"This was the US Army’s Cold War plan for a war on the Moon," Topic

… and the weapons it'd use to win it

"The U.S. military likes to be ready for any situation or scenario. That is why the Army worked on developing secret space weapons for potential battles on the surface of the Moon. It wasn't just a one-off idea either, the Army commissioned a full study looking at multiple options for space-ready armaments to use on a proposed lunar military base.

Step back in time to the 1960s. The Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik kicked off the Space Race, President John F. Kennedy promised to put a human on the Moon and the imagination of the Jet Age and the Atomic Age was in full effect. Technology had evolved so quickly in recent years, anything seemed possible. And with that can-do, the future-is-now mindset, the U.S. Army had an idea for space…"

Main page

link

Armand

Just finished reading Adam Smale's HOT MOON. Novel suggested armed conflict on Moon circa 1979 with altered timeline. Andropov is Soviet premier. Figures.

One tactic a KGB Cosmonaut used vs a NASA female Captain in H2H on the surface was black spray paint onto the woman's spacesuit faceplate. Took her out of the fight and into capture. I checked on whether a can of Rustoleum matte black would work in a vacuum. Chances are yes. I figured the painter had to be pretty close to the target before the paint spray froze into BB size globules and bounced off the faceplate of the target.

BTW Black Site Studio (Dallas) features Moon skirmish combat in a rule set called Lunar. Weps don't feature spray paint. House rule coming up.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing! I was always intrigued by the USAF's manned spaceflight programs of the early 1960s. They were testing the X-20 Dynasoar mini-shuttle and planned to build our first space station – Manned Orbiting Laboratory. What if that had been allowed to continue instead of being shut down and giving the Apollo project sole regard over manned spaceflight?

Same battles circa 1860 would have involved LOTS of wine and bread, since everyone just knew the moon was made of cheese. My how times change.

PDF link

This is the real deal, how the US Army would have a moon base all their own.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek

Thanks!

Armand

That bears reading in the near future.

Interesting articles.

Thanks for sharing.

Useful for Moongrunt scenarios.

I always thought that Nato astronauts vs Cosmonauts, ala James Bond in space, would make a good game. I recommend the Osprey "Nazi Moonbase" book on this subject.

A votre service mon ami…

Armand

Wow….

There is a new game/miniatures called Lunar. An alternative history with the US/Russian and others fighting on the Moon during the 60s and 70s. I have it but haven't played it yet.

Sound funny….

Armand

Ran across another interesting project on FB that I'd never heard of, Project Orion, the original one.

A NASA/USAF space battleship designed for exploring our solar system, and able to do battle too. Armed with nuke tipped missiles (300 – 400 or so, IIRC), plus other weapons too, including conventional 5" guns and CIWS.

The ship would also have 6 x space shuttles, and a crew of 120 (each shuttle could carry 20 men). It's unclear how many of the 120 crew were to be designated as space marines, but a portion of them were those types of troops.

Kennedy killed the project, which he deemed to be too militaristic and expensive.

Thanks.

Armand

Interesting topic to think about, but it seems to me that this looks extremely useless and is only suitable for such discussions. In general the time of cold war is very interesting with its such ideology, I did my essay recently guided by examples from
https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/cold-war and brought up the development of nuclear technology for weapons. But here it is the war on the moon and weapons for it looks a little ridiculous and inappropriate in our realities. I know that there are no returns tools but with firearms there are a number of nuances that prevent the construction and design of such.