Essay by Eric Worrall
My question – will they be powered by Miliband’s giant flywheels?
Net zero plans for Armed Forces could ‘put soldiers at risk’
Military grandees query MoD’s ‘climate change agenda’ in pushing trials of electric combat vehicles
Ethan CroftSunday Political Correspondent
07 December 2024 8:00pm GMT
Ministers are forging ahead with plans to use electric vehicles (EVs) for combat on the battlefield despite warnings from military grandees that they could put the Armed Forces at risk.
The Telegraph has learnt that the Ministry of Defence will be ramping up testing of battlefield EVs next year at the Army’s Bovington Garrison in Dorset, home of the Tank Museum.
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However, military grandees on Saturday called for the Government to think again before pressing ahead with the “crazy endeavour”, warning that a rush to net zero on the battlefield could put British troops at a disadvantage.
…“It is hard enough to keep the current vehicles supplied with fuel, that is a massive operation on its own – I just can’t see how it would possibly work with EVs.
Read more (paywalled): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/07/net-zero-soldiers-at-risk-battlefield-evs-combat-warnings/
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Just when you think the British government has reached peak stupid, they surprise us all by achieving some new level of absurdity.
What happens when the electric battlefield vehicle runs out of electricity? Do they ask the other side to please stop attacking for 8 hours until the solar panels complete the recharge?
On a positive note, we can’t fault the current British government for their effort to keep us entertained. Whenever I am stuck for something to write about, all I have to do is put “Miliband” or “Starmer” in my google search, and I have my next WUWT story.
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Starmer does seem devoted to trying to make Al Gore and John Kerry seem reasonable.
No fuel needed, just a really long extension cord.
Government can’t even do the things it’s supposed to do with any sort of competence.
I suppose it’s too much to ask that this is some sort of bait-and-switch, putting tiny rechargeable batteries on tanks so that they can claim EV status and siphon some climate-crisis funds into the armed forces?
No doubt every potential battlefield will be equipped with recharging facilities. Are the proponents also suggesting that the Wehrmacht’s early successes in World War 2 would have been greater had it been powered by batteries? What would the results of El Alamein been had the British 8th Army been dependent on electric tanks?
How will the battery packs stand up to cross country travel and munitions penetrating them?
Soldiers using their vehicles as shields would need to consider the intense and explosive fires from batteries as well as incoming fire from their foes. As has been shown with BEV fires, these are not situations you would want to be close to
Imagine being in an armoured vehicle, sitting on a large battery pack then running over an IED.
Idjits
For the pictured vehicle (tank?) I recommend using a plane to take it out, not with bombs but with dirt. Dump the dirt on the solar panels, disable the tank, capture the hapless crew, and take possession of it. Someone would find a good use for it, just not on a battlefield.
I’m trying to think of a good use for it ….. Nope, I need help. Anyone?
Why stop at mere propulsion? Mandate electric rail guns for these tanks. Only 30 megawatts per 10 kilo projectile. A minor engineering detail is the million amps required which needs some rather heavy internal workings and an explosive charge to sever the return circuit at every shot, less the return current surge blows up the tank Rate of fire is at least once a week. But these are mere details….
I guess exploding kamikaze EVs could work?