Less-Than-Effective NATO Weapon Systems Of World War III Part II

AMX-30 Main Battle Tank (France)- The AMX-30 was a contemporary of the Leopard I, Chieftain and M-60. It was upgraded in the early 80s to the AMX-30B2 standard, giving it a fire control system, improvements to the main gun armament, and new transmission, suspension, and engines. It was hoped that these modifications would enhance the AMX-30s lethality and survivability on the modern battlefield. By 1987 a good number of upgraded tanks had entered service. Many of these made their way to the Central Front and played a part in later battles in the southern regions of the FRG. Sadly, it turned out these issues had not been fully addressed and ameliorated. The AMX-30B2, like its unmodified predecessor, remained under-gunned and under-protected when facing off against more modern variants of the Soviet T-72 and T-80. Cross country mobility was also an issue for the earlier versions of the AMX-30. Overall, the tank was adequate and performed its task well in conjunction with mechanized infantry and artillery. On its own, however, in a tank vs tank environment the AMX-30 came up short more often than not.

Greek forces were somewhat more successful with their AMX-30s fighting against Bulgarian and Soviet T-55s and T-62s in Thrace.

F-104 Starfighter (US origins, used by multiple nations and built on license by others)-The F-104 is a storied fighter aircraft with a history spanning over forty-five years. Originally introduced as an air-superiority fighter for the USAF in the late 50s, the Starfighter had evolved into the role of a fighter-bomber for a number of NATO air forces through the last two decades of the Cold War. By July, 1987 it remained in frontline service with the West Germany, Turkey and Greece. The West Germans utilized the F-104G as an all-weather ground attack aircraft. For much of World War III Luftwaffe Starfighters flew mostly close air support missions with the occasional interdiction sortie thrown in. Marineflieger -104s flew similar missions but also anti-ship and reconnaissance sorties as well. In both cases, -104 losses were heavy in both pilots and airframes through the war. The low-level close air support duties were responsible for most losses. The mission itself was very dangerous and Soviet battlefield air defenses took a heavy toll. Added to the dangers posed by ZSU-23s and SA-8 Gecko mobile SAM launchers were the high speeds and low altitudes that the F-104s operated at. In short, the Starfighter was an aircraft from a different era, not suited at all for operations over the European battlefields of 1987.

Turkish and Greek F-104s also absorbed high casualties in men and aircraft.

Tigerfish Torpedo (United Kingdom)- The Tigerfish was the standard torpedo carried aboard the Royal Navy’s nuclear powered attack submarines. Its development had been a troublesome one to say the least, with multiple problems plaguing the initial model, followed by unresolved issues in the follow up modification batch. By the early summer of 1987 the Mod 2 Tigerfish was starting to enter service but in small numbers. As a result, the Royal Navy’s Churchill, Swiftsure and Trafalgar class attack boats went to war with mostly Mod 1 Tigerfish aboard initially. The result was a revisiting of troubles the weapon had in the Falklands War and earlier; Reliability issues, and subpar anti-surface performance being the greatest problems. The Tigerfish caused the biggest headaches for the Royal Navy up north in the Norwegian and Barents Sea. Faulty Tigerfish allowed more than one Soviet submarine and surface ship to live and fight another day. Tragically, a Tigerfish Mod 1 also led to the death of HMS Sovereign when a torpedo exploded pre-maturely moments after it was ejected from the attack sub’s #3 tube while hunting a Victor II class attack sub southeast of Svalbard. 

Bo-105/PAH-1 (West Germany)- The PAH-1 was West Germany’s anti-tank helicopter in the Third World War. It was essentially a Bo-105 multipurpose helicopter fitted with racks for HOT anti-tank missiles. No other armament, sensors or countermeasures. To be fair, the West German Army only considered the PAH-1 to be a stopgap measure until a dedicated and more capable anti-tank helicopter became available. Sadly, when war came the PAH-1 was still in service. Unable to perform night or all-weather missions and having no countermeasures at all, the helicopter found itself at a tremendous disadvantage. Especially in an environment where many dedicated attack helicopters struggled to survive. Losses were nearly crippling in the first two weeks of war and by late July most surviving PAH-1s had been relegated to reserve status, with US Army AH-1 and AH-64 attack helicopters providing airborne anti-tank support for HEER units when and wherever possible.