I mean, the prime mover here is a kid, and the towed platform, according to that page, is only $119.99/unit.
At a 150 lb capacity, and an M252 mortar only needing 91 lbs, that leaves ample capacity for ammunition-carrying.
Frankly, if you look at some of the likely cost-effectiveness of some of the other things that the DoD has been working on to improve the mobility of man-portable mortars:
The Watervliet Arsenal today announced that it has received a $8.5 million contract to manufacture a new lightweight 81 mm mortar bipod for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
“Many of the individual parts will be made using lightweight materials, such as Kevlar, Teflon, and Titanium, which have never before been used here for mortar production,” Pond said. “In addition to new materials, new processes and tooling will need to be developed.”
…it does kind of raise the question of why the DoD hasn’t simply considered issuing every Marine mortarman a Radio Flyer red wagon, instead of this Kevlar/Teflon/titanium bipod business.
Listen, obviously nobody disputes the combat effectiveness of the prime mover, toddlers are compact, with high energy density and endurance, and general low-observable capabilities, this isn’t in question!
But some idiot is going yo start demanding they get some body armor, tac radios, fucking food! And next thing you know weight creep gives us a 50kg platform that can’t move faster than 1mph!
Weve all seen this before, the exploding puppies, kitten ir beacons for jdams, this always goes through scope creep, and we end up with billion dollar programs that only end up being 10% effective, so what’s the point of only using babies and pregnant women anyway, they’re not protecting valuable assets like drones and missiles anymore.
How did we suddenly move into towed artillery?
This is how acquisitions became so broken.
I mean, the prime mover here is a kid, and the towed platform, according to that page, is only $119.99/unit.
At a 150 lb capacity, and an M252 mortar only needing 91 lbs, that leaves ample capacity for ammunition-carrying.
Frankly, if you look at some of the likely cost-effectiveness of some of the other things that the DoD has been working on to improve the mobility of man-portable mortars:
https://www.army.mil/article/178817/army_awards_8_5m_contract_to_watervliet_arsenal_to_lighten_the_load_for_infantrymen_marines
…it does kind of raise the question of why the DoD hasn’t simply considered issuing every Marine mortarman a Radio Flyer red wagon, instead of this Kevlar/Teflon/titanium bipod business.
Listen, obviously nobody disputes the combat effectiveness of the prime mover, toddlers are compact, with high energy density and endurance, and general low-observable capabilities, this isn’t in question!
But some idiot is going yo start demanding they get some body armor, tac radios, fucking food! And next thing you know weight creep gives us a 50kg platform that can’t move faster than 1mph!
Weve all seen this before, the exploding puppies, kitten ir beacons for jdams, this always goes through scope creep, and we end up with billion dollar programs that only end up being 10% effective, so what’s the point of only using babies and pregnant women anyway, they’re not protecting valuable assets like drones and missiles anymore.
And we wonder why it’s so hard to scale up production when somebody starts a land war in Europe.