Sieron said:
Well along with being poorly worded on my part you also broke off a crucial part of the point and attacked it by itself. Similar to someone saying, "The Nazi's won the war" and someone interjecting saying they clearly lost it only to let the speaker finish what the fuck they were saying. EG: In France. (case and point is don't interrupt the speaker)[
The opening assertion, that radar didn't work, was based upon a reasonable premise. That is, given that the area in question was host to a strong, fluctuating magnetic field, radar could conceivably work poorly. Additionally, the presence of the floating mountains in addition to the sheer number of aircraft in the vicinity would make target recognition a tremendous pain regardless.
Sieron said:
Well do you suppose those Birds and Blue lemars were as hot as what ever the hell was emitting mass amounts of heat? (magma perhaps) they would be the center color of red between the dirt and the magma and thus easy to point out.
Based upon how FLIR technology works right now, the environment on Pandora could easily be hell on the equipment. The presence of extensive large forests makes one assume that rain is common and thus high humidity is certainly present. In addition, without knowing the physiology of the various creatures, it is all but impossible to determine if they are as suitable target for FLIR tracking anyhow.
What's more, the problem was not that they were caught unaware, but rather that their target forced them through complex terrain where their advantages of speed and firepower were mitigated. The problem of target detection was all but irrelevant as it was obvious once the attack began and none of the solutions you have provided would have given earlier warning anyhow. Even if they had gotten warning there was no choice but to advance as waiting reduced the odds of operational success. Finally, assume for a moment that radar and IR does work. What precise does this gain you? Little truth be told. With so many targets in such close proximity, guided weapons would have trouble determining which target to attack anyhow. Modern guided weapon countermeasures for aircraft operate on the principle of confusing the missiles targeting system. Basically, you produce multiple potential targets for the missile and then maneuver in such a way that the missile has the most difficult time hitting the aircraft.
Sieron said:
Well they had gunships with missiles and those walking mechs would have probably had bullets large enough to amount to our current armor piercing bullets. (Not in design likely but powerful and large enough to work like an elephant gun)
The weapons available to the marines would be considered light by any standard. Even the large payloads of mining explosives would be no more effective than a modern, unguided 2,000 pound bomb. The aircraft in question were using small rocket systems and presumably intermediate caliber gun systems in certain cases. The infantry forces were likely using rounds similar in terms of kinetic energy to a modern assault or battle rifle as the upper limit here relies on the strength and resilience of your average human. To a degree, the lighter gravity could assist in more commonly carrying heavier weapons, but the additional weight would likely be used in heavier barrels (primarily increases the ability to sustain a given rate of fire without pause) or on weapon ammunition counts. The "armor" support was armed with a 30 mm cannon - the equivalent weapon system used on the American M2 bradley. Assuming no denser material was found than depleted uranium, that means the only increase in firepower here would be in the form of new and exciting propellants with faster expansion rates than those in current use. This would have to come complete with far stronger receivers and the like on said weapon system but presumably these material concerns would have been resolved in a world were travel at near light speed is possible.
Of course, at a key point in the movie one of the marines turns his mech's autocannon against a space cow/shark and fires several rounds against it to no apparent effect. Presumably sustained fire would have brought the beast down but the environment ensured a relatively close quarters battle.
The basic point is had the battle taken place in an area not ideally suited to the native population, the advantage would have certainly belonged to the marines. The failure you see in the movie was not one of technology but rather poor strategic planning. A brief list of silly moves are:
1) Knowingly starting a war with a native population with a significant numerical advantage
2) Knowingly starting a war with no real capacity to maneuver in force.
3) Knowingly starting a war with no hope of resupply, reinforcement or other support.
4) Allowing an enemy to escape in force after destroying a piece of key terrain.
5) After starting said war, ignoring a key Command and Control element that is within your ability to strike.
5) Choosing to strike at said Command and Control element once it was well defended and ideally suited to a defensive operation.
The lost the war on the planet long before they ever took to the air for the climactic showdown.