Subject Overview:
The Wiesel AWC vehicles in ARMA have been about for a while now, recently I got to command one in a combined op. Having commanded and crewed multiple vehicles in mechanised ops I thought I'd share my experiences with the ATM variant, the good the bad and the down right ugly.
A bit of background about the Wiesel shamelessly ripped direct from the interweb. These vehicles are a German made lightly armoured air-transportable AFV. Small in terms of fighting vehicles with a two man crew in each variant, those included in the ARMA Tanks DLC being the 2nd gen HOT ATM (with 12.7mm cannon), MK20 with 20mm autocannon, the Ozelot Anti-Air variant with x4 FIM-92 Stingers and the RFCV variant which is data link capable carrying a compact radar boasting a 8km range for air targets and 4km for ground.
Thoughts:
Having never commanded this type of vehicle (I've only been a driver till now) I went into it knowing very little apart from the variant types and that these vehicles are nippy, they turn on a penny.
These vehicles being part of a fairly new DLC means they get very nice and functional internal skins. All variants getting bearing, optics screen (driver rear view) and azimuth display as well as multiple view ports which can be handy for quick glances while turned in. All variants also provide night and thermal sensors.
The vehicle being so small doesn't do rough or undulating terrain to well, this makes the optics pretty much useless while on the move, turning out being your best bet for navigating long distances through hedgerows/vegetated areas, the same for the driver. This of course isn't ideal if you have anything of threat within firing range. On top of this the turret/optics have no stabilisation meaning if the vehicle turns so does your turret, this is very disorientating and requires practice having to rely more on your display information than the optics themselves until stationary.
Speed is not a problem in the Wiesel, capable of 100+km an hour they can easily keep up with your forces, used as forward scouts or placed on the flanks protecting a push forward or even back but to be effective they need to be stationary so set up, take your shot and get the hell out of there.
The weapons systems are powerful enough in the ATM variant to tackle infantry all the way up to tank busting however reserves are low, the 12.7mm cannon only carrying x3 mags and x6 HOT ATM before re-armament is required. The ATMs are also a little wild, flaring left and right on approach by at least 5 to 10m so a clear shot is required.
The thermal optics are excellent, allowing you to spot the smallest thermal signature. It was noticed however that if the driver is turned out the thermals try to compensate for the heat seen from the hatch. An unfortunate side effect, that being said in real life I doubt the driver is allowed to be turned out as a stinger flies past their ear, toasty.
Overall with a few floors to these vehicles, the main being their armour, they are a capable and transportable vehicle, able to pack a heavy punch against any type of target, I'm looking forward to seeing these deployed in the GOLs future ops.
Spc Parker
GOL-CLAN.ORG
Comments 1
Filth
Re "Friend or foe". These little 2man crew ATGM carriers are worth looking into further.
Having a simple, low manpower weapon to deal with heavy armour is valuable for mechanised formations that maybe don't have ATGMs on their infantry fighting vehicles themselves. Using the Wiesel together with infantry fighting vehicles or even light motorised vehicles is the right way to go imo. Good blend. A big bang for low cost.
Using these can create a basic form of inter-vehicle cooperation which is something I know at least some of us would be interested in.
These assets are a convenient, yet balanced way of soaking up late arrivals and other forms of excess attendance. They're low maintenance on a leadership scale.
Proved useful in the mission the article is about. Will continue to make the Wiesel available in my mech missions, and maybe challenge them a little more, see what they can cope with.
Thanks for your points Parker. Keep these articles coming.