Posted on 03/31/2003 8:29:43 AM PST by Smogger
Except that Congress never voted the funds necessary to bring those ships into that happy condition.
They are far more dangerous to their own crews than they are to the enemy.
Notra Trulock [FReeper ntrulock] has written Code Name Kindred Spirit re Wen Ho Lee.
The Russia Journal
12 Apr 1999
The U.S. declared sanctions against three Russian enterprises on April 2 following a State Department investigation. The United states claims the Tula Instrument Design Bureau, the Klimov Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering, and the Volskii Mechanic Plant have supplied large consignments of Kornet-E and Metis-M anti-tank missile complexes to Syria.
The sanctions prohibit companies and government organizations in the United States from maintaining relations with the enterprises because the U.S. administration sees Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Russia has stressed that cooperation with Syria does not amount to a violation of international sanctions, does not contradict non-proliferation and export control ...
I hope you're right, and that when Saddam purchased his thermal night systems for them from the French, he didn't bother to add the 1K13-49 sight used with the 125mm Refleks-M/ SNIPER-B missile. But I wouldn't bet a crews' lives on it.
Additionally, his 350-some T-55 and T-59tanks upgraded to the T72Z specification, also refitted with a 125mm main gun, do indeed have the capability to launch the Refleks-M. The question is how many of the missiles does the Iraqi armoured force have available, and with which units.
Oct. 17, 2002Iraq procured and modified various Chinese and Soviet armored vehicles to meet its combat needs throughout eight years of conflict with Iran. During the 1991 Gulf War, most of the Iraqi Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) encountered by Allied Forces during Operation Desert Storm were non-upgraded T-54/55, T-62, T-72 and Type 59/69s. Only a handful of those encountered were upgraded, typically with additional passive armor over their frontal arc to enhance protection against High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) projectiles.
BACKGROUND
The T-72 was first produced in the Soviet Union in 1971 as a high-production parallel version of the T-64. The tank was deployed within the U.S.S.R. and exported to non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies and several other countries. The T-72 was produced under license in the former Czechoslovakia, India, Poland and former Yugoslavia, and was used against the Israelis in Lebanon in 1982.
In 1989, Iraq admitted that it was assembling Soviet T-72M1 (1982) MBTs with locally manufactured 125 mm ordnance, breech mechanisms, ammunition and electronics under the Iraqi name of Assad Babyle (Babylon Lion). A few Iraqi T-72M1 MBTs were fitted with an Anti-Tank Guided Weapon (ATGW) decoy system mounted on the turret roof forward of the gunner's hatch. This was designed to decoy Western type Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided (TOW), light infantry anti-tank (MILAN- Missile d'Infantrie Leger Antichar) and High-subsonic Optically Tele-guided (HOT) ATGWs. Since the Iraqi T-72M1 was of higher quality than most of Iraq's other tanks, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made sure that many T-72M1s survived the Gulf War by allocating the tanks to his Republican Guard and evacuating them before the allies launched their main offensive in Kuwait in February 1991. Following the Gulf War, it is understood that there has been no further local production/assembly of the Iraqi T-72M1 in Iraq. However, in 1996 sources reported that a factory in Iraq was producing spare parts to keep Iraq's estimated 500 T-72M1 tanks operational.
CAPABILITIES
The T-72 and its variants are most effectively used for the destruction of tanks, other armored targets and enemy manpower. As with any tank, the three main factors in gauging effectiveness are: armor, firepower and mobility.
Armor & General Battlefield Survivability: