Captain Pies Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 A fairly light piece on the Jackal 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8011315.stm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicdain Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Interesting video, thanks for sharing. What is odd about the jackal is the low protection level of the personnel in the front seats. I mean, they don't even have a windshield against flies or mosquitos! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General_solomon Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Snipers will have a field day with the jackals. i would hate to be the driver or a passenger. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingknives Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Simple answer - don't put light recce vehicles in range of snipers without proper overwatch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivodsi Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Simple answer - don't put light recce vehicles in range of snipers without proper overwatch. Simple question: how do you know if there are no snipers out there? ok ok so jackals need overwatch, but that won't prevent the first shot of a sniper. In RL these vehciles have a specialised use, but this would be difficult (and prob v. boring) to replicate in the CM environment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietrich Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 What is odd about the jackal is the low protection level of the personnel in the front seats. I mean, they don't even have a windshield against flies or mosquitos! Perhaps the Jackal's dearth of armor protection would not seem odd, if it were taken in consideration that the less armor a vehicle has, the faster and more maneuverable it is. Snipers will have a field day with the jackals. i would hate to be the driver or a passenger. As opposed to someone huddling in the back amongst the Javelins and boxes of 5.56? Simple answer - don't put light recce vehicles in range of snipers without proper overwatch. Simple question: how do you know if there are no snipers out there? ok ok so jackals need overwatch, but that won't prevent the first shot of a sniper. Just because a sniper is out there and he gets an unhindered first shot doesn't mean he scores a hit. Just because the Jackal has little to no armor doesn't mean the men crewing it might as well be going on foot. Imagine this particular scenario: A sniper takes aim at the "bow" gunner of a Jackal and fires. Due to a number of factors, the shot misses by a few inches. The gunner flinches, reports to the driver that they're coming under aimed fire, and the driver speeds up, thus making them a hard(er) target. That said, I imagine that my Jackal crewmen will suffer not-insignificant casualties when they come into the crosshairs of Uncon snipers. In RL these vehciles have a specialised use, but this would be difficult (and prob v. boring) to replicate in the CM environment. Do you mean to say you wonder at the Jackal's inclusion in CM:SF? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Eddie- Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Sivodsi, I think the Jackal will be most useful in one of its main roles - Fire Support Group. 'The combined fire power of a troop of Jackals is an awesome thing.' Jackals in action The fact the Jackals' main purpose is to move over rough terrain and can move quickly (120kph road/80kph cross country) complements its huge amount of fire power well. Watch the video I posted above. If you were a sniper coming up against a group of these, would you take the shot? Bearing in mind by the time you get off one shot and acquire a new target GMGs, HMGs and GPMGs will be firing in your general direction. Even if it wasn't directly at you, grenades and heavy calibre weapons firing in your direction would make get away all but impossible. I think I also read about the Jackal 2 being given a stabilised weapons mount, though I may be wrong. Firing accurately on the move at high speeds would be very good news for the gunners on these things. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 A handy way to view this weapons system without the accompanying hype is to imagine that Jackal belongs to someone other than Britain. Like, imagine Iran had produced the vehicle and was putting out all these videos touting its performance. Or if it was the latest addition to the Chinese army, or the Mexican army. Would we still be saying "Hey, that's Jackal is way cool!" Eh, maybe we would. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivodsi Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Do you mean to say you wonder at the Jackal's inclusion in CM:SF? Oh God No! The more toys the better! My impression of the Jackal's kind of mission came from a doco I saw that followed a 4 vehicle platoon into the wild outback of Afghanistan. Their role was basically to get shot at so that they could ascertain the strength and disposition of the enemy. Well, they got shot at. Then they went home. No losses to speak of (apart from those caused by mechanical failure). It was an extremely interesting doco, and its something that could be modelled in CM, but to me at least it doesn't seem like a particularly fun thing to play. All IMHO, naturally. I'm sure some in the community would be enthralled by it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietrich Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 My impression of the Jackal's kind of mission came from a doco I saw that followed a 4 vehicle platoon into the wild outback of Afghanistan. Their role was basically to get shot at so that they could ascertain the strength and disposition of the enemy. Well, they got shot at. Then they went home. No losses to speak of (apart from those caused by mechanical failure). It was an extremely interesting doco, and its something that could be modelled in CM, but to me at least it doesn't seem like a particularly fun thing to play. I appreciate the entire spectrum of scenarios, from combined-arms slugfests complete with artillery and JDAMs on huge maps, all the way to low-intensity squad-level nail-biters (a la "To Ambush Or Not To Ambush?"). I figure that, once the British module arrives in my mailbox, I'll be making at least one Pathfinger-Platoon-patrol-through-the-wilds-of-Helmand-province scenario featuring a troop of Jackals. But I hope that by then they have adjusted the TacAI so vehicle gunners don't button up as soon as they start coming under fire -- that behavior definitely mitigates the survivability and battlefield effectiveness of light vehicles like Humvees and such. Imagine Iran had produced the vehicle and was putting out all these videos touting its performance. Or if it was the latest addition to the Chinese army, or the Mexican army. Would we still be saying "Hey, that's Jackal is way cool!" Eh, maybe we would. Were the Jackal to be featured on Future Weapons (which, for some reason, I doubt it would), I think it really would be a case of "Check out this vehicle; isn't it awesome?" As far as whether I think the Jackal is "way cool" or not . . . it's got more firepower than yer average Humvee (except, perhaps, for the TOW-armed variant), and it's just as mobile (as far as I can tell). Just because something is hyped up doesn't mean it isn't good kit -- you just have to take the hype with a grain (or three) of salt. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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