3.5-inch rocket launcher in action against the North Koreans
them to knock out several Russian-built tanks, and thereafter the weapon received wide use. Infantry used new models of the 81-mm. and 4.2-inch mortars, and the number of automatic rifles was increased in the regiment.[1]
Improved aircraft technology provided all three types of divisions with new resources. The helicopter, boasting both vertical lift and hover capability, became a practical tactical and transport asset, playing a key role in supply and medical evacuation in Korea. Infantry and airborne divisions were authorized sixteen traditional fixed-wing aircraft and ten helicopters, while each armored division fielded eighteen aircraft and ten helicopters. The debate again surfaced as to whether all divisional aviation should be located in one unit since they usually used the same airfield. No separate aviation unit won approval, and technically the aircraft remained dispersed to the various units throughout the divisions. Divisions in combat, however, centralized their aircraft under divisional aviation officers who organized provisional aviation companies.[2]
The Army made more significant changes in the armored division. Although large armored formations were considered unsuitable for the rugged terrain in Korea, the Army still faced a massive Soviet armored threat in Europe. In response, the armored division fielded the first new family of tanks since World War II. The M103 (T43) tank armed with a 120-mm. gun was authorized for the heavy tank battalion. Weighing about sixty tons, it was the largest and most powerful American combat vehicle adopted to date. The new medium tank, the M47, had an improved fire control system and a high-velocity 90-mm. gun, which enhanced its lethality, but it did not become available in any quantity until 1953. For the reconnaissance
- ↑ TOE 7–11, Infantry Regiment, 15 May 1952; "Tools for the Fighting Man: Small Arms," Armed Forces Talk (18 Jan 1952) pp. 1–15; Walter H. Ramsey, "The Big Bazooka: Russian Tanks Were No Match for Our 3.5-Inch Weapon," Ordnance 35 (May–Jun 1951): 638–40.
- ↑ TOE 7, Infantry Division, 15 May 1952; TOE 17, Armored Division, 29 Dec 1952; TOE 57, Airborne Division, 1 Jan 1952; James C. Smith, "Centralized Operations," Army Aviation Digest 1 (Mar 1955): 19–25; Joseph Bonanno, "The Helicopter in Combat," Ordnance 37 (Mar–Apr 1954): 868–72; Donald F. Harrison, "A History of Army Aviation," ch. V, pp, 11–20, 25–27, Ms, DAMH-HSR.
