and weapon before it can open fire again. If the weapon malfunctions, it's usually an easy fix.
I do have to give credit where it's due, though. Provided there's a convoy of these vehicles — maybe four or so, like I had — the problems I've listed above most likely won't be much of an issue. But let's hope this new piece of equipment does what it's designed to do. Namely, protect us and neutralize the opposition.
Peace,
Feelgoode
Sorry about the extended moment of silence, but for the past week I've been pleasantly occupied and haven't had much to complain about. I've been spending my free time watching Japanese TV dramas and a hysterical BBC sitcom called "The IT Crowd."
Now, penny for my thoughts: I recently had the chance to play around with the RG-31, one of the Army's new toys. This piece of equipment is a large SUV-style vehicle that comes heavily armored with portholes in the thick windows that can be fired from.
It's been seen to survive IEDs and is predicted to drastically reduce the deaths of American soldiers like myself. However, the gravy on those potatoes is the fact that the vehicle is equipped with remote-controlled .50-cal or Mark 19 turrets that can be fired from the safety of the inside of the vehicle, via a joystick and computer screen.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it is.
Despite these advantages, the vehicle has its defects. First of all, let me point out that I now know what a sardine actually feels like — minus being dead of course.
The vehicle can be configured to accommodate 10 personnel, but ours had room for the driver, the Truck Commander, the gunner and four passengers. Now, being the former three of that list isn't really a problem. It's the passengers that have it the worst.
There are two seats that line each side of the back of the vehicle, each one just barely large enough to conform to my ass — and I am by no means a large person. Add the fact that there's roughly an inch of space between each side-by-side seat and about one-and-a-half feet between the opposing seats. This fact left me shoulder-to-shoulder with the guy next to me and sharing the experience of having someone's knee, and my weapon, in my crotch with the guy across from me.
The top hatches on this vehicle can be pushed open, allowing soldiers to stand up to provide fire from outside the vehicle, with the armored hatch providing cover. Of course, as is the case with the seating, there's barely enough room for two. When the time finally came to exit the vehicle through the new-fangled hydraulic back door, it felt great to work some feeling back into my left leg and ass cheek.
This brings me to actually exiting the vehicle, which is a timely and cramped task, making the procedure sorely inefficient, should it be required in a firefight.
Now, you may be thinking, "What about the turret?" Yes, the turrets provide excellent coverage and suppressive fire, but this brings me to the next issue: reloading said turret.
Having had first-hand experience with this weapon allows me to say that its accuracy is something to be envied, and applying the three-round burst to any target with the .50-caliber munitions is more than enough to neutralize the opposition before having to reload. However, in the case that you do have to reload, you're looking at a genuine Matrix: Revolutions situation.
Any available soldier will have to climb on top of the vehicle, break open an ammo box, and reload the ammunition cache and weapon before it can open fire again. If the weapon malfunctions, it's usually an easy fix.
I do have to give credit where it's due, though. Provided there's a convoy of these vehicles — maybe four or so, like I had — the problems I've listed above most likely won't be much of an issue. But let's hope this new piece of equipment does what it's designed to do. Namely, protect us and neutralize the opposition.
Peace,
Feelgoode
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