Posted on 10/17/2015 4:02:55 PM PDT by dynachrome
Earlier this month, Shia militiamen in Iraq dropped off an American-supplied Abrams tank at a US-supported repair facility where workers were surprised to find an attached Russian machine gun plus Iranian ammo, Defense News has learned.
The MIA1 main battle tank — one of 146 frontline tanks the US sold to Baghdad — was transported through the Green Zone to a US-supported Iraqi service facility at al-Muthanna that was established as part of the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
The tank was equipped with a Russian .50-caliber machine gun and Iranian-stamped 12.75-mm ammunition, according to a source at the facility.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
“After US-led coalition airstrikes were forced to destroy about 10 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBTs) seized from the Iraqi Army by the Islamic State group, often called ISIL or ISIS, Washington is now grappling with the phenomenon of their voluntary transfer to Shiite forces battling in concert with Baghdad against the fanatical Sunni Caliphate.”
The thought of a Hezbollah or Isis flag flying on an Abrams makes me angry. I often wonder how we can spend billions on advanced hardware and not equip it with Lojack. Something like that could be integrated into the electronics of devices and be made integral & tamperproof. Seems like a no-brainer. Something low cost to add to tanks, APCs, anti-tank rockets and manpads. Heck, I would even add some C4 so that it explodes if taken out of theater.
Thanks for the response.
What you say is true. I was making a joke.
I think the problem is that the description of the Russian Machine Gun is wrong.
Reporter says .50cal and other posts on this thread indicate that the Russian Machine Gun actually is the same ‘calibre’ as the Iranian Ammo.
Also, others are comparing the Iranian ammo to the US MADE .50 CAL and saying the Iranian ammo wouldn’t fit.
Of course it wouldn’t, but it does fit the Russian made gun.
So, tell me comrade (I say that with respect), am I crazy or are they ?
actually I think you just expect a level of firearm knowledge that most do not posses. :)
as a collector and huge fan of sites like forgotten weapons.com I understand how posts that are have technical issues can grate on nerves !
That the press writes stories on gun issues and can not even manage to hit the wiki.. well what can we expect really ?
WTF! Are Shia militiamen doing with an Abrams!?
Again, Thanks for responding.
I would agree with you, even though I am no gun ‘expert’ myself.
Why the heck are we selling our main battle tank to ANYONE?
We can use this!
If the US.GOV thinks its ok to arm Militia with Tanks and Heavy machine guns... Next time a Liberal says only the militia may have arms quote
US code 10
“the militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
If they say you are too old mention The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
“Anytime you do a foreign military sale, there’s a requirement that you do end-use monitoring, and it’s a violation if you do alterations,” Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) told Defense News.”
Thank you, Vice Admiral. Since you are illegally bombing Syria, you would know all about adhering to the rules and laws......
Sounds like someone- not necessarily an IS or pro-Iranian supporter- stuck a 12,7mm Dashka or KPV on the external .50 mount on the Abrams.
I sort of suspect the Kurdish PeshMerga, who sort of prefer the American stuff to old Soviet/ChiCom material they've captured, but of course when they take their ammo from the dead bad guys, they don't get much choice.
Exactly correct; it's the English-language spelling of the family name.
This former tanker would lay a bet on maintenance for the engines related to the external air filter in that environment.
Hunting.
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