Can you explain why the streets of Moscow and Beijing can accommodate military tanks,but the streets of Washington DC can not?

2019-07-03T22:18:09-04:00

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jul 3 at 2019 11:24 PM

2019-07-03T23:24:22-04:00

Remember my friend CSM Charles Hayden
1. the streets of Washington D.C [except Constitution Avenue] were designed in the 18th century and were narrower since traffic was primarily by horse and/or wagon in town. The last war that Washington, DC was threatened in was the U.S. Civil War. Horse and ox-drawn wagons were the primarily means of transportation on roads. Large cannon and howitzers had to be brought in by special routes - often involving barges if near water.
2. It is only the major streets of Moscow and Beijing which can accommodate tanks in general. Moscow and Beijing have been threatened many times and occupied a few times each since the dark ages.
During WWII both Moscow and Beijing were threatened by the Axis powers of Germany and Japan respectively. Communist World Powers and others feel it a duty to parade military might once a year at least :-)

FYI LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Private RallyPoint Member Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj Robert Thornton CPT Scott Sharon SSG William Jones SSG Donald H "Don" Bates PO3 William Hetrick PO3 Lynn Spalding SPC Mark Huddleston SGT Rick Colburn CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke SP5 Jeannie Carle Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey Sgt Albert Castro

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jul 3 at 2019 11:50 PM

2019-07-03T23:50:34-04:00

The track will tear up the warm asphalt, especially if they turn. The bridges may or may not be capable of supporting 72 tons of fun. I noticed commercial lowboys had to bring them in off the rail. The wear surface of asphalt is in top of a concrete base, then road base. Have you seen ruts at stop lights? That’s because commercial trucks caused the base layers to fail. Heavy tracked vehicles cause this. They discuss this in the Heights of Courage about the Israeli Tank BN that saved the country in 1973.

China didn’t care because it was national survival to put down Tiannamin Square. Russian and China dont care that the road gets torn up. They also have relatively fewer miles of paved surface than we do.

Response by SPC Casey Ashfield made Jul 4 at 2019 12:08 AM

2019-07-04T00:08:30-04:00

Military parades are far more common in China and Russia. Necessity is the mother of invention. Stronger roads or tread inserts would be my guess.

Response by Brad Powers made Jul 4 at 2019 2:00 AM

2019-07-04T02:00:54-04:00

I think in a communist country they randomly do this because they want to heard and feared. In America if some Servicemembers want to have a little fun with the hardware then what the hell maybe it will get young Americans interested in the crazy things you guys do. Tanks and jets are great and it just so happens that in a free country, in a wicked, world we need them.

Response by Brad Powers made Jul 4 at 2019 2:13 AM

2019-07-04T02:13:38-04:00

Actually it would be great if America were able to draw back and sort be the sleeping giant she once was. We should have very little in common with a communist country as far as political behavior goes and for sure military behavior as well. A flyover above the capital sounds great though.

Response by SGT Rosi Teresi made Jul 4 at 2019 7:41 AM

2019-07-04T07:41:41-04:00

No bleedin heart liberals in Moscow and Beijing

Response by SSG Donald H "Don" Bates made Jul 4 at 2019 10:30 AM

2019-07-04T10:30:28-04:00

The D C streets were not constructed for heavy loads and I wonder how they are holding up with heavier busses, trucks, etc.??

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 4 at 2019 10:45 AM

2019-07-04T10:45:38-04:00

They're to damn heavy. Also, these armored vehicles are only going to be on static display. They aren't going to be doing movement to contact on the National Mall.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jul 4 at 2019 11:52 AM

2019-07-04T11:52:34-04:00

I'll add to Steve's input that countries that are belligerent towards other nations and its own people make it a point to rub their noses in it frequently and on schedule. So certain routes are fervently maintained, even though their military value has been long diminished. Woe be unto those are even remotely associated with something that causes a parade to have a glitch, especially on camera.

Response by SGT Keith Smith made Jul 6 at 2019 12:49 AM

2019-07-06T00:49:22-04:00

Russian and Chinese tanks weigh about 50% less than their NATO counterparts