Why is there no tanks in SG?

[mkb441]

I'd like to see the SGC fighting a Blitz War against the Goa'uld. Actually, it would be possible. They could establish an off-world base where they build tank and 302 factories. Of course, the tanks would need to be small in order to fit through the Stargate.

well a average tank is a little smaller than a jumper

[Laxian of Earth]

The humvee is a good option.

The Stryker is a also a good option.

I think we all agree that some anti tank heavy unit is unnecessary. Now, it doesn't mean that missiles about to shoot down tanks aren't necessary. Goa'uld, like Ori, come with vehicles that requires tough guided ordinance to be destroyed.

That's why I believe we should have vehicle that must have the following weapons:

- TOW missile launcher turret or railgun turret.
- 1 anti-infantry heavy gun.

The Stryker is neat because like a Bradley, you can transport troops inside an armoured vehicle, that is fast enough to evade enemy formations, bring reinforcements and else.

Unfortunately, I can't see what type of vehicle could combine both a railgun and even one or two TOW missiles.

Technically, if Earth could retro engineer one of those probes sent by Anubis, or a karakesh (ribbon device), we could start thinking about mounting shields on light vehicles.
As I said, we can already mount inertial dampeners on missiles or on ships of the size of a F-302.

The vehicle would have to be fairly long, and designed to fit in a stargate.

Maybe we can't send them from the SGC, but we could send them from an alpha base specifically designed to suit such needs. After all, there already are trucks on alpha base, already transported by our spacecarriers. So it's perfectly reasonable to have an alpha base serve as a main hangar.

Shielded and armored hovertank all the way I say, with eventually four or six deployable wheels if necessary. It's about damn time we get those rolling out of the factories.

agreed (wheels and "normal" propulsion for situation your asgard tech and stuff does not work (teams have encountered dampening fields before) and hovering (with the option to really fly - like a jumper) for normal movement (a cloak would be a nice touch, too....i like the idea of surrounding the enemy with armed tanks and then decloaking them *smiles evily")...

greetings LAX
ps: for armament i would go with missiles and energy weapons (in order not to have finite ammunition as a problem)....

[Laxian of Earth]

i think you could fit vehicles through the gate without a problem, the problem would be you coudn't get things like Tanks into the gate room.

the SGC probably has a cargo elevator for large equipment and that could be used for motorbikes or quads but unless there was a stargate outside, there is no way larger things like tanks or jeeps could fit through the corriders and the doors to get to the gate room

not a problem (at least not anymore) put a homing/locator-beacon on it and beam it to the gateroom (would work even without the beacon - we have asgard sensors now)

greetings LAX
ps: i think they don't have those because of:

A plot hole (the budget for the show may not have been large enough...) because such vehicles (humvee or other - with SG-Upgrades (or better: SGC made)) would have been pretty usefull (from the first season on - first episode even...they could have held the Jaffa off much better with the .50 cal a humvee has (some even have a grenade launcher....jaffa would have been toast) and with stinger missiles (or similar) installed on such a vehicle gliders would not really be a problem...they could have downed the attack vehicle (normal gliders don't have rings so that was not really a glider) that chased SG-1 and the refuges much earlier (they could have approached them and covered them (like good old cavalery))

[Spimman]

Why use tanks when we can use Jumpers? Since Atlantis has a bay of Jumpers why haven't a few been brought back to Earth?

[Spimman]

I'm concerned about how far they have to walk in these towns. I am officially proposing the use of off-road Segways by the SGC.

http://www.eventive1986.co.uk/images...y-off-road.gif

[Commander Aegir]

they'd be too easy a target for gliders and wraith darts. They'd be better wth modified MALPS with 50 Cals. on them

[Crazedwraith]

they'd be too easy a target for gliders and wraith darts. They'd be better wth modified MALPS with 50 Cals. on them

They have those. We saw one in "Forever in an Eye" in season three. (I think that's the title. The one where Sha're dies)

Yes, tanks are good in a pitched battle but pitched battles are not what Sg teams are supposed to be about. They're recon team. You don't need tanks just to go take a look see at some primitive village.

[FN-P90]

Why use tanks when we can use Jumpers? Since Atlantis has a bay of Jumpers why haven't a few been brought back to Earth?

The problem with that is we have alimited number. With vehicles like Humvees or the Strykers we have for all intinsive purposes a HUGE amount that we can expend.

