So like, when the Sheridans went to Vietnam and Iraq and so on, they could work, but at a rate of like 30s/shot? And presumably the guns broke down faster than on other tanks?
That's pretty much it, yes. Plus the guns broke everything ELSE on the tank; shaking loose all kinds of components not related to the gun at all.
Still, I can't help but think something like these would be murder in an urban environment; get them into parking structures and firing from all sorts of positions. They're pretty small, though unarmored, it'd be like the jeeps with the TOW or recoilless rifles. Fast and quick to relocate, one big whack of a gun....not much protection, though.
Question for the tankers, is the 120mm-class gun really that much of an improvement over a 105mm, or can the smaller gun still perform even against top-tier armored targets these days?