Regular readers may have noticed that the frequency of posts has been a bit less of late.  This is due to a combination of the Holiday season and a family medical emergency.  Here is a list of tank related news stories that have fallen through the cracks the past couple weeks.  Expect posting frequency to return to normal this month.

Jane’s IHS  Germany orders 131 more Boxers

The German Army is to get a further 131 ARTEC Boxer 8×8 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) under a EUR476 million (USD516.4 million) contract placed on 18 December. The Bundeswehr already has 272 Boxer vehicles on order, with the new order bringing this total to 403. In a statement, the ARTEC consortium said that all 131 vehicles will be in a new configuration of the armoured personnel carrier (Gepanzertes Transportfahrzeug).

Jane’s IHS Iraq receives more T-72s, BMP-1s

The Iraqi Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 16 December that it had received a consignment of tanks, armoured vehicles, and ammunition from Bulgaria. It provided no further details.  The announcement came after photographs began circulating on social media showing a T-72 tank and as many as 12 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) that had purportedly been delivered to Iraq.

Jane’s IHS Denmark orders 309 Piranha 5 8x8s

Denmark has ordered 309 Piranha 5 8×8 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) from General Dynamic European Land Systems (GDELS) – MOWAG, it has been announced.  Signed on 11 December, the order is worth DKK4.5 billion (USD650 million) and comes after the selection of the 8×8 by Denmark in April.

Defense News  Turkey Picks Otokar for $52M Armored Vehicle Contract

Turkish armored vehicle manufacturer Otokar won a contract from the Turkish government to supply an unspecified number of vehicles to the Turkish military, the company announced Dec. 22.  Otokar said the €47.5 million contract (approximately US $52 million) involves the sale of its Cobra II tactical wheeled armored vehicles, the company announced in a press release.

Radio Poland  Poland to modernise armoured tanks

The modernization program will start in 2018 and will mostly be conducted by Polish companies, although one of key partners in the deal is German defense-technology company Rheinmetall.  General Adam Duda, the head of the Polish military inspectorate said that the project is of essential strategic value for the Polish army and will significantly increase the tanks’ performance as well as the safety of Polish soldiers on the battlefield.

The Diplomat  Will Thailand Buy Russian T-90 Tanks?

Thailand is considering buying an unknown number of Russian-made T-90S or MS main battle tanks (MBT). According to the website Defence Blog, a Thai delegation visited the Russian city of Nizhny Tagil, the site of the largest main battle tank manufacturer in the world.

The Guardian  Tank buster: artist creating a brighter future from machines of war

Neda Taiyebi does not want to be typecast. Female artists in Muslim countries, she says, are all too often pigeonholed as role models for the kind of change westerners would like to see in those countries. But Taiyebi insists she is no activist, no voice of the oppressed, no torchbearer for female emancipation.  Still, at first glance her work – giving old tanks and military vehicles a paint job that involves exuberant, playful patterns – seems thick with symbolism.

MLive Saginaw Police returns armored military vehicle after Obama order

Saginaw is no longer home to a tracked armored vehicle that the department received nearly a decade ago from the military. Military representatives picked up the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) from the Saginaw Police Department Monday, Dec. 7, Chief of Police Robert Ruth said.  The move comes about three months after President Barack Obama ordered departments across the country to return tracked vehicles they received free of cost from the U.S. military, Ruth said.  Ruth said the loss will not impact the department, though some Michigan lawmakers are not in favor of the change.

Popular Mechanics This Very Odd Armored Vehicle Was Built by a Ghanaian Minister

A religious organization in the African nation of Ghana has built its own armored car. Designed for military duties including peacekeeping, the Katanka Armored Car is, well, odd.  The Katanka is the brainchild of Kwadwo Safo, also known as African Star. Safo is a Christian minister in Ghana and the owner of the Katanka group of companies. Safo is also the inventor of the Katantka sport utility vehicles.

Daily Star Top tank is ‘too big’ to carry by plane

(Editor’s note: we try to avoid tabloid style news sources but we thought this article worth posting, despite it being of tabloid quality)

It means 580 new Ajax tanks – costing £4billion of taxpayers’ cash – have to be partially dismantled before being moved. The new reconnaissance vehicles will spearhead a high readiness brigade and will be airlifted to support troops on operations anywhere in the world. But with its hi-tech ballistic armour, it weighs 42 tonnes – too heavy and too wide for the RAF’s current C-130 transport planes.

The Motley Fool Selling Tanks in Europe Just Got Tougher for General Dynamics

With Russia now officially admitting that it has troops in Ukraine, you might think that right now would be an awfully good time to be in the tank-selling business.  And in fact, it is. Finland, Estonia, and Latvia are all buying armored personnel carriers (some used, cast off from more modern militaries) to ward off the Russian bear. Poland is buying honest-to-goodness main battle tanks. (And yet, while they buy many weapons here in the U.S., the Poles aren’t doing their tank-shopping here — but in neighboring Germany.)  Meanwhile, things just got tougher for General Dynamics’ (NYSE:GD) defense business — and don’t say you weren’t warned.