If you could take one modern military unit and bring it back to WWII...

[E-Dog Night]

...what would it be?

Here are the rules: you get to select one piece of military hardware - i.e. one tank, or one aircraft, etc. - which would operate the same way that it does today. Same range, same armament, same everything. No nukes.

I was having this discussion with a friend of mine recently and the debate actually got pretty heated. He was all about the F-15.

I said the Apache helicopter.

It could just pop up right over the hedgerows at night and pick off German tanks at night by the dozen with Hellfire missiles, and then the Allies could just roll right through with their own tanks with little to no resistance. The risk of being destroyed would be next to nothing, considering that range of the Apache is much greater than any German tank, and there's almost no way it could be shot down at night. The European theater would have been wrapped up at least a year earlier if not more, saving countless American lives.

Come on military geeks, whaddaya got?

[Predicto]

Cruise missile.

Goodbye Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair). Goodbye Hitler.

Goodbye Imperial Army Heaquarters - Tokyo. Goodbye Tojo.

[Sarge]

USS Reagan

[E-Dog Night]

USS Reagan

Ok, that's several units. You'd take that carrier but with no modern airplanes?

[Teller]

I love questions like this, and it would be awfully damned hard to argue against the Apache.

(On a semi-related note, one of my drill sergeants once told me that a TEAM of modern day MPs could take out a COMPANY of Civil War troops.)

[sacase]

Easy. M1 Tank. Nothing they could fire at it could hurt it. Hell they can barely hurt it today. I think the M1 has the firepower of a WWII division.

This ultimate in survivability. Interesting read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abrams

[Buddy Dude]

Stealth Bomber.

Infrared and night vision would be nice too.

[redskin56]

The idea has already been made into a movie but I've got to go with a modern day aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor. May have ended WWII before it started for the U.S. Destroy the Japenese fleet without casualty and park that baby right of shore in the Northern Atlantic and send sortie after sortie into Germany.

If you mean just ONE piece of equipment rather than a ship of that nature I'd have to go with a Seawolf fast attack submarine. Once again, obliterate the Japenese fleet and Germany would have no navy or wolfpacks to deter allied shipping interests.

[E-Dog Night]

Easy. M1 Tank. Nothing they could fire at it could hurt it. Hell they can barely hurt it today. I think the M1 has the firepower of a WWII division.

That was my second choice, but I figured that eventually something could possibly take it out, or at least it's more likely than the Apache. I also think the Apache could destroy more enemy units at a greater rate.

[Stophovr6]

I chose Rambo

[E-Dog Night]

The idea has already been made into a movie

Hmm. Do you recall the name?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Cool debate.

Wonder how long the war would have lasted if we were to have any of these units, too.

[sacase]

Hmm. Do you recall the name?

Final Countdown.

[sacase]

That was my second choice, but I figured that eventually something could possibly take it out, or at least it's more likely than the Apache. I also think the Apache could destroy more enemy units at a greater rate.

Naw the Apache is easy to take down. The Iraqi's put a hurting on one of the aviation regiments all they did was have everyone shoot their rifle up in the air. The attack was called off because almost all of the Apache's were seriously damaged. That is why the two Apache pilots were captured.

Read the link about the M1 it talks about the servivability of those things. We have a hard time destroying them and we made them.

[E-Dog Night]

Final Countdown.

Sweet. Just added it to my Netflix queue.

[GibbsFactor]

I like the Apache, it's the most practical. The sub wouldn't help much for our invasions, a tank would still need to be landed. The F22 is too advanced and most of the features are useless. The F15 would be the better choice I guess.

So I'm in agreement, the Apache is what I'd take back.

[Pwyl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Apaches are sharks of the sky. Too bad they break down every 2 and a half hours of flight time.

[Stophovr6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II

Nice pick. Gotta love a plane built around it's main weapon.

[th869]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II

I tend to agree with the A-10. The original Thunderbolt in WW II was deadly to the enemy so you can only imagine what the latest version could do. The German tanks would have been wiped out just as effectively as with the Apache but the A-10 could do alot more and take some serious punishment doing it. Just my :2cents:

[twa]

Long as You are allowing the support and armaments,the B1-B would do nicely. :cool:

[Sarge]

Hmm. Do you recall the name?

http://imdb.com/title/tt0080736/

[The_cavalierman]

This is a tougher question that it seems. I have three candidates ranked in order of the impact they could potentially make.

