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Hahahaha Bowman...my god do British soldiers get lumped with totally shit, overly expensive equipment - often made by a British government jobs scheme (sorry I
by secfirstmd 9y ago
Hahahaha Bowman...my god do British soldiers get lumped with totally shit, overly expensive equipment - often made by a British government jobs scheme (sorry I mean defence contractor). The amount of times I've politely smiled when getting a demo of kit like the Bowman, SA80, various rubbish body armour and webbing designs, Snatch Landrovers, etc etc
This is a very good book on the topic:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions,_Donkeys_and_Dinosaurs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions,_Donkeys_and_Dinosaurs
- philjohn 9y agoI'll have you know the SA80 is now pretty decent, granted, it's been redesigned for us by the Germans though ... A lot of the issue, especially with things like the Snatch, is that they were designed to get around quickly, hence minimal armour, but in modern theatre of war against insurgents planting IED's it breaks down totally. Same issue with the Eurofighter Typhoon - great A2A, but awful for what's needed now, with is A2G.
- secfirstmd 9y agoIMHO its rubbish from the start. The SA80 was LA's attempt to build a Steyr Aug and completely failed.
- peteri 9y agoSee also https://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Category:British_Military_Procurement_Mysteries https://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Category:British_Military_Procu... Warning content contains squaddie humour potentially NSFW.
- gaius 9y agoThe boots problem is basically solved at last, Altbergs are excellent