The Seven Vehicles: Ox,Mule,Pony,Horse,Elephant,Matilda And Charger

 

 

Picture: Giles Penfound,British Army official photographer,© IWM OP-TELIC 03-010-18-081

 

Further to earlier pieces on rationalising the United Kingdom's naval and military aeroplane and helicopter fleets,herein we shall list the only families of field vehicles which the armed forces actually need (rather than have or want),these shall use common components wherever practical,shall be available in a variety of configurations such as four,six or eight wheeled,truck or tractor,wheeled,half tracked or full tracked and shall be adaptable to specific environments or roles by the addition of internal and external equipment.

  

 

Picture: Specialist Jesse LaMorte,Special Operations Task Force South,United States' Army photograph

 

The Ox family of Utility Vehicles shall be front engined,one cylinder (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Mule and Pony),four or six wheel,four wheel drive,typically four or six seat vehicles,able to operate on four foot wide foot paths,with a gross weight of around two long tons,gross payload (including the weight of the driver) of over sixteen hundred pounds,optional ballistic and mine protection to STANAG 4569 Level 1 and,by means of netting,protection against occasional Rocket Propelled Grenade hits in lieu of payload.

 

 

Picture: Unknown photographer,Supacat photograph

 

The Mule family of Field Cars shall be front engined,two or three cylinder (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Ox and Pony),four wheel or six wheel,all wheel drive,typically ten seat vehicles,with the same internal volume as the Pony,Matilda and Charger,able to operate on six foot wide roads,with gross weights of four or six long tons,gross payloads of over four thousand or fifty-two hundred pounds respectively,optional ballistic and mine protection to STANAG 4569 Level 2 and,by means of netting,protection against occasional Rocket Propelled Grenade hits in lieu of payload.

 

 

Picture: Lieutenant Narey,Crown Copyright

 

The Pony family of Light Protected Trucks shall be front engined,four or six cylinder (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Ox and Mule),four wheel or six wheel,all wheel drive,typically ten seat vehicles,with the same internal volume as the Mule,Matilda and Charger,able to operate on eight foot wide roads,with gross weights of eight or twelve long tons,gross payloads of over four thousand or ninety-two hundred pounds respectively with standard ballistic and mine protection to STANAG 4569 Level 3,optional protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4 and,by means of netting,protection against occasional Rocket Propelled Grenade hits in lieu of payload.

 

 

Picture: Unknown photographer,Mack Trucks photograph

 

The Horse family of Medium Protected Trucks and Tractors shall be front engined (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Elephant,Matilda and Charger),all wheel drive,typically three seat vehicles,able to operate on eight foot wide roads and to carry or tow loads of up to fifty long tons with standard ballistic and mine protection to STANAG 4569 Level 3,optional protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4 and,by means of netting,protection against occasional Rocket Propelled Grenade hits in lieu of payload.

 

  

Picture: Unknown photographer,Volat photograph

 

The Elephant family of Heavy Protected Trucks and Tractors shall be front engined (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Horse,Matilda and Charger),all wheel drive,typically three seat vehicles,able to operate on twelve foot wide roads and to carry or tow loads of up to one hundred long tons with standard ballistic and mine protection to STANAG 4569 Level 3,optional protection to STANAG 4569 Level 4 and,by means of netting,protection against occasional Rocket Propelled Grenade hits in lieu of payload.

  

  

Picture: Corporal Andy Benson,Royal Air Force,Crown Copyright

 

The Matilda family of Medium Armoured Tracked Infantry Armoured Personnel Carriers shall be front engined (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Horse,Elephant and Charger),tracked,typically ten seat vehicles,with the same internal volume as the Mule,Pony and Charger,able to operate on ten foot wide roads,with gross weights of up to fifty long tons,gross payloads of up to ninety-two hundred pounds with standard protection against mines,shoulder fired and crew served weapons and able to carry a remotely operated turret or other equipment in lieu of payload.

 

 

Picture: Yadi Cohen,Israel Defense Forces photograph

 

The Charger family of Cavalry Heavy ARmoured vehicles shall be front engined (powered by the same diesel engine family as the Horse,Elephant and Matilda),tracked,typically ten seat vehicles,with the same internal volume as the Mule,Pony and Matilda,able to operate on twelve foot wide roads,with gross weights of up to one hundred long tons,gross payloads of up to ninety-two hundred pounds with standard protection against mines,tank guns,shoulder fired and crew served weapons,with a standard Five And A Half Inch Tank Gun turret and able to carry a remotely operated turret or other equipment in lieu of payload or the gun turret.

