Here is a rather startling video from Live Leak showing an Iraqi Abrams tank being hit by a Kornet anti-tank guided missile. It appears that the missile strikes the turret rear, setting off the ammo storage. The tank can be seen to move after being hit, which suggests that the driver survived the attack, at least initially. One crew member is seen jumping from the turret after the ammunition is already burning. This suggests that the compartmentalized ammo storage system worked, preventing the ammo fire from immediately killing the crew.
Nature preserve located where tanks used to roll
October 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
DW has posted an article about a piece of land in Germany that was once an exercise site for armor and is now a nature preserve for rare animals. While this article is not specifically about tanks, it’s a somewhat interesting look at the ecological impact that armored operations can have on an ecosystem. Somewhat ironically, the use of the land as a area for running tanks made it ideal for it’s current use as a preserve for rare animals due to the fact that the land had no buildings on it and was cleared of most trees, and no fertilizer, liquid manure or pesticides were used on it. This area is called Schmidtenhöhe and has been designated a natural reserve and a national natural heritage site by the German government.
According to the article, only one weekend per year do military sounds disturb the birds’ chirping on Schmidtenhöhe: When members of the local Military Vehicles Drivers Koblenz club gather to maintain and drive military vehicles. This once a year tank drive does have an environmental benefit, creating hollows that fill with rain water that become home to some of the species of the preserve. However, the use of the land for armor exercises has also left large parts of it contaminated with old munitions, some of it still live, as well as oil and diesel fuel.
Video: AAV-P7 Leaps off Pier
October 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Foxtrot Alpha has posted an article containing video of an Indonesian Armed Forces AAV-P7 launching itself off a pier at high speed. This spectacle was part of the 70th anniversary of the Indonesian Armed Forces celebrations. Click on the image below to go to the Foxtrot Alpha page and view the video.
AFV news from Jane’s
October 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Jane’s 360 has several AFV related headlines on their site currently. Rather than make a individual post for each, we will list the headlines below. None of these stories are particularly earth shattering, but they may be of interest to some readers.
Iraq, Saudi Arabia reportedly interested in placing major BMP-3 orders
Pentagon budget 2016: lawmakers fund up-gunned Stryker project
Brazilian Navy M113 upgrade now on track
Malaysian Army chief bullish on AV8 deliveries
Morocco purchases 150 M1A1 tanks
October 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The U.S. Army has contracted General Dynamics Land Systems for a $358 million Foreign Military Sales contract to upgrade 150 M1A1 Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Morocco. The tanks will be completely disassembled and brought to zero-mile condition. Each tank will be upgraded to the M1A1 SA, or situational awareness, configuration, which includes enhanced armor. This follows a 28 August announcement that GDLS had received a USD17.2 million contract covering the “removal and disposal of 50 M1A1 frontal turret armor packages and installation of M1A1 situation awareness frontal armor packages” for Morocco. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in January 2017, and end in February 2018.
Royal Tank Regiment promotional video
September 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
This video from the RTR is essentially a recruitment commercial, but it has some nice footage of British Challenger II tanks driving around the countryside and some fun commentary from the crew. Take it for what it’s worth.
Video of US Marine Corps “Shredder”
September 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Here is some recently released footage of the US Marine Corps “Shredder” Assault Breacher Vehicle (AVB). For those that like seeing large amounts of earth being pushed around, this is sure to please.
Article declares that PLA has more tanks in service than any other nation
September 29, 2015 by 1 Comment
Want ChinaTimes has run an article stating that China has more tanks in service than any other nation. Putting the number of PLA tanks at 6,500, the article attributes the figure to the Moscow-based website Independent Military Review.
By early 2015, China had a total of 5,900 medium tanks, 640 main battle tanks, 750 light tanks and 200 reconnaissance tanks. In addition, China has 13,000 artillery pieces, 924 anti-tank missile systems, 3,966 recoilless rifles and 1,788 anti-tank guns, making the PLA one of the most powerful ground fighting forces in the world, the report said.
The PLA has also focused on the development of air defense and aviation capabilities. The PLA ground force has about 7,376 anti-aircraft guns and man-portable air defense systems as well as 296 air defense missile batteries. The aviation arm of the PLA ground force has 150 attack helicopters, 351 multi-role helicopters and 338 transport helicopters. Between 2017 and 2018, the PLA ground force is expected replace 70% of its obsolete hardware.
The article does not break down the tanks in service by type, although the use of the term “medium tank” is a bit odd. It’s probably a fair guess to say that the “640 main battle tanks” refer to the newer Type 99 while the “5,900 medium tanks” refers to all the other older tank types. It is interesting to note that these figures are quite a bit lower than those provided by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in 2012 which put the number of Chinese MBTs at 7,950 and Light tanks at 1,200.
Lockheed Martin introduces Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) candidate
September 28, 2015 by 1 Comment
At the recent Modern Day Marine trade show in Quantico Virginia, Lockheed Martin revealed their entry for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (AVC) competition. The ACV program seeks to find a replacement for the Marines aging AAV vehicles which date back to the 1970’s. The ACV program follows the unsuccessful Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program which was cancelled in 2011 amid cost and performance concerns. The Lockheed Martin entry joins four other competitors, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, SAIC and Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems. Unlike the tracked Expeditionary Vehicle, the ACV prototypes are all wheeled 8×8 vehicles. According to an article from Defense News, the Marine Corps will narrow the field to two competitors by November and an ultimate winner will be selected in 2018. Lockheed Martin’s entry into the ACV competition signifies a move into parts of the defense sector it has previously not been active in. While General Dynamics and BAE are the two traditional suppliers of armored ground vehicle, Lockheed Martin is traditionally an aerospace company. However, Lockheed Martin has been making moves to expand it’s portfolio, including its recent failed bid to win the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program.
The five candidates are:
Lockheed Martin – Based on the photos so far made available, this vehicle appears to be based on the Finnish Patria 8×8.
BAE – This entry is a variant of the Superav 8×8 developed by Italian firm Iveco.
General Dynamics – The GD entry is based on the Piranha 8×8 originally developed by the Swiss firm MOWAG. This is also the basis of the General Dynamics built Stryker APC used by the US Army.
SAIC – This entry is based on the Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle developed by Singapore Technologies Engineering and Timoney Technology.
Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems (ADVS) – This is the only vehicle not on display at the Modern Day Marine show. It is assumed that the ADVS entry is a version of their 8x8x8 vehicle.
It is interesting to note that of the above list, four of the five options are based on vehicles not originally designed by US companies in response to a US government program. The AVC program is a much less ambitious program than its predecessor, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Since the end of the Cold War, the US military has not had a successful AFV development program that involved creating a completely new vehicle from scratch (Crusader SPG, Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle/AAAV, Future Combat Systems, Ground Combat Vehicle, etc.) Every successful AFV program since the Cold War has been either a foreign designed licensed product (Stryker) or an upgrade or derivative of existing weapons systems (M109A7, AMPV.)
More Video from DSEI 2015
September 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Here are a couple more video clips from the DSEI show featuring Christopher Foss from Jane’s 360. In these two clips, he showcases the Turkish Otokar Arma family of wheeled armored vehicles and the Patria Armored Modular Vehicle.
Tank and AFV News 