Yeah, bitchin' shot trap you got there, Ivan:
Nothing like directing incoming rounds right into the turret ring.
I thought ISIS got all of Iraq’s good equipment when Iraq’s army turned tail and ran from them.
A not so talked about country, but still kinda related:
‘Bulgaria To Replace Soviet MiG Jets With NATO Allies’ Planes’
And thanks to the Obamster, their Iranian mentors are billions of US dollars richer with our M1 Abrams thrown in for good measure.
Get this Chrystal CLEAR .George bush created a living night mare in Iraq by attacking them for no reason on false pretext. Shiites hate sunnis. Saudi Sunnis are the number one exporter of terrorism by far ( Al qaeda and isis , for example) , We screwed things up and the Christian Russians moved into support the Shiite Iraqis that now rule, Very wise. Now the Iraqis sell oil to the Chines that should have gone to us for our 5000 dead and 40,000 wounded and take those billions and buy Russian tanks, How stupid were we?
Very informative and interesting.
Yeah, the Middle East is turning to China. China has need of a peaceful ME, and- through Russia and Iran- is willing to invest in getting it.
I would say they are probably much cheaper to operate than the M1. The current military guys in Iraq are probably used to operating Soviet era tanks anyways. You really need a well trained crew to maximize the M1.
LOL, the the Russians has stolen the Israeli Merkeva wedge turret design. So at least that proves that the wedge is helpful in deflecting incoming rounds.
Shifting allegiances or practicality?
Iraq is a backwards shiite hole whose best soldiers throw down their weapons and run away at the first sign of trouble.
The new Soviet tank looks more vulnerable to anti-tank missiles that are aimed between the tank body and the turret, and I don’t just mean the RGPs.
My son’s opinion of the 2003 Soviet T-72 tank was, a pile of aluminum junk. He was attached to the 3rd ID and saw what was left of the Iraqi Republican Guards after we wiped them at out Objective Peach, Hindaya, Eastern Bank of the Euphrates on April 3-4, 2003.
He could have made a fortune by opening up “Josh’s Scrap and Junkyard” near that city. Unfortunately he was rather busy killing enemy terrorists and snipers. I guess someone else got the metal.
I think it’s a good idea. Our Abrams are too good for those Iraqi stooges. Russian made junk is easier for them, they’re used to that stuff.
I wonder if the Russkies still store the ammo all around the turret? I’m always amazed when I watch video from Desert Storm seeing those T 55s and T72s go up like Roman Candles.
“U.S. military had begun requiring regular reports about the tanks and their whereabouts and had put unspecified restrictions on maintenance and other support of the vehicles”
That must be so annoying when you have a perfectly good tank to sell to a terrorist.
Yeah, bitchin' shot trap you got there, Ivan:
Nothing like directing incoming rounds right into the turret ring.
Because Russian tanks were so effective during Desert Storm.
I remember many years ago the Army decided that all tracked vehicles would have depot work performed at Anniston - good idea except for the M-1 gas turbines were getting mauled by well-meaning diesel mechanics....
Thank you for posting this.
Armor ping —> T-90’s replacing some M-1’s in Iraqi Army
Makes sense. If you can’t get the spare parts, why have them.
T-90’s will do what they need them to do for the most part, and they can likely buy more of them. Quantity has a quality all it’s own.
That makes sense for them.
The Iraqi’s are use to the T-72 based system, have some infrastructure to support it, and it’s a cheaper tank to purchase and sustain, by a long shot.
The M1 was a great tank, but it’s antiquated. In today’s world of >1,200 mm penetration HEAT ATGMs, tandem warheads that are top and dive attack, etc. this tank is showing it’s age.
It was a great concept when it came out. The design incorporated lessons learned, it was an excellent design, used state of the art technology, yet was made to be rugged, rebuilt, to be upgraded in the future... It was the ultimate tank when the A1 variant was fielded in the mid 80s (it became the gold standard everyone compared themselves to). But today this is an old machine which is evolutionarily seen at it’s end. Technology and the change in threat models have made this tank out dated.
The only thing keeping this old machine alive today is that we are not in a serious conflict with a formidable enemy leveraging newer technologies against us in great numbers. The M1 today is like a P51 Mustang in 1965, and you can keep trying to bolt new shit to it to make it a viable platform and be somewhat effective, but it’s conceptually outdated.