2020 NFL Draft/Offseason thread

[MrNubbz]

.The US had i think it was the M-36 tank detroyer and some others the Pershing in '45.The GIs it's my understanding relied more on Artillery which was quite effective.The Sherman was a dependable tank - perhaps more so than any other when factoring in down time and field maintenance

[Cincydawg]

Yes, the US army had several TDs, tank destroyers, with higher velocity guns.  The "caliber" designation is not relevant, much, because a longer barreled gun with a heavier charge would sent the projectile at a higher velocity.  The German 75mm gun used in the Panther was quite effective.

Interestingly, as with naval "guns", the term caliber refers to the ratio of width to length, not diameter of the gun.  So, a 75 mm gun might be 24 calibers, or 75 calibers, with the latter being more powerful (generally speaking).

[CWSooner]

15-20 years ago, the BBC put out a great 4- or 5-part series called The Genius of Design.  One of the designs that they examined was the Tiger tank.  While in one-on-one, tank vs. tank combat, it was the baddest cat in the neighborhood, it was a terrible design.  It was too heavy to go over most bridges, it used a lot of fuel, and it was very complex, requiring a ton of maintenance.  A waste of resources in a country that didn't have the resources to waste.

We should all be thankful for it.

The Tiger, that is, but also for the BBC series.

[Cincydawg]

Yeah, the Tiger was complex and expensive to build, which is why there weren't many of them.  They came along in 1942 and for some reason were first used on the Leningrad front, if memory serves.

The Russians devised a rather powerful counter called an SU-152, and later the ISU-152, with a 152 mm gun mounted in a casemate that they called "Beast Killer".  It was more of an assault weapon, but was used in an anti-tank role.

The Panther was a better tank for the Germans, somewhat modeled after the T-34.  It also was used prematurely and suffered mechanical issues galore.

The Sherman was generally reliable, easy to build, and sufficient for most needs.

It's predecessor was the M3 Grant or Lee, depending on who used it, which is ironic.  I think it is underappreciated given the need of that era.

[CWSooner]

The Grant and Lee versions of the M3 Medium Tank were different.  Both served with the Brits, but they had different turrets.  The ones with the original turrets became Lees, while the ones with modified turrets were Grants.

[OrangeAfroMan]

How many tens of billions of dollars would be saved if even the most conservative of us posters were allowed to go through the defense budget, item by item and cross out what we don't need?  


Any takers?

[CWSooner]

How many tens of billions of dollars would be saved if even the most conservative of us posters were allowed to go through the defense budget, item by item and cross out what we don't need? 


Any takers?

You can say that about every government program, even or maybe especially ones that aren't even federal functions, per the Constitution.
Defense spending as a percentage of GDP has been shrinking since the end of the Cold War.  Can we say that about social spending?

[Mdot21]

How many tens of billions of dollars would be saved if even the most conservative of us posters were allowed to go through the defense budget, item by item and cross out what we don't need? 


Any takers?

billions? try trillions.

[847badgerfan]

You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?

[FearlessF]

friggin NFL spending

[Cincydawg]

The expensive hammer thing is in part because the military has someone contrive a series of qualifications any "hammer" has to pass.  There is a series of tests I once had to have run called JANAF tests, Joint Army Navy Air Force tests.  Outside companies run these tests.  If you fail something, even something trivial and irrelevant, you have to redesign your "hammer" to pass, even if the regular hammer would work just fine.  And the tests are easy to fail.  One part of the for example if flammability.

So, you make nice hammers, but they for example fail a flammability test.  You make 10 million a year, and the AF wants 1,000.  Do you redesign your hammer to make 1,000?  Yup, but only if you can charge up for the hammer, and you probably know no one else out there will compete.

So you make what might be cheap crappy 1,000 hammers that pass all the tests and sell them for $1,000 each, and every mechanic in the AF goes out and buys their own hammer for $10 because the issued hammers are crap, but they pass tests.

[Cincydawg]

So, I'm impressed with the high percentage of 5 stars who get drafted in the League, around half or so, which when you considered players injured or getting in legal trouble is pretty high I think.  Most of them make it.

[Mdot21]

Redskins to officially change their name. Wow. Lol. As if changing their name from the Washington Redskins to the Washington Sharkies or whatever bullshit they'll pick out of a hat will even do anything at all to affect change in the world.

Caving into the twitter mob and empty virtue signaling at it's finest right here.

[Cincydawg]

All this is PR and marketing driven, nothing else, in reality.

They are running the calculus of which will alienate fewer fans.