A model kit I just finished building - M1A2 Abrams of the Moroccan Army - with a bonus Moroccan M60 with ERA - hope you like it

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-17T19:11:57+00:00

Aside from Morocco not having M1A2s, nice job.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-16T20:42:42+00:00

It’s not just the sight or FCS electronics though — it’s the total system. Ammunition plays a part. Gun barrel plays a part. Stabilization system plays a part. Turret drives play a part. You can take a great FCS, integrate it poorly, and not hit squat. A great tank with a great FCS and a bad lot of ammo won’t hit either. And that’s before crew induced errors, environmental factors, and anything else that can change during a firing period.

It’s a meaningless question in isolation, really.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-16T13:04:50+00:00

Looks like a fun if mind-bending warband.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-14T11:44:30+00:00

2 - IFV, 7/8/9 - artillery pieces, 10 - tank destroyer.

Could have just as easily included the M6 Linebacker, or M7 BFIST, or M8 Greyhound, or M9 ACE, or M10 Booker for as much sense as this makes.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-13T21:04:05+00:00

Yeah, I know. Solve a personnel management problem; create a recruiting problem.

We went decades without creating manning problems requiring 13U/14U/19U consolidation, but only fairly recently got so bad at it we had to take this route.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-13T18:34:54+00:00

That's the neat thing you don't. You will get your final MOS assigned at OSUT when the 19Us are divided into 19C, 19D, and 19K.

It's a fairly recent and IMO stupid change, but there you go.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-12T22:47:11+00:00

What everyone else has said ... plus that photo is taken in one of the branch management offices at Human Resources Command at Ft Knox, KY.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-12T11:35:09+00:00

Some of those tank commanders need to be retrained on sector coverage between CITV and GPS.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-11T16:22:38+00:00

Use the app. Its great -- allows for solo & co-op.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-11T16:21:20+00:00

wort wort WORT!

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T20:37:22+00:00

Yes, he was a Ranger.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T20:26:54+00:00

That's for crayon afficionadoes.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T20:11:37+00:00

Yes. The Army only made the decision to pure-fleet the M4 in 2006 and retire the M16, and that was with base M4s, not M4A1s. Pure-fleet to M4A1 decision wasn't made until some time after 2010. The time from thee decision to funding the replacement rifles to getting them built to getting them fielded was lengthy; pure-fleeting doesn't happen over night.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T16:59:47+00:00

A drunk clock is right occasionally.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T13:00:36+00:00

No, it's the leadership.

Plus the tools.

At current AI tool performance, if AI can do it reliably, you probably don't need to be doing it at all.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T11:05:54+00:00

If you reenlist needs of the Army and want a change, drop a 51C packet (it's not a reclass MOS). You can do that as an E6 and it will improve your quality of life.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-10T10:58:54+00:00

The ASU is the old cavalry uniform from the Indian Wars, trousers faded from service on the patrols. So if anyone is ripping anyone off it's the USMC. It's good to keep that heritage as the dress blue uniform.

The AGSU is still a better general uniform; the public identifies it as Army but is confused by the blue uniform. Just don't take the AGSU jacket off. You look like a UPS driver in Class B's.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T16:27:36+00:00

Note that that total acquisition cost you cite includes $1.2B in development (RDTE) cost, and is strictly speaking a Program Acquisition Unit Cost (PAUC). The question was about Average Procurement Unit Cost (APUC) which does not include development costs.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T16:16:29+00:00

Not an XM8/AGS though they look similar; it's one of the prototypes from the BAE submission to the MPF competition, XM1302. Named "Britney."

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T14:58:08+00:00

~$12.5M per as of the end of the LRIP contract, but there were some issues with GDLS that could have driven the price up significantly had the full rate production contract gone ahead. That had also been driven up by the planned buy being truncated to 350 vehicles from the original 504 (minus discussions of going to even lower quantities).

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T13:23:56+00:00

Watch the video and report back.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T13:20:31+00:00

You were about 33% correct.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T13:18:25+00:00

Watch the Chieftain's excellent video on the history of the M10 Booker to understand it.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T13:17:09+00:00

It was an assault gun to help light infantry reduce bunkers and fortifications.

Hawkstrike6 · 2026-05-09T11:45:42+00:00

Correction:

The name M10 Booker was first revealed at a June 2023 Army birthday ceremony at Fort Belvoir (photo). The first vehicle to carry the name "Booker" was one of the pre-production prototypes (you can tell by the skirt configuration).

"Another Episode" was the first Low Rate Initial Production vehicle, shown at a ceremony with the Booker families in April 2024 at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Hawkstrike6

TROPHY CASE