What They Are Using

A retreating South Korean cavalryman reined in his horse on a muddy road near Suwon one day last week, waved wildly at a U.S. bazooka team and shouted a warning: "Tanks, tanks!" Then he spurred his mount southward. The cavalryman was neither coward nor fool; he had already learned what many a U.S. soldier would learn in full and bitter measure before the tide of battle turned: the Communist ground forces, for the moment at least, had the better weapons.

The better weapons were not new weapons. The tanks that panicked the South Korean troops and steadily rolled back U.S. infantrymen were World War II's squat, 30-ton Russian T-34s and twelve-ton T-70s.

Bigger, Not Better. For its weight, the T-34 medium tank is one of the best tanks in the world; it has speed (35 m.p.h.), a low silhouette, an 85-mm. gun of high muzzle velocity, and unusually broad treads, a feature which makes for good maneuverability on the rain-soaked roads and fields of Korea.

Russian-made North Korean artillery and mortars also had the edge on the South Koreans' U.S.-made weapons. This was not because the Red weapons were better, but because they were bigger. Against the Reds' 120-mm. mortars and howitzers, the biggest pieces the South Koreans could muster were the U.S. 81-mm. mortars and 105-mm. howitzers.

What U.S. soldiers wanted most in South Korea last week were weapons which would stop the Red tanks. The 105 is a poor antitank gun, even at point-blank range. Said one experienced artilleryman in Washington last week:

"Few people realize the expertness required of gunners firing over open sights [i.e., at point-blank range] against oncoming tanks and with a gun which is not designed for antitank work. The shot is not so easy as it sounds; only veteran gunners will remain calm enough to make the shot count, and even they have to have a bit of luck."

Decided Edge. The air war in Korea was a different story. Here the U.S. had a decided edge and was taking regular advantage of it (see above). The Russian planes so far used by the North Koreans have been Yak propeller-driven fighters and Ilyushin assault planes. The planes in use have been Yak-3s and Yak-y-Bs, perhaps some Yak-9s, Il-10s.

Most of the planes the U.S. Air Force was using to keep the Yaks out of the air were propeller-driven FSI North American Mustangs and F-80 Lockheed jets. The jets, forced by bad weather to operate at low levels from bases some 350 miles away in Japan, could carry only enough fuel to stay over their targets for about 15 minutes. The FSI, with its longer range, could make the Japan-to-Korea hop and still have enough fuel to stay over the target for about 45 minutes before returning to its base. But, said one Air Force officer grimly: "If one Russian jet appears, the F-51s are going to go back home."

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