Defense: Weapons for Present & Future

Even as the nation custom tailors new weapons for the particular problems of war in Viet Nam, armament engineers are busily fashioning others to help deter future conflicts. Last week the Pentagon showed off the latest results of both efforts.

For Viet Nam. The AH-1G Huey-Cobra, a waspish two-man whirlybird with a top speed of 219 m.p.h., can pack a 4,000-round-per-minute machine gun, a grenade launcher and 76 air-to-ground 2.75-in. rockets. Faster and deadlier than any other helicopter in use in Viet Nam, the Cobra is also far safer for pilots. For Viet Cong gunners it is a tough target indeed; it has been slimmed down to a svelte 36 in. (v. 100 in. in the old Huey gunships) by seating the pilot and copilot one behind the other instead of side by side as in most other helicopters. The Cobras saw combat for the first time last week when two of them blasted land ing zones with machine guns and rockets in support of a South Vietnamese assault, then destroyed four enemy bunkers and sank 14 guerrilla sampans in another operation. "She's the kind of thing you can fall in love with," said one pilot. "She's lean and mean."

For Battlefields of the Future. The MBT-70 (for Main Battle Tank of the 1970s), a 50-ton monster (approximate cost: $600,000) jointly designed and built by West Germany and the U.S., is touted to be the ultimate in the next generation of heavy tanks. It can dash 400 miles at a top speed of 42 m.p.h. without refueling (v. 100 miles and 18 m.p.h. by the Panzer IVs of Rommel's famed Afrika Korps). It can cross rivers simply by driving underwater, locate targets in the night with infra-red and starlight viewfinders, and pinpoint their range with a laser beam. Automatic devices have reduced the standard four-and five-man crew to three, and a sophisticated stabilization system keeps a big 152-mm. gun so steady that it can fire artillery shells or guided missiles accurately even as the tank rumbles over potholes.

A hydraulic lift system can completely change the tank's posture. From its top height of 87 in., it can hunker down on its tracks 19 in. to become a less inviting target; it can independently move its front, back or either of its sides to maneuver or to level itself on broken terrain. Its crew sits in air-conditioned comfort beneath a perch with 360° vision. It is at least two years from becoming operational, and it is clearly meant for a different kind of war than Viet Nam: it can withstand contamination from atomic, bacteriological or chemical warfare. Though military men made no mention of it, the tank of the '70s will obviously be able to fire missiles equipped with tactical nuclear warheads.