How would super mutants preform in the modern military?

[Shaodeus]

Would their incredible strength give them access to the use of heavier weapons? Wouldn't they be able to use some weapons? How much of a disadvantage would their size be?
The average mutant is about 3.2 meters with a mass of 360 kilo and 77% muscle mass

 

[R.Graves]

This is such an interesting topic that it pains me thAt I don't have much to say.

I'd imagine they'd make loyal soldiers. They can be easily led. Then again, as of late, they don't seem to be too intelligent so marines maybe?

 

[Shaodeus]

This is such an interesting topic that it pains me thAt I don't have much to say.

I'd imagine they'd make loyal soldiers. They can be easily led. Then again, as of late, they don't seem to be too intelligent so marines maybe?

I do think that they would be a bitch too feed, imagine how many calories the muties need to pack in to maintain that kind of muscle mass, the logistics guys would have their work cut out for them

Oh and east coast mutants don't exist, that's crappy fanfiction, lets not talk about crappy fanfiction

 

[R.Graves]

I hadn't thought of that. Let's just toss our morals aside for a moment. Would it be a sanitary enough option to feed them the corpses of their kills? They are immune to many diseases soooo...

 

[Shaodeus]

I hadn't thought of that. Let's just toss our morals aside for a moment. Would it be a sanitary enough option to feed them the corpses of their kills? They are immune to many diseases soooo...

That's pretty fucking metal.

I don't have anything against cannibalism really, if someone is dead you might as well eat him before the maggots do.

 

[R.Graves]

That's pretty fucking metal.

I don't have anything against cannibalism really, if someone is dead you might as well eat him before the maggots do.

They supposedly like the taste of humans anyway.
Problem is... Isn't that a "war crime"? I feel like just the use of mutants May be considered inhumane in many cultures.

 

[Hassknecht]

They'd be pretty useless in modern combat situations, I think, at least if we consider realistic settings. They're huge, so they'll have issues in indoor and CQC situations (not to mention that they'll make huge targets), they have a tendency to be borderline retarded (which is pretty bad for tactics) and in the end they wouldn't actually be all that more resilient than a normal man in combat armor (i.e. their skin and muscles won't stop AP ammunition, either, if we're being realistic).
They could haul loads and do construction work, I guess, but honestly, if we'd have powered exoskeletons we'd be far better off.
And yes, they could use heavier weapons and carry a M2HB into battle, but do we actually need that? In modern situations even the 7.62mm NATO ammunition is often overpowered (although there is a revival of that cartridge for DMR roles), and having a 3 m ogre haul a heavy MG into battle is kinda pointless when a light assault rifle can kill just as well.

 

[R.Graves]

I'm sure they could do well in hand to hand. And they could wear much heavier armor than your standard PA.

 

[Hassknecht]

I'm sure they could do well in hand to hand. And they could wear much heavier armor than your standard PA.

Yeah, but how much hand to hand combat do you do in modern battlefields? Their advantage in strength is naught when you they have to squeeze through doors and hallways while getting shot and bombarded with grenades.
Sure, they could wear heavier armor, but armor isn't perfect. 7.62 mm NATO AP rounds will penetrate 16 mm of steel at 300 m. And you can be sure that as soon as heavy, lumbering ogres in heavy armor appear on the battlefield that there'll be a quick arms race who can outfit the most squads with M82 Barretts and AP battle rifles.

 

[R.Graves]

I guess mutants wouldn't work to well in modern day.they work great when technology is scarce. So maybe they could be stationed In developing countries where piratism and raiding are common?

 

[Shaodeus]

Yeah, but how much hand to hand combat do you do in modern battlefields? Their advantage in strength is naught when you they have to squeeze through doors and hallways while getting shot and bombarded with grenades.
Sure, they could wear heavier armor, but armor isn't perfect. 7.62 mm NATO AP rounds will penetrate 16 mm of steel at 300 m. And you can be sure that as soon as heavy, lumbering ogres in heavy armor appear on the battlefield that there'll be a quick arms race who can outfit the most squads with M82 Barretts and AP battle rifles.

Well at least they could build forts and shit quickly, I think that maybe the master should have just turned the Unity into a construction company and have become a billionaire

 

[Shaodeus]

and having a 3 m ogre haul a heavy MG into battle is kinda pointless when a light assault rifle can kill just as well.

Couldn't they make a more modified light assault rifle for the super mutant that is capable of having more ammo in a magazine or something?

 

[Hassknecht]

Couldn't they make a more modified light assault rifle for the super mutant that is capable of having more ammo in a magazine or something?

What for? We already have beltfed light MGs that use 5.56 mm ammo, but there's little use in delegating the support role to the giant who barely fits behind cover.

 

[R.Graves]

What for? We already have beltfed light MGs that use 5.56 mm ammo, but there's little use in delegating the support role to the giant who barely fits behind cover.

So is it safe to say that this would work about as well as weaponised bears?

 

[Sn1p3r187]

They would likely be able to use modern U.S weapons. Give em a minigun or an M2 .50 caliber Heavy machine or even an M240 and they'll rip entire battalions apart. But ultimately their lumbersome mass would be their downfall as they wouldn't be fast enough to avoid getting torn apart by bullet or grenade fire themselves. Best to have a Super mutant behemoth on the field. At least they stand the biggest chance.

 

[mithrap]

Hm. I think that Super Mutants could have actually performed pretty good in the military, given the context.
We are talking about a savage, wild war. Chemical weapons are to be expected : Super Mutants being immune to most bacterias and radiations would give them an enormous advantage, in this scenario. Their, er... diet would be an advantage too, if the enemy applies the old tactic of burning its own land to starve the invador. They could feed on the corpses and keep advancing : something that would have been Napoleon's wet dream, during the invasion of Russia. Which kind of looks like the invasion of China, in Fallout's lore, don't you think ?

And in the end, we have been trying to make obedient, super strong, enhanced soldiers in the real life, so the idea of the super mutants may not seem as crazy as that. There's the XOS2 which multiplicate your strength 17 times over and lets you lift 200 pounds several hundreds times without taking a sweat. We made Orexin-A, which gives soldiers the illusion of a night sleep, and potentially allows them to keep fighting for days straight. There has been the Project MK-ULTRA, which involved acid to erase memories of spies, in case they are captured. Nazis experimented with D-IX, which was basically a mix of cocaine, amphetamines and morphine to give their soldiers ultra stamina, tolerance to pain, obedience. And the worst part is that it worked.

In the end, Super Mutants are satyre of these cruel experiments to create super soldiers. But my point is : we tried to do this, in real life. For winning wars. So, applying that, the idea of super mutants is not "that" crazy, in a context of 50's wars, with foreign invasions, chemical and nuclear weapons etc.
As for using weapons, aren't Fallout's weapons bigger than in our world, so that they could be used by power armor units ? In which case, Super Mutants could use the standard US arsenal. I'm talking about the strange, cartoonish Fallout 4's weapons, though, not the ones in the old titles which seemed rather normal, except for the first handgun. Shame on me for using F4 as reference material.

 

[CerberusGate]

I imagine the Nightkin are ideal for special operations since they retain intelligence though the lack of handheld stealth technology will make them obvious targets (though it may reduce the risk of schizophrenia). As for the 'dumb' Super Mutants, I guess they can be used as expendable shock troopers or for intimidation. With the advances in modern military, Super Mutants may not an ideal asset to modern military.