Posted on 07/17/2022 8:19:17 AM PDT by guthunde47
"... crash site of a Ukrainian cargo plane transporting nearly a dozen tons of mortar shells and land mines.
The Antonov An-12 light aircraft, which was transporting the weapons from Serbia to Bangladesh, had eight Ukrainian crew members onboard.
They were all killed. ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Is Serbia known as a defense manufacturer and exporter? A cargo plane is not a "light aircraft" and why would the alleged described cargo require 8 crew? Didn't Bangladesh sign the treaty against land mines? Per the article, a Serbian company "Valir" owned the cargo, and a Ukrainian company "Meridian" may have been the cargo transporter. Oh and they were scheduled refuel in Jordan... which makes about zero sense.
The former Yugoslavia was
AN-12 comparable to our C-130.
“light aircraft”
Like a C-130 is a “light aircraft.”
For cargo aircraft or air freighters, the An-12 *is* considered ‘light’ these days. It’s a bit smaller than a C-130 as I recall.
The An-12 normally has a cockpit crew of 5 just to fly - two pilots, a flight engineer, a navigator, and a radio operator. Add in a significant load and you’ll want a loadmaster and an assistant or two.
Refueling in Jordan does make sense as the plane at max payload only has about a 2200 mile range. Serbia to Jordan is about 1300 miles, then they’d have to fly over/around some countries you really don’t want to land in. Like Iran. Assuming they wanted to avoid everything that’s likely to flip a missile at them or confiscate their airplane in the name of the Revolution, a stop in Jordan to refuel makes sense, followed by a stop in Dubai, another one in Mumbai and then they can make it to Bangladesh from there and still have fuel in reserve. You want to have a fuel reserve at all times as when the airplane runs out of fuel, you can’t just park it by the side of the road and walk to get a jerrycan full of fuel to get you going again...
Serbia has a significant arms industry. For starters, they have Zastava Arms, part of the large diverse Zastava conglomerate. Anything the former Yugoslavia could make, Serbia can make.
It is compared to a C-5.
Really have to wonder why Bangladesh would need mortar shells and land mines. Sounds like they are the middleman supplying Russia with munitions. Wouldn’t do Serbia any good in the EU if they directly sold to Russia. The Serbs have always had good relations and respect for their fellow Orthodox Russian Slavs.
Why does Bangladesh need the weapons?
Bangladesh is the only SE Asian country to have signed the Mine Ban treaty.... but it never ratified it. As a result, it doesn’t have to comply with the terms of the treaty. It has not signed on to any additions or any other treaties involving mines.
Why is this story “bizarre” and how does any of it make zero sense? Have you been under a rock since the Cold War ended?
If it’s a Ukrainian plane, then it’s more likely carrying American weapons to the highest bidder.
Maybe you should go look at a map.
Bangladesh shares most of its border with India, who could throw a million men across without blinking if they wanted to. There have also been ongoing border skirmishes between Indian and Bangladeshi forces. The country used to be part of India and India sometimes wants it back at a low level.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh%E2%80%93India_border#Issues
Bangladesh also shares a border with Myanmar/Burma which they also have fights over:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh%E2%80%93Myanmar_border#History
And of course, China isn’t far away.
I’d say they have a whole bunch of *very* good reasons to have land mines and mortar shells to cover them.
Russia does NOT need Serbian land mines and mortar shells, so you can put down that particular crack pipe.
Zactly.
Thank you everyone for your replies. I knew the braintrust of FR would have a lot of info about this topic, and you do!
So the best continuing Question is yours - why are starving people in Bangladesh buying any kind of arms or was that just a cover story. The comments at DM lean toward Zelensky is corrupt, is selling arms given to him by the US to pocket the cash, but who knows who the real end-user of the weapons will be.
That would be no. The Ukranians ended up with the Antonov plant and a great deal of what used to be the Soviet Union’s transport air fleet after the collapse of the latter - so they went into business as charter air transport. Ukranian registered cargo aircraft make up a significant percentage of for-hire world air cargo transport and they fly all over the world.
See post 13. A lot of their neighbors want them dead, or at least to take their land.
You may also want to look into the current economic status of Bangladesh. They’re not starving any more. Developing market they may be, but they’re making money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Bangladesh
Most people in urban Bangladesh live better than the average Detroit citizen.
Brandon administration operation...spreading the weapons of Democracy. 😒
I guess it’s possible we’re not getting played, for once. But still, I’m suspicious.
Put another way, your assumption is right up there with assuming that every single Ryder truck is a truck bomb because Ryder trucks were used in the OKC and Twin Towers bombings.
Does not check out. At all.
Bangladesh has a whole bunch of neighbor problems that justifies buying landmines and mortar shells.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.