Re: NOBODY needs robots !!!

Bob wrote:

> J. Clarke wrote:
>> > Mr. Robot wrote
>> >>if you call M16s sophistocated
>>
>> I see. So what were the Afghanis using to take down Hinds?
>
> They used U.S. supplied Stinger missles. Stingers are heat
> seeking. They home in on infrared.

Indeed.

>> But maybe they don't qualify as "insurgents".
>
> Of course they were insurgents.
>
>> Then there's the little matter of the air
>> defense of Hanoi, that took down B-52s.
>
> Mostly Soviet supplied radar guided SA-2 SAM missles. But we
> also lost some B-52s to MiG fighters and AAA flak guns (I believe
> Jane Fonda was photographed with one of these).
>
>> But I guess they weren't "insurgents" either.
>
> No, of course not. They were regular soldiers serving the established
> government of North Vietnam. They wore uniforms and bore arms
> openly. In no way were they "insurgents". Hanoi was defended by
> the NVA, not the VC.
>
>> Then there was that little mess in Somalia,
>
> I believe the US Blackhawks were downed with RPGs.
>
>> but I guess they weren't "insurgents" either.
>
> Debatable. Insurgents fight to overthrow an established goverment,
> of which Somolia had none.

The issue is not whether they were "insurgents" but that they despite
limited resources and a limited indigenous technological base had access to
weapons considerably more sophisticated than M-16s.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
.