Whoa, talk about a little delay. I blame Paradox for finally putting a discount on the BattleTech DLC which meant I could try out the big BEX mod. Oh, and moving cities and changing jobs, those also took a little bit of my time.
1956The Pentagon has finally shown the greenlight for the formation of American Luna garrison. The brass had asked industry for a wide range of proposal for equipment while at the same time the in-house think-tanks had theorized doctrine and organization, ultimately leading to several rounds of wargames. Luna equipment would follow its own nomenclature, which confusingly meant that M1 was now the name of a shovel, a helmet, a carbine, an old armoured car, a tank prototype, a series of tractors, a field howitzer, a heavy anti-aircraft gun, an aircraft gun, a light anti-aircraft gun, a tank gun, a bayonet, a chemical mine, a flamethrower, a hand grenade, a rifle, a mortar, a Bazooka, a submachine gun, but now also meant the ultra-light carbine that used caseless ammo to prevent Lunar dust from jamming its mechanism and its Duranium coated body could withstand the extreme temperature swings between Lunar day and night. Or so its designers claimed. This carbine would equip the security and rear area troops while the infantry would go to battle with the M2 assault rifle, the M3 designated marksman rifle, the M4 light machine gun, the M5 Luna-Bazooka, the M6 Portable Mortar System, the M7 anti-air machine gun and the M8 all-terrain vehicle for logistics purposes.
Thanks to the lessons of the Second World War and the Korean war, all the infantry would be fully mechanized, utilizing the M9 and M10 armoured personnel carriers, one armed with a squad machine gun and the other with a light but high-velocity cannon. If encountering Soviet armour, the M11 Gun Motor Vehicle would be brought up, as it carried a heavier high-velocity cannon capable of utilizing the latest SABOT rounds. The M12 Motor Mortar System provided close fire support whereas field artillery wielded the M13 Self-Propelled Gun. For traditional cavalry duties, the M14 Fire Support Vehicle with its light automatic cannon and the M15 Mobile Gun System with its heavier sister, were available. Against the Red Air Force, if it ever appeared on Luna, the mechanized columns would be protected by the M16 HMG, which was just the M7 placed on a Luna-qualified trike, and the M17 Air Defence Vehicle, carrying a short-range surface-to-air missile. Further missiles and other supplies, were loaded onto the M18 logistics truck.
Finally, the planned heavy formations, which would form the mailed fist of America, would be built around the M19 main battle tank, carrying the same high-velocity cannon as the M11 but being better armoured as well as carrying secondary machine gun armament. They would be supported by the M20 infantry fighting vehicle, equipped with a medium automatic cannon and a machine gun. Just as well armoured as the tank, the M20 would ensure that its passengers would reach the battle intact despite expected heavy Soviet shelling. The M21 Air Defence Vehicle was truly a behemoth, being the largest combat vehicle that the Americans were planning to build and it carried both missiles and heavy AA guns, able to cover an entire formation against flying threats. The fact that the Soviets had not demonstrated such capability had not deterred American engineers.
A tank company would consist of 14 M19 MBTs, four in each of the three platoons, and one each for the company commander and vice commander. Four tank companies would make up a battalion, with its headquarters made up of a M24 CP5 headquarters tank, the battalion commander's M19, two M18 supply trucks and a M17 ADV for protection. Similarly, a mechanized infantry company would consist of 14 M20 IFVs, four for each of the three platoons and one for the company commander and vice commander. The dismounted infantry squad consisted of four M2 AR riflemen, two M3 DMR marksmen, and two gunners, one with the M4 LMG and the other with the M5 RPG. This squad could be split into two fireteams in two configurations - in the first form, the riflemen would form the manoeuvre element while the marksmen and the gunners would provide fire support. In the second form, each team would have equal equipment and thus manoeuvre separately, relying on the IFVs for fire support. A mechanized platoon would have four squads and a mechanized company would have three platoons, for a total of 48 riflemen, 24 marksmen, 12 LMG gunners and 12 RPG gunners. This did not include the crew of the M20 IFVs who were mandated to stay with their vehicle at all times. The fourth company in a Mechanized Battalion was a Weapons Company that, instead of infantry, had close-in fire support in the form of the M6 mortar and the M7 AAMG.
In July, Corundium deposits ran dry on Earth but all powers had ample stockpiles of it. In August, the Soviet Union once more expanded its DSTS network and United States increased their fighter building capability. In September, the Soviet Yurga design and manufacturing bureau completed the prototypes of all four types of their MBP 100mm T-10 railguns, ranging in barrels from one to four. Each was capable of firing every 10 seconds. Naturally, the more barrels a gun had, the larger it became. It would be possible to upgrade the Krivak-M to use the faster firing single barrel gun but the larger guns would degrade its speed unless compromises were made elsewhere. Krivak-M10B1, -B2, -B3 and -B4 would also require a more powerful powerplants which required more space. In fact, the Krivak-M10B4 became so heavy that its speed dropped from 700 m/s to 438 m/s. Reducing the fuel storage slightly, from 26,000 litres to 21,000 litres, allowed Krivak-M10B1 to remain at 250 tons and 700 m/s. The Politburo ruled that on the short term, this approach was to be taken. The other versions would have to wait for the emergence of more powerful engines.
November saw the 18th American research complex start work and it was sorely needed as Pentagon demanded that the Essex class armed shuttle should fly as soon as possible to counter the Soviet Krivak gunships. If they had known the maintenance problems that the CCCP KOSMOS was struggling with, they might not have been quite so worried. Production of mines had been halted by the Kreml and a new crash build of maintenance facilities was prioritized. This program was completed on the last days of December and allowed Kreml order the construction of 10 Krivak-M10B1 fighters.
