Cross-Country Maneuver Math for Dummies Here is one 1, 000 meters by 1, 000 meters military topographical map grid square. 1, 000 meter 1, 000 meters
A light tracked tank like a M113 Gavin is 98 inches wide atits tracks or 2.48 meters which we will round off to 2.5 meters;this means 400 x M113 Gavins could cross from left-to-rightor from top-to-bottom at the same time over one grid square! 400 x M113 Gavins 1, 000 meter 1, 000 meters Each arrow equals 8 x M113 Gavins!
To stop these 400 x M113 Gavins from crossing would require 400 landmines; if you don’t want to deny your people access command detonationwould require 400 firing circuits and someone to press the button on thescene 24/7/365, depending on visibility say 40 men each with control of 10land mines….plus at least another man for security so 80 men minimumfor CDLMs... 400 x M113 Gavins 80 x ragheads 24/7/365 1, 000 meters Each arrow equals 2 x Ragheads!
There is one rather LARGE problem! Planet Earth is a very BIGplace…..Iraq the size of Texas is 167, 400 square miles or 269, 404 squarekilometers AKA 1, 000 meter grid squares! It would take 21, 552, 320people to man every CDLM 24/7/365 to stop all cross-country maneuverie; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF IRAQ and 107, 761, 600 mines would beneeded! US THEM 80 x ragheads 24/7/365 Each square equals 80 x Ragheads!
Of course, the terrain wouldnot be 100% open to lighttracked maneuver but itspretty damn close! M113 Gavin = Force MultiplierIts simply not possible forevery 2.5 meters of Iraq tobe land mined and certainlynot controlled by commanddetonation. Even if it were…Guess what?
M113 Gavins can be FLOWN OVER land mine areas by availableCH-47, C-130s and soon C-27 aircraft! “Sorry Hadji!”
Now watch what happenswhen you becomeROAD-BOUNDbecause you arehandicapped withHumvee, Stryker andmyriad wheeledtrucks…All Hadji has to do is minethe roads because heknows we are coming!Only a small amount ofrebels needed to fightus because we areLINEAR and he is not!He covers chokepoints and Alahwe are choked--unable to whatever!maneuver! He bleeds usand bankrupts us $$$$
Let’s say a 309-Stryker truck brigade wants to cross 1 grid square that only has ONE road for them to pass on. Sorry Yankee, no destination for you! BWhy give the rebelsan easy way tofight us successfully? AAll Hadji has to do is land mine a handful of stretches of road and theENTIRE truck brigade gets stopped from reaching its destination. A handful ofrebels is all that’s needed and they can run away after setting off the mines.