Fallout's 4 Major Changes to the U.S. Military

Even though the Fallout world is so familiar, there are substantial differences on every single level. The United States' military is no exception, so lets look at four major differences between the real world military and the one we see the remnants of in Fallout.

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[CallmeKenneth-tbzb]

As an aircraft enthusiast you should know then that modern aircraft are slower than their cold war counterparts because speed has been found to be detrimental to combat, not to mention it uses more fuel, something they didn't have. Perhaps in Fallout the USAF came to that conclusion much earlier. Besides, the speed of cold war era aircraft was due to an arms race. If China never developed a plane that could challenge at higher speeds that arms race would never have materialised.

[MarkoDash]

it could be that the very late development of the microchip in fallout kept guided missiles from becoming widespread and thus the planes of the fallout universe are still primarily gunfighters.

[uberbeeg]

The number of P-80s could be an indication of a failing or seriously stretched military where obsolete types are used for home defence. This was the situation in Australia in 1941.

[Arukan]

The pauldrons are not minor use. They are how the suit is hung for service AND can be used to maximize troop transport, since they can be hooked in and then flown over battlefields and dropped as near-invincible shock-troopers due to the impact ablation.

[scribbles]

Just to add Fallout NV, we do see a B-29. The Boomer quest line has you raise one out of Lake mead, and if they are present for the 2nd battle of hoover Dam, it does bomb the damn.

Add in that the Boomers learned how to fly through all the simulators at Nellis. It would be fair to say the Air Force would have B-29s in their bomber core.

Granted, the B-29 could just be a reference to the B-29 that actually crashed in Lake Mead and isn't meant to mean anything

[garrettmetting]

I feel like the riveted armor on tanks could be explained away as a necessity due to the resource wars. Riveted armor is generally cheaper/ less draining on resources than modern tank doctrine

[kyosokutai]

Thing about slow heavy tanks, - I think it might tie into the development and deployment of Powered Armor infantry. - Turning a infantryman into a walking tank, - a light tank, admittedly, but still, - thus it would make sense to have a heavier platform to support the armored infantry in their pushes. Similar to British tank doctrine. Except power-armor would probably have a easier time keeping up with the tank.

(Off the record: Bethesda's "tank" looks like it was designed by someone who had never seen a tank in their entire lives but had a lot of greebling assets handy. The machine guns and laser rifles have similar "never seen a gun in their lives outside of photos" feel to them. - Lasers don't even have a ironsight. They're literally a steel brick with a stock.)

[BigYabai]

Power Armor almost seems to fill a role akin to a super light IFV, but in places that an IFV can't easily navigate or be more discrete.
I imagine a pair of power armor troops could assist a squad of troops in urban operations, providing fire support and suppressing enemy troops while the regulars work their way in and clean up.
Though really if anyone were to use something like that it would be special police forces or CTUs where the chance of the enemy having superior firepower like rocket launchers or artillery weapons is low.

[BLK_MN]

It makes since that while larger bombs would be ‘retired’, they would still be used. Cities with large populations like Washington D.C., Boston, San Fransisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles would be target with huge bombs, to ensure total destruction, and radioactive fallout is secondary.

However, rural and non-urban areas still contain lots of people, spread out, so low-yield, highly radioactive bombs would be more lethal, as the explosions themselves may not kill everyone, but the fallout would spread far and wide, carried by wind and weather.

[someshtbaglcpl]

As a many time passenger of the Osprey, I can tell you that I never once was sure of my survival until I was back on the ground lol. I can’t imagine vertibirds would be much more fun.

[backatitagain]

The pauldrons have a use for the T-45 and T-60, they have anchor points so the suits can be lifted up with a crane or the power armor stand (we aren’t able to do that though so eh..) It also could have a use for transportation of the suits.

[Eric-vshe]

I think the aircraft carrier in the Rivet City was meant to be a museum ship, thus the ancient P-80 plane on board

Edit: As for the one in Point Lookout, I'm guessing that they decide to save a few P-80 and convert them to Training Planes

[magicpyroninja]

I think it's fairly safe to assume that the operation anchorage VR simulator is accurate about the military vehicles and capabilities of the Chinese lying about that to train your soldiers would end up with soldiers that aren't trained for what they're fighting. It would be a huge waste of money for the military doesn't mean they won't lie about Chinese motives and propagandize simulator but the military stuff they most likely aren't going to be lying about

[allstercrowly]

I honestly thought the military in Fallout changed to numbers over efficiency after world war two instead focusing on nuclear research, robotics research, and biological manipulation. It was only the resources wars and the war with China that forced the U.S. to start focusing back on military R&D which developed by leaps in that short amount of time.

[oddersisadog]

I'd assume the best aircraft were being used in combat as support due to manpads and AAA. So the only planes you'd see would be training aircraft and second hand shit used to defend the mainland as backup.

[dorianshepard]

I think a cool idea for a fallout game would be a nuclear power aircraft carrier that survived the war and had enough crew size to become a generational ship, and stayed out of the way. Occasionally searching for harbors or sending vertibirds out for supplies. The game could be exploring the seas and islands of the pacific and encountering hostile survivors or irradiated beasts. But also finding friendly villages and taking a vertibird on away missions on the shores

[johnmendoza]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the Chimera tanks in Operation Anchorage, as those are actually moving and are a pretty big part of the storyline. Energy weapons, EMP weapons, and especially the military robots also seem very important as they shape the battlefield of the wasteland and operation anchorage.

[evilbron]

I think in one of your earlier video's you discussed that the aircraft carrier may have been a docked maritime museum. That could account for the older style aircraft found on the deck : they were there for display. That would also explain why so many were out and ready to be deployed, despite being docked in the middle of Washington DC. As far as the single plane crashed in Point Lookout, it could be a show plane, or due to lack of other craft, a coastal scouting and recon plane. Thanks for the vid :)

[AsymmetricalCrimes]

34:02 Actually modern irl nukes are just as small yield as the ones in Fallout. The largest nuke operated by the US today is the 1.2 megaton B83.

[dataportdoll]

33:54 Uh, actually that would be exactly the same. The US released its Nuclear Doctrine in 2018 and they called for EVEN SMALLER weapons than they currently posses, which have already mostly dropped anything in the megaton range. The highest yield bomb actively deployed as of this moment is the B83 which is a 1.2 megaton weapon.