[Grounders10]

Call me late to the party but did anyone actually DO any research on this? ALL ground vehicles in the US army and US Marine arsenals can fit through the gate, in most cases by at least a full meter. As for effectiveness of goa'uld weaponry on them. A death glider can get knocked out of the sky by a stinger missile. An alkesh can be taken down by your average air to air missile, two if your unlucky. While they do make a nice explosion the weapons on death gliders are not accurate in the least. Frankly the risk of a bigger target is worth the firepower an uparmoured humvee could bring, especially in rapid response when an SG team needs back-up. On the issue of how to get them TO the gate. They can build a secret underground shipyard that churns out the BC-303 and BC-304, but they can't build a facility specifically for stargate operations? Including the space required to service, maintain, and deploy vehicles? They could. In the end the reason there were no vehicles is simple. They didn't have the budget, and frankly later on it probably never occured to the writers.

[monstar688]

ALL ground vehicles in the US army and US Marine arsenals can fit through the gate, in most cases by at least a full meter. As for effectiveness of goa'uld weaponry on them. A death glider can get knocked out of the sky by a stinger missile. An alkesh can be taken down by your average air to air missile, two if your unlucky. While they do make a nice explosion the weapons on death gliders are not accurate in the least. Frankly the risk of a bigger target is worth the firepower an uparmoured humvee could bring, especially in rapid response when an SG team needs back-up.

agreed!

[monstar688]

not a problem (at least not anymore) put a homing/locator-beacon on it and beam it to the gateroom (would work even without the beacon - we have asgard sensors now)

lol i like this. it could work

[mjwalshe]

Big? Yes. Slow and almost stationary? You are aware it isn't 1916 anymore, right? The maximum cross-country speed of a M1 is 30 mph, and lighter armored vehicles such as those in the Mowag Piranha family (Stryker and LAV-25, for example) can go even faster. Of course you lose some surprise when they can see and/or hear you coming, but armored vehicles offer the firepower advantage.

Also, the majority of planets that we've seen are covered in trees because the majority of planets that we've seen are back lots in Vancouver.

30 is the claimed top speed from some i know even back in the 70's the previous generation of MBT's could go a lot faster. He was over taken by a Chieftain going a lot faster than 30.

[mjwalshe]

It could be doable if the show went the dune buggy route. Considering the number of dune buggy manufactures and that its mostly a consumer market could they not make a deal with one of them. Its not like other shows don't do similar with a "(Product) provided by (manufactier)" blurb durring or in the credits.

They found that the dune buggys didnt work so well in deasert storm. A SG team based around the LRDG would be one option using 4x4 and 6x6 Supercat's - hmm you could have done an stargate episode based on Ice cold in alex team has to cross desert with the one remaining truck but is the tokra they pick up realy who he seems :-)

[Lt.UrsulaKenmore]

All this big vehicle or smaller vehicle firepower sounds great, but I think one of the biggest assets to the gate program in both galaxies is that no one knows what our tech is exactly. And every time they think they've got us pinned, we bring something new into the fray. While bringing in tanks or Humvees sounds great, I kind of like that our own little used tech is the exact element of surprise that catches the bad guys offguard. And because we use it so rarely if at all really, that ever lingering element of potential surprise does hold some sway in battle. It'll always make them think twice and think we're a lot more powerful than we might actually be against them.

Like the weirdest game of poker ever:
"I'll see your death gliders and raise you an F-302."
"I'll see your F-302 and raise you an advanced super-sized Ha'tak."
"I'll see your super Ha'tak with the Prometheus." etc.

[mjwalshe]

Well I always figured that if they 'really' needed larger vehicles that they could use the same loading crane they used to bring in and take out the Stargate high atop Cheyenne Mountain.

But I think that the premise is that each or most of the SG teams are recon teams. Now each team can be outfitted with different gear for different missions but if you're going in hot it doesn't make sense to try and ship an Apache or Hind that would have to be set up on the other side. ATV's and the like make WAY too much noise for a recon mission, not to mention the fear they may invoke in the locals which is something you don't want if you are trying to align yourselves with human decendants.

When it comes to recon the best thing to use is human teams.

When it comes to going into a warzone, you want something to come out of that gate moving. Such as a puddle jumper or one of those 'thread the needle' ships. Hmm, don't know if the X-302's could be modified or not but they might work if they could fit through the gate while moving. I'm not sure of the wingspan of a F-18 or F-16 but with them they are flight tested for our atmospher, doesn't mean they will work exactly the same in other atmospheres. Just because it is breathable to humans doesn't mean that the upper atmosphere would have the same densities as our own. Of course even then the Death Gliders could get higher and come in from above, a perfect attack posture to come in high on your targets six.

Now, . . . what about sending a team through with missle or howitzer support . . . we've seen the missle, the howitzer would only work for things in direct line of site with the gate . . . but it's a thought. Hmm, they do make field nukes that fit into a cannon . . .


Dunno, I figure it's just budget and they've yet to write a script where something like that is called for.

Howitzers are fired indirectly > 45 degrees except in desperate circumstances eg 25 pounders in the dessert in ww2 as a last gasp defense against tanks.