scott@graft.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) (03/14/91)
From: scott@graft.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) Newsweek March 18 has an article on Special Forces Op's in Iraq. There is a picture of one of the FAV's there. Now that I can get a better look at it (compared to the "fly-by" I saw on CNN), I can see that the middle gunner operates a large gun compared to the light machine gun mounted next to the driver. Perhaps this is a .50cal or 20mm even? The barrel is a lot thicker, but somewhat short. Also, there appears to be a missile tube mounted on top ... might be a Stinger, LAW, or TOW (looks to small to be a TOW though). Anyway, they said that one turned over in the desert, breaking the back of one of the crew. A chopper was sent in to get them, but tragically, the chopper crashed on the way back, killing all 7 on board. [mod.note: Could the large weapon be a 40mm grenade launcher ? Short, thick barrel hints at this. - Bill ] | Scott Silvey | Ronald Reagan to surgeons in emergency ward after | | scott@xcf.berkeley.edu | being shot: | | | | | Flames to /dev/null | "Please tell me you're Republicans." |
dl3a+@andrew.cmu.edu (Daniel Christopher Ladd) (03/15/91)
From: Daniel Christopher Ladd <dl3a+@andrew.cmu.edu> The March 1991 _Soldiers_ magazine had an article about the deactivation of the 9th LID, the original user of the FAV. The 9th, organized to test new motorized operational concepts, is being reduced to a single motorized infantry brigade, to be designated the 199th Inf Bde. However, there was also a sidebar about the FAV. Originally, about 250 were procured for the 9th. Due to a number of reasons, which included lack of protection, a gasoline engine (since the Army is moving to an all-diesel force), and a very, very limited cargo capability (which meant short endurance), the FAVs were paid off and transfered to the Air Force, which destroyed almost all of them as moving targets, operated by remote control. Two of the originals still are in use by the Army, one outside the HQ of one of the Infantry Battalions at Ft. Lewis as a static display, and the other in the Ft. Lewis base museum. A civilian bought some of the wrecked ones from the Air Force and refurbished them, selling them as a museum/novelty type of vehicle. Daniel Ladd U.S. Army ROTC Carnegie Mellon University/ University of Pittsburgh
scott@sting.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) (03/15/91)
From: scott@sting.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) scott@graft.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) writes: |> I can see that the middle |> gunner operates a large gun compared to the light machine gun |> mounted next to the driver. Perhaps this is a .50cal or 20mm even? |> The barrel is a lot thicker, but somewhat short. |> |> [mod.note: Could the large weapon be a 40mm grenade launcher ? |> Short, thick barrel hints at this. - Bill ] I'm pretty sure it wasn't a grenade launcher. It had a flash suppressor. Oh, and the barrel wasn't a _LOT_ thicker, I meant "a lot thicker" in the mild sense of the phrase ;^) /-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ | Scott Silvey | Ronald Reagan to surgeons in emergency ward after | | scott@xcf.berkeley.edu | being shot: | | | | | Flames to /dev/null | "Please tell me you're Republicans." | \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
jeff@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (JEFF NANIS ) (03/18/91)
From: jeff@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (JEFF NANIS ) From what I've been told by friends who work in the fighting vehicle design biz for the Army, a principal reason the FAV never made it big was that the suspension wasn't meant for extra armor and armaments. This in turn led to severe kidney damage in a number of the soldiers who tested it. Any nephrotic ex-9th IDers out there who can confirm or deny?
paul@rutgers.edu (Paul Moody) (03/20/91)
From: cscnj!paul@rutgers.edu (Paul Moody) In article <1991Mar14.035453.26969@cbnews.att.com>, scott@graft.Berkeley.EDU (Scott Silvey) From writes: > > Newsweek March 18 has an article on Special Forces Op's in Iraq. There is > a picture of one of the FAV's there. ...deleted... > Anyway, they said that one turned over in the desert, breaking the back of > one of the crew. A chopper was sent in to get them, but tragically, the > chopper crashed on the way back, killing all 7 on board. Later news reports are that 2 of the crew survived. One was the female major with 2 broken arms. The other survivior was too injured to participate in the welcome home ceremony for POW's. On a related note though, there have been a number of postings claiming that all FAV's were destroyed when the 9th LID was deactivated, yet clearly they exist. Is there anyone who can definitively identify these vehicles? -- Paul Moody UUCP: rutgers!cscnj!paul Computer Sciences Corporation PHONE: (908)562-6529 # the opinions expressed are entirely imaginary #