 

The Light Infantry Division: Tongo Tongo,Niger,Fourth of October,Twenty Seventeen

Photo: Unknown photographer Crown Copyright

The Light Infantry Division's independent air drop capability,that is air drops unsupported by other forces,is specifically intended for use in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Both areas are prone to frequent natural disasters and political instability which may demand rapid humanitarian or military intervention.

In these areas the Light Infantry Division's brigades are unlikely to encounter superior enemy forces and the threat to transport aircraft is low.

Most ground forces in these areas are modern day "warriors armed to the teeth with kiwi fruit and dry guava halves",being poorly trained and motivated and predominantly equipped with Cold War era Soviet or Chinese made weapons such as medium mortars,heavy machine guns,rocket propelled grenades,light machine guns,sniper rifles,assault rifles and mines. 

The Light Infantry Division is designed to conduct tactically offensive or defensive,mounted or dismounted operations against such opposition.

It may also conduct tactically offensive or defensive,mounted or dismounted operations against poorly equipped medium weight forces such as the British Army's conceptually flawed Strike Brigades.

When faced with heavier opposition such as the 4th Guards Tank Division,the Light Infantry Division shall be used in an offensive manner at the strategic and operational levels but as a defensive mounted skirmishing force or,in close terrain,a defensive dismounted blocking force,at the tactical level.

The low fuel consumption and maintenance requirements of the Light Protected Truck minimise the logistical requirements of the Light Infantry Division and make it well suited to low intensity combat operations which are characterised by a low bullet to mile ratio.

The Light Infantry Division is therefore a suitable formation for anti terrorist operations in the Sahel.

This may be illustrated by considering a recent military operation in this area in which a platoon sized force of soldiers from Niger and the United States of America was defeated by a slightly larger Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant platoon.



"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat,and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy."

The outcome of battle is often decided before the fighting starts.

In Tongo Tongo the Islamic State platoon had the advantages of heavier weapons,superior numbers and superior intelligence while their opponents had a handful of more highly trained soldiers,superior communication systems and air support.

The Nigerien and American platoon suffered failures of intelligence,failures of communication,both within and without the platoon,failures of air support and failures of morale within the Nigerien elements,all of which are normal events in combat,Clausewitz's "friction".

However,there was not sufficient margin of error to allow for success despite these failures,the platoon could not defend it's self without external assistance because senior decision makers had chosen not to exploit one of the greatest advantages available to them,the ability to operate protected vehicles.

Some seem to believe that driving around Africa in Toyota pick up trucks confers invisibility on heavily armed,white men with beards and baseball caps.

Photo: Lt. L.A.W.Powell (Photographer)

This is what white men used to drive around Africa over century ago.

M

Photo: Unknown Royal Air Force official photographer

M

This is a Second World War convoy equipped with First World War era Rolls Royce armoured cars,one may imagine how this convoy might have performed in the Tongo Tongo ambush.

One may also imagine how a platoon from the Light Infantry Division may have dealt with this situation.

A platoon from the Light Infantry Division would consist of forty infantrymen and four Light Protected Trucks,armed with forty Quarter Inch Rifles,four Six Inch Rockets,Four Three Inch Mortars and four Three Eighths Inch Machine Guns.

If this platoon were ambushed outside Tongo Tongo it would be able to drive through the ambush without casualties and turn to face the enemy flank.

This is due to the vehicles ballistic protection,when someone is shooting at you,protection is mobility (this is why the tank was invented).

The vehicle commander's machine guns would then be able to exploit their superior external ballistic qualities and three to twenty four times magnification day scopes to engage enemy vehicles and infantry from beyond the effective range of return fire. 

These may be supported by fire from Quarter Inch Rifles and Six Inch Rockets fired from the two rear roof hatches for a total of twelve weapons firing in any direction from within the protection of the still mobile vehicles.

When the enemy is sufficiently attrited and deprived of their mobility the infantry may dismount half a mile from the enemy and advance behind the protection of their vehicles to clear remaining hostile positions with rifle,rocket and mortar fire.

The platoon from the Light Infantry Division would have defeated the Islamic State force because it had the correct tools for the job at hand.