AAA... What goes up must come down

[Clifford Bossie]

Well this is a topic that will get me in trouble on an avaiation board...

For every weapon there seems to be a counter. Fo an aircraft carrier - sink it with a submarine. For a sub - stalk it with a destroyer. Airplane shoot things on the ground and if they are not careful they get "blowed" too!

To rid the sky of pesky Fw 190s, Ju 88s, A6Ms, or G4Ms these were designed, both based on the M3 chassis:

M15A1 GMC





M16 GMC





Airplanes got faster and AAA evolved. So in Korea MiGs and Yaks could watch out for this:

M19 GMC based on the M24 Chaffee





Tu-2s and such could face the M42 Duster



Still in service into the 80s!



Fly higher and faster? Well, meet the

MIM-23 HAWK



MIM-3 Nike Ajax





And my favorite, the MIM-14 Nike Hercules!





And the really sad part is that both the Ajax and the Herc were tested on QB-17s.

[The Inspector]

What? No CHAPPARAL? (M 113 with 'winders')

[kmiles]

Any idea where that M15A1 GMC is at?

[Holedigger]

Appears to be War Eagles Museum, NM. My best guess from the looks of it.

[kmiles]

I though it looked like Santa Teresa (who else has a black P-38?), but it does not appear on their website at all. Maybe it was something that was just there for a visit or a special event?

Edit: I talked to Terry at the museum, and the picture was taken there several years back. The M15A1 belonged to a museum that was nearby, but the museum has since moved.

Last edited by kmiles on Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Holedigger]

The Storch and TF-51 are from War Eagles Museum and the colors of the hangar structure seems to confirm. But never having been there myself! Just going off what I see on the web.....OH...DUH....War Eagles is in Santa Theresa!!

[Pat Carry]

Great set of photos! Mean looking stuff.

[Holedigger]

Think about low level in Nam in a Huey! How many did we loose? What lessons did we learn? Modern AAA will kick up a firestorm and if you don't counter it, you will pay a terrible price. Standoff weapon systems, HARM missiles, electronic countermeasures all help to suppress, but when you are down in the weeds, those snakes still bite!

[rreis]

I thought the kings of AAA were the ruskies...

And no 88? That must be the classic "must have" in every AAA man collection

[Scott Rose]

Nice! #7,654,897 on my list of things to do is a AAA section, it's amazing how many different systems there were in WWII alone.

[mlenoch]

Question: What's that round cylinder on the front bumper of the half-track?
Thx in advance.
VL

[steve dickey]

Question: What's that round cylinder on the front bumper of the half-track?
Thx in advance.
VL

Answer: It is a roller assembly designed to keep the vehicle from impaling itself in a steep embankment or ditch. In theory the spring loaded caster/roller was supposed to either turn or travel upwards and back against its springs when sufficient pressure was applied. In actual practice it didn't do much good. Later production half-tracks were fitted with a much more useful and practical front mounted winch as a replacement.
Scout cars had them too.

[warbird1]

Were those outdoor pictures of the SAM's taken at Fort Bliss and/or Biggs AAF?

[Clifford Bossie]

Any idea where that M15A1 GMC is at?

That M15 belongs to the Ft Bliss Museums. It was displayed at War Eagles for a D-D ceremony. As of yet it has not moved to Ft. Sill and might very well stay at Ft. Bliss with the 1st Armored Division Museum.

[Randy Haskin]

I f*#@ing hate SAMs and AAA.