The Leopards need the GSRs to acquire targets outside of their own capability. The Fuchs is not expected to operate alongside Leopards though.
So what you want is the GSR on the Leopard to really make it more 'aware'.
And were do you put the radar operators into the tank?
Not to talk of the price and rise in silouette.
The GSR Fuchs is full of electronics. Also a nice problem were to fit this equipment.
In what way is the MBT more expensive then a light tank, and I really don't like calling wheeled AFVs 'light tank'. For that there is another classification, the armoured car.
The operating prices have already been postet (Thanks guys).
And for me an armored car is a Bushmaster or Dingo but not a Centauro like vehicle.
Desert Storm was not a 'classical' combined op. battle because only one side was using combined arms tactics.
And this made it not a classical combined op for the allied forces? Why?
And the Iraqis intended to perform a combined arms battle but were totally overhelmed and could so not reach their targets.
Ok, a little story
Somewhere, an insurgent army (a combination of regular army deserters, rebels, and political supporters) is manning defense lines of a position covering an approach to a regional capital.
In the capital thousands of refugees and civilians are taken hostage by the ethnic separatists who claim they will execute thousands if UN forces so much as try to assault their claimed territory.
Its night, and the guards are vigilant because they expect a convoy of UN supply trucks to approach soon with the demanded needs of the insurgent command. Indeed a large convoy had left the country's capital along the only surfaced road left undamaged.
5km away a column of white UN trucks halts on the dark highway. Suddenly the cabins and canvas cargo cavers begin to fall off the vehicles revealing AFVs. Then, the vehicles start off cross country although not a sound can be heard. They are running on their electric APUs with drivers navigating only by their night vision sights.
An insurgent guard peeres into the dark thinking he heard something. Suddenly right in front of him, a large shape appears and he is run down before he can so much as utter a scream. Firing erupts from dozens of cannons and MGs. The camp is overrun in minutes, and shell-shoked rebels are gathered in the dark by UN soldiers. They were not able to even switch on their radios to warn the regional capital that can be seen from the newly captured position.
A generator truck appears from the dark, and IFV drivers commence hooking up their vehicles to juice up the battery packs. In an hour they will be in the town, and it will be another silent assault.
A nice scenario and I stated earlier that against low tech light armed enemies light vehicles have their advantages.
But it does not really fit into the scenario I wanted to know exampled for from you.
You just cannot expect to always face some low tech insurgents, irregulars, whatsoever.
If you do that you suddenly face a heavy formation during bad weather (No air cover) which wipes you out in short time.
For example during the '03 OIF a Iraqi division tried to advance through a sandstorm and learly managed to close in undetected. They were finally tracked close to the US forces. The US forces managed to swing their lines to the new direction and let the Iraqis face a line of steel.
You would really be in deep shit if this occures to your light unit and such occasions are the reason for the US Army leadership saying that heavy forces are still needed an that for example ops like both gulf wars wouldnt't have been that successfull.
There are enough countries out there which operate heavy forces and are going to use them. You have to destroy them before you enter the insurgent/guerilla style of warfare.
As to your scenario. You think that the "fire of dozens cannons and MGs" is not seen or heard during the night? You said the capital can be seen from the position. Have you ever seen how far you can hear and see heavy fire during the night?
And why should you do this? If this is just a low tech guerilla force you throw two 2000lbs LGBs onto them and finish the job.
But I agree as before that light vehicles are enough for such an operation. But these are not the only operations you have to prepare for.
