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.
Final proposals for Joint Light Tactical Vehicle submitted
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,”
Eshleman AFV Photo Gallery
The AFV News Discussion Board hosted by Com-Central.net is home to quite a few AFV shutterbugs who regularly post pictures of the vehicles they track down and photograph. One of the collections of tank and AFV photos worth checking out belongs to Rick and Barb Eshleman, known as flicker user “brick6757.” Their collection includes 30 galleries, quite a few of which feature over a hundred photos or more. The photos are primarily of vehicles in the USA, including galleries of vehicles from Aberdeen Proving Grounds, AAF Museum at Danville VA, US Army Heritage Center, and National USMC Museum.
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.
Saumur Tiger II at Retromobile
This past weekend, the last Tiger II tank in running condition was featured at the Paris Retromobile show. This tank normally resides at the Musee des Blindes in Saumur, France. Several videos have appeared on youtube documenting this historic vehicle arriving at the show and moving into position under it’s own power.
WWII Tiger II Panzer arrives at 2015 Retromobile Paris Show
Book Alert: British Cruiser Tank A13
Amazon has listed for a release date of February 19, 2015 the book “British Cruiser Tank A13 Mk. I Mk. II” by Peter Brown. Part of the Armor PhotoHistory series from Model Centrum Progres, this title promises to give an in-depth look at the A13, a vehicle which as far as we know has never had an entire book dedicated to it.
From the Vault: Patton defends the M4 Sherman
During the drive into Germany in early 1945, the American press broke the story that American tanks, in particular the M4 Sherman, were inferior to those of their German adversary, in particular the Panther and the Tiger. News of the articles travelled to Europe where troops heard them. At a press conference in March of 1945, General Patton was questioned about the quality of US tanks and publicly defended them. Patton also wrote a letter to Lt. Gen, Thomas T. Handy, Deputy Chief of Staff, which was released by the War Department to the American press. In the letter Patton points out that while the Sherman “would not last” in a straight forward slugging match with a German Tiger, “the great mobility of the M-4 usually enables it to circumvent the slow and unwieldy Tigers and not to engage in a slugging match but to attack them from the rear.” [Read more…]
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 