The Motley Fool financial news has published another article on the Russian Armata tank. This article asks the question of whether or not the new Armata tank is something that Russia can currently afford to purchase. According to the article, there has been disagreements over the cost of the vehicle between Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MinOboron) and UralVagonZavod (UVZ), the military contractor responsible for building Armata. Russia has invested 15 billion rubles ($239 million) in developing the Armata tank, and budgeted 39 billion ($622 million) more. However, MinOboron is demanding UVZ both complete its design and lower its price. According to UVZ, mass production is key to reducing the unit price of the Armata. The tank is expected to be complete and ready for mass production this year.
Russia’s Armata too expensive?
David Fletcher’s Tank Chats No.1: The A13 Cruiser
The Tank Museum has released a new video featuring tank expert and historian David Fletcher in the first of a series of “Tank Chats.” This first episode takes a look at the A13 Cruiser tank.
Description from the youtube page: The A13 was the first British tank to have Christie Suspension. With a top speed of 40 miles per hour, it was much faster than the German Panzers, and had one of the best guns of its time. Despite this, many were lost in the battle for France in 1940. They fared better in the desert when their speed enabled them to cut off and defeat a huge Italian Army at Beda Fomm in Libya.
50 tanks, 40 missile systems enter Ukraine from Russia
Reuters is reporting that according to the Ukrainian military, approximately 50 tanks, 40 missile systems and 40 armored vehicles crossed overnight into east Ukraine from Russia via Izvaryne border crossing into the separatist Luhansk region. According to the article Luhansk is a strategic transport hub that has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent weeks. The Ukrainian spokesperson said that the tanks and other military hardware had crossed the border “despite statements by Russian officials about the absence of Russian military equipment and forces on Ukrainian territory.” No details were included in the brief article noting the type of tanks and armored vehicles, nor were any pictures included.
For those interested in pictures of the tanks and armored vehicles being used in the conflict in Ukraine, there is an extensive thread devoted to the topic on Tank-net.com. Crisis in Ukraine – The Photos
Another source of interesting photos is the website Lost Armor. This site is in Russian, but can be translated quite easily in google chrome.
AFV Register of historical vehicles on display now available for GPS
For several years the fine folks at the AFV News and discussion board at Com-Central have hosted a series of AFV Registers. The registers consist of lists of all the tanks and armored vehicles known to be on public display in a particular area in PDF format. Currently, the areas covered include the USA, Canada, the Netherland, Belgium, France and Poland. Last week it was announced that USA AFV map & Garmin GPS files of the Registry are available for download. According to regular board poster “vagabond” – “Over the last 2 years, I’ve been working on making Google Maps broken down by state of the AFVs listed in the USA AFV Register. [Read more…]
Final proposals for Joint Light Tactical Vehicle submitted
Defense News is reporting that yesterday manufacturers AM General, Lockheed Martin and Oshkosh Defense delivered proposals for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The Army plans to make a decision and award a firm-fixed-price contract to a single vendor this year. The award period will cover three years of low-rate initial production and five years of full-rate production. The Army plans to buy approximately 50,000 JLTVs for the Army, and the Marine Corps would buy 5,500. The JLTV is being described as filling the gap between Humvees and the larger, less MRAP vehicles. The competition pits AM General’s Blast Resistant Vehicle-Off road (BRV-O),Oshkosh’s Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV) variant, and a joint Lockheed Martin-BAE Systems offering.
British armor invades German garden! (by accident)
For the Record has posted about a humorous accident that happened in Germany recently. The incident happened on the road in Borchen Paderborn (Paderborn district) on Tuesday morning. A British Warrior IFV being used in a driving training exercise suffered a malfunction causing it to fishtail and crash into a residential garden. The track of the powerful vehicle damaged only in the boundary wall and crushed the hedge, but spared the house. The vehicle occupants were unharmed, police said. Ulrich Tilsner was about to leave for his granddaughter and help her move when he heard the crash. “My grandfather called me and said, ‘I’m a bit later. I have a tank in the garden, “says 23-year old Stephanie Ney. Stefanie Ney called her mother Manuela, who also lives in the house, but at the time of the accident was not at home. “My daughter said, ‘Mom, in your front yard is a tank’ I first thought that she was making fun of me.” Manuela Ney describes the call. Slowly the information her daughter broke through to her and she realized what had happened: “After it was then clarified that the grandparents were safe, my first concern was our dog? How’s Lucky” The recovery of the powerful vehicle lasted several hours. “They closed the road here and the tank was then pulled out,”
Lebanon receives M109 self propelled howitzers
Jane’s 360 is reporting that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have received a shipment of approximately a dozen M109 self propelled howitzers. Reportedly, these vehicles were supplied by Jordan via a third party. It is not stated in the article which variant of the M109 was supplied, but wikipedia lists the Lebanese M109’s as the M109A3 variant. This M109 acquisition is part of a Lebanese Armed Forces program to upgrade their artillery capability. The LAF have been regularly shelling Sunni militant groups in the mountains of northeast Lebanon. Lebanon is also scheduled to receive 72 M198 towed howitzers from the United States and 24 CAESAR 155mm self-propelled howitzers from France purchased with funding from Saudi Arabia.
Armata tank a drone?
Today the Motley Fool is running an article pointing out that the upcoming Russian Armata tank may have the potential to be a “optionally piloted” vehicle, aka, a robot tank.
“Perhaps the most surprising revelation about Russia’s Armata tank, though, is that it’s evolving into an “optionally piloted” design. Initial versions of the tank will feature remotely operated loading and firing of the tank’s 125 mm cannon from an internal, separate crew compartment. Military experts, however, believe this is only a first step toward remotely operating the entire tank as a robot.
This would permit the Armata tank to be deployed as the spearhead of an armored offensive, breaching enemy defenses without risking the lives of Russian soldiers. Subsequent tank waves crewed by three humans each — a driver, gunner, and tank commander — could then follow the robotic shock troops.”
Of course, being a financial paper the Motley Fool article primarily focuses not on the military (or moral) implications of the idea of robot controlled tanks, but rather on how investors can personally profit from such a development.
Serbia to sell 282 tanks, 220 APC’s
In News (by inSerbia Netword Foundation) is reporting that the Serbian Ministry of Defense has announced that it will begin the sale of 282 T-55 tanks. Also available are 220 armored personnel carriers M-60, M-80, BTR-50 and BTR-60 and antitank weapons POLO, as well as 200 howitzers of 105 and 155 millimeters. Various stocks of small arms, anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers, and three SNAR-10 radars will also be for sale. It should be noted that most of this equipment is from the Cold War and relatively obsolete by European standards. The notice published on January 27 on the website of the Ministry states that the invitation to participate in the public bidding for the purchase of above mentioned weapons will be sent to legal entities that are legally entitled to buy this kind military equipment. It is unclear from the article exactly which model of T-55 is being sold. Serbia operates an upgraded version of the vehicle called the T-55H which includes an improved powerpack, ERA protection and enhanced fire control systems.
Tanks in Flight
We Are the Mighty.com has posted an amusing photo gallery of tanks “flying.” Images include several different Russian tanks in the air, a flying Merkava (!) a Leopard as well as a couple older pics (Cromwell, M3 Stuart.)
Other posts at We Are the Mighty.com that may interest tank fans are a Sherman Tank Quiz, and a photo collection of What Life is like for US Tankers,
Tank and AFV News 