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Barrel Busters were an armored vehicle developed in 1943 during the Second Great War as an interim solution by the Confederate States to hold back the United States barrel formations. Unable to match the production rate of US barrels, Confederate engineers were forced to deploy a stopgap measure to fill up their armor formations. The Barrel Buster was the result.

Making good use of their limited industrial capacity, the Confederates used excess barrel chassis and cannon to create barrel-killing self-propelled guns. Barrel busters were able to mount higher-caliber cannon than barrels, due to their lack of a turret. Barrel busters proved quite adept at killing barrels at long range with single hits. Also, the heavier cannon of barrel busters proved to be quite useful for destroying soft targets, such as infantry fighting positions and buildings. In addition, due to their lacking a turret, barrel busters had a lower profile, an advantage in defensive operations. This allowed barrel busters to entrench in the "hull-down" position more easily than barrels. In armored warfare, where the first shot is vital, this often allowed a barrel buster the first, lethal shot.

On the other hand, a barrel buster had several disadvantages. The primary disadvantage of a barrel buster was it's lack of a turret, which gave a barrel buster a narrow field of fire. In order to engage any enemy barrels or other targets out of it's firing arc, the barrel buster had to rotate its entire body. This made the barrel buster more vulnerable to enemy fire. In addition, the barrel buster lacked any anti-infantry machine guns. This allowed enemy infantry to close readily with a barrel buster and engage it with hand grenades and Featherston Fizzes. Had the US possessed Anti-barrel rocket technology, this disadvantage would have proved even more serious. Finally, every barrel buster produced was one less barrel that could be produced. However, the desperate situation of the Confederate States forced the production of the barrel buster as a stopgap measure.

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