Candidate #1 (Could have drastically altered history)

If I could bring one modern unit back that would have the most impact on WWII it would be the predator drones. Due to the potential impact of a targeted strike at all of these leaders during the war with little to no collateral damage the predator is tops.

Can you imagine one of these babies taking out an unsuspecting Hitler, Mussilini and Hurihito before millions lost their lives?

War over......Thanks for playing.

Candidate #2 (Could have prevented the Pearl harbor attack and wiped out the Japanese Navy in one decisive stroke.)

A close second place would be a modern day military spy satellite which would have alerted us to Japan's naval movements prior to the pearl Harbor attack. Imagine the massive Japanese fleet assigned to attack Pearl harbor being tracked leaving Japan and destroyed prior to reaching it's target?

Infact...because we know what they are doing the phillipines does not fall and other attacks never happen or are much less effective.

An Alerted US Navy destroys the Japanese fleet in the pacific which frees thousands of Marines to end the war in Europe or occupy a beaten Japan that much earlier.

It would have also tracked German movements in Europe which would have really helped us and our allies get the right resources to the right places. A spy satellite would have directed the B-17s to exact targets thus limiting or wiping out Germany's V-2 rocket, ME-262 and other high value German programs.

Not to mention Spy satellites would have provided undeniable proof of Germany's concentration camps.

Candidate #3 (Could drop combat ready divisions intact and in key areas)

If you may have noticed my first two picks were more impactful because they could have prevented or drastically changed the war in many ways. My third pick is more after the fact and a way to end the war as soon as humanly possible.

As anyone who has actually served in combat arms portion of the military knows the key to winning is getting there first with the mostest. Military logistics is what won WWII for the Allies and my third pick would have given the Allies the ultimate advantage.

The C-17 Globemaster III would have dramatically reduced the length of the war because neither Germany nor Japan could deal with entire combat ready divisions popping up in places they previously thought impossible.

Can you imagine Patton's third Army popping up behind the Germans in the battle of Kursk in a pencer move that destroyed what remained of Hitler's eastern army? The Russians and Americans would have ended the war that day.

Can you imagine the 82nd and 101st Airborne and a couple of Armored divisions starting the war in Germany on D-Day instead of France. They would have cut the head off the chicken leaving the German Army leaderless and scattered.

Mobility and logistics are the keys to winning wars and a fleet of C-17s during WWII would have stomped out Hitler and Japan quicker than any weapon's system previously mentioned because the C-17 puts boots, planes, tanks and other supporting units on the ground that needs to be taken. Nothing mentioned previously does that. The C-17 would have been the equivalent of a surgical strike of division sized elements which no Army in the 1940's or even today could handle.

Notable non picks:

I liked the choices of others like the M1A2 tank, Apache, fighter jets and B-1 Bombers. Those are all great choices but I wanted to prevent the war or at the very least limit it to the lands of Germany and Japan.

How do you do that? Real time Intelligence (satellites), Surprise (predators/global hawks) and Logistics (C-17)

[RyansRangers]

you guys got it all wrong

This is the ultimate weapon pinpoint accuracy and can destroy mass amounts of troops and equipment

[The_cavalierman]

Great question and now my brain is racing at 300mph..

M1A2 Abrams - Great tank and it would replace the king tiger as the class of the battlefield in WWII but much like the tigers it is a fuel hog and it requires a very efficient logistics chain which might not be good enough during WWII.

A-10 - I am a former paratrooper and I absolutely love that plane. The A-10 would have kicked butt in the pacific but it might have had issues in the european theatre due to German 88s. German 88's would have taken a toll on the low flying and relatively slow A-10s.

B-1B Bomber - Let me start out by addressing a myth. The Japanese did not surrender because of the Atomic bombs. They surrendered when the Russians opened up a second front by attacking the Japanese in Asia. That being said the B-1B would have dropped the same bomb (more accurately) but it would have had the same effect. The Japanese were far more afraid of the Russians than the Atomic bombs.

Apache - Another great choice but would have faced a world of hurt with small arms fire (panzershrek and german 88s). The Apache also requires a massive logistics chain.