Tiamat
I've seen the future...
Had another "mad scientist" moment, copied this from another discussion thread about M247 York on the war college subforum:
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So let's say the Sgt. York gets resurrected as discussed. Around this same time the US Army had purchased in modest amounts the Roland SAM system that was jointly developed by the French and Germans. IRL, it was only fielded by the National Guard in limited capacity as due to issues with technology transfer and also a bit of the old "Not Invented Here" rearing it's ugly head. Interestingly enough, also in real life the US Army purchased several lots of the Roland for further eval after the initial failure of the Sgt. York program.
But let's assume with an increase in tensions worldwide, and with the success of Sgt. York, the eggheads get another idea, after looking at the CORAD (Coordinated Roland Air Defense) system that integrates a radar and several Roland launchers and ADA guns. The radar systems used in Sgt. York are modified for use with the American Roland system to allow joint integration into a true gun-and-missile ADA system that can be used not just to protect armored formations but critical junctures like bridges, command posts, etc. After some tweaking and accelerated trials, the results are even more promising with the French and Germans offered to participate and observe. The American Roland system consisting of a remote turret with twin Roland launchers is mated with the new radars and fire control suite to a modified M60 chassis with a slightly raised superstructure to help accommodate the internal storage of additional Roland SAMS and an automatic reloading system. A version based on the M2 chassis was also tried but the M60 chassis was more plentiful as M2's were already prioritized for other programs. Overall the program combining the Sgt. York with American Roland in a joint package that integrates both vehicles is a success that led to Congress financing not just procurement of the Sgt. York, but also more Roland systems from the French-German manufacturer Euromissile. In the case of the American Roland ADA system, it was dubbed M248 Roland.
The French and West Germans, for their part were quite impressed with the result, so much that an agreement was reached when the Americans began purchasing more Roland's, the French and West Germans also procured elements of the Sgt. York for their use. In the case of the West Germans, the modified radar components were brought and tested on the Flakpanzer Gepard with appreciable results, and an upgrade program was implemented for the system that combined the radars and fire control along with adding twin racks of Stinger antiaircraft missiles to the turrets for added firepower. As for the French, they found themselves in need a of a new, far more capable ADA artillery vehicle than the current AMX-13 DCA in the French Army. The turret, armament, radar and fire control of the Sgt. York was purchased and modified to fit onto an AMX-30 chassis, resulting in a system that was better capable at defending the French armored formations from air threats. The vehicle, dubbed AMX-30 DCA, was often nicknamed the "French York" by NATO troops, as one French general later stated, "the vehicle embodies the spirit of Sgt. York who valiantly defended France during the first Great War."
EDIT: Another customer for the Roland/Sgt. York integrated ADA program was surprisingly, Australia who really needed a decent ADA system for their ANZAC forces and could complement their other SHORAD units that were being implemented. In the case of Australia, the Roland and Sgt. York systems were both implemented on Leopard I chassis (using assistance from both the Americans and West Germans) that were left as surplus after Australia had it's armored force beefed up with American-supplied reconditioned M1 Abrams tanks and Cadillac Gage Stingray tanks.
The combination of integrated radar systems with Roland and components of the Sgt. York for the French and German military allowed them to take better advantage of the CORAD system. CORAD was also implemented in the US Army and Marine corps, used often (but not limited to) defending key sites such as airfields, forward command posts, etc. A similar approach was implemented for the ANZAC forces. The Sgt. York/Roland system and it's derivatives was often feared/hated by Soviet/Iranian/Iraqi/North Korean/Indonesian/WARPA pilots the world over as it racked up an impressive kill tally during the war.
EDIT: Made an edit here as per discussion about the ANZAC's.
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So let's say the Sgt. York gets resurrected as discussed. Around this same time the US Army had purchased in modest amounts the Roland SAM system that was jointly developed by the French and Germans. IRL, it was only fielded by the National Guard in limited capacity as due to issues with technology transfer and also a bit of the old "Not Invented Here" rearing it's ugly head. Interestingly enough, also in real life the US Army purchased several lots of the Roland for further eval after the initial failure of the Sgt. York program.
But let's assume with an increase in tensions worldwide, and with the success of Sgt. York, the eggheads get another idea, after looking at the CORAD (Coordinated Roland Air Defense) system that integrates a radar and several Roland launchers and ADA guns. The radar systems used in Sgt. York are modified for use with the American Roland system to allow joint integration into a true gun-and-missile ADA system that can be used not just to protect armored formations but critical junctures like bridges, command posts, etc. After some tweaking and accelerated trials, the results are even more promising with the French and Germans offered to participate and observe. The American Roland system consisting of a remote turret with twin Roland launchers is mated with the new radars and fire control suite to a modified M60 chassis with a slightly raised superstructure to help accommodate the internal storage of additional Roland SAMS and an automatic reloading system. A version based on the M2 chassis was also tried but the M60 chassis was more plentiful as M2's were already prioritized for other programs. Overall the program combining the Sgt. York with American Roland in a joint package that integrates both vehicles is a success that led to Congress financing not just procurement of the Sgt. York, but also more Roland systems from the French-German manufacturer Euromissile. In the case of the American Roland ADA system, it was dubbed M248 Roland.
The French and West Germans, for their part were quite impressed with the result, so much that an agreement was reached when the Americans began purchasing more Roland's, the French and West Germans also procured elements of the Sgt. York for their use. In the case of the West Germans, the modified radar components were brought and tested on the Flakpanzer Gepard with appreciable results, and an upgrade program was implemented for the system that combined the radars and fire control along with adding twin racks of Stinger antiaircraft missiles to the turrets for added firepower. As for the French, they found themselves in need a of a new, far more capable ADA artillery vehicle than the current AMX-13 DCA in the French Army. The turret, armament, radar and fire control of the Sgt. York was purchased and modified to fit onto an AMX-30 chassis, resulting in a system that was better capable at defending the French armored formations from air threats. The vehicle, dubbed AMX-30 DCA, was often nicknamed the "French York" by NATO troops, as one French general later stated, "the vehicle embodies the spirit of Sgt. York who valiantly defended France during the first Great War."
EDIT: Another customer for the Roland/Sgt. York integrated ADA program was surprisingly, Australia who really needed a decent ADA system for their ANZAC forces and could complement their other SHORAD units that were being implemented. In the case of Australia, the Roland and Sgt. York systems were both implemented on Leopard I chassis (using assistance from both the Americans and West Germans) that were left as surplus after Australia had it's armored force beefed up with American-supplied reconditioned M1 Abrams tanks and Cadillac Gage Stingray tanks.
The combination of integrated radar systems with Roland and components of the Sgt. York for the French and German military allowed them to take better advantage of the CORAD system. CORAD was also implemented in the US Army and Marine corps, used often (but not limited to) defending key sites such as airfields, forward command posts, etc. A similar approach was implemented for the ANZAC forces. The Sgt. York/Roland system and it's derivatives was often feared/hated by Soviet/Iranian/Iraqi/North Korean/Indonesian/WARPA pilots the world over as it racked up an impressive kill tally during the war.
EDIT: Made an edit here as per discussion about the ANZAC's.
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