General Gavin's Ontos Tank saves USMC, Ingrates toss it

The Ontos is Lieutenant General James M. Gavin's idea from his 1947 book, "Airborne Warfare":

http://www.combatreform.org/airbornewarfare.htm

Project VISTA and General Gavin in the aftermath of the Korean war debacle where marines were running for their lives from bug-out airfields they had pre-planned in advance since their unarmored, wheeled trucks were road-bound and easily ambushed by communist peasants called for hundreds of C-124s/C-119s and Ontos tankettes to be purchased by the U.S. Army to adapt to limited wars. Using the new lightweight recoilless rifle, Gavin theorized a potent tank killer and bunker-buster could be fitted to a very light, air-transportable tracked, armored tank chassis to be the "Sky Cavalry" required to effect 3D maneuver:

http://www.combatreform.org/cavalryandidontmeanhorses.htm

Thus, Gavin's Ontos was finally born out of the Korean war USMC fiasco using early 1950's limited steel construction know-how and was thus thinly armored, and couldn't swim, but was light enough for air transport by plentiful USAF C-119 "Flying Box Cars" as the government footage and stills paid for by our tax dollars shows here. Its also clear in public domain materials that General Gavin--an U.S. Army General---not marines--created the Ontos light tank which he describes in detail in his 1958 book, "War and Peace in the Space Age":

http://www.combatreform.org/warandpeaceinthespaceage.htm

This may make lying and weak ego marines whine because it robs them of a chance to brag and take credit for themselves from someone else, but its true nonetheless.

However, by the mid-1950s LTG Gavin as Head of U.S. Army Research & Development had far superior aluminum alloy armored fighting vehicle technology which created the AR/AAV (M551 Sheridan light tank) and the AAM/PVF (M113 Gavin) all-terrain, very fast, cross-country and AMPHIBIOUS mobile armored personnel carrier with far greater mobility, firepower and protection than the thin steel, slow Ontos; in fact M113 Gavins are still winning battles today and into the far future. Thus, the Army did not buy the Ontos in large numbers building M113s and M551s instead. During the Vietnam war, the awesome M40 106mm recoilless rifle was fitted to many M113 Gavins to be "male" assault guns to blast enemy strongpoints in concert with "female" ACAV machine gun Gavins suppressing the enemy's possible RPG gunners for the former to take the kill shots--a combination the USMC never had though machine gun Ontos variants were offered.

While Army 82nd Airborne Paratroopers were using their M56 Scorpion light self-propelled 90mm guns to blast the Viet Cong and NVA with less firing signature and no back-blast,

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_coq_38acu4

Gavin's Ontos was saving the marines in countless battles in spite of their weak field craft (wearing white t-shirts in a war zone etc.). But even this bothered the weak rifleman, foot-slogger USMC ego so by 1969 all Ontos tankettes were retired and NOTHING PURCHASED IN THEIR PLACE. So much for marine bragging.

Want to know more?

Our book, "Air-Mech-Strike: Asymmetric Maneuver Warfare for the 21st Century" is ONLINE for FREE skyjacked by Google!

http://books.google.com/books?id=RCWtHnYZ0LMC&pg

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• M50
• ontos
• james
• gavin
• korean
• war
• usmc
• defeat
• airborne
• warfare
• air_mech_strike

[abubaseet]

Aside from the info about light tanks and whatnot, what do you have against marines?? You diatribe really takes away from what I THINK you're trying to talk about and instead seems cryptically petty and hateful.

[dynmicpara]

READ the video description the fucking idiot marines RETIRED the Ontos after using it as a bragging point; now they don't have a tracked assault gun.

I spent a decade in the USMC enlisted and officer so I have earned the right to conclude its a FUBAR outfit, so STFU.

[BlacktailFA]

It's interesting how the Ontos was derived from a armored humble tractor chassis --- not something today's spendthrift US military would ever consider.

[GunaMalaysia]

looks like swedish light tank.

[bugga101]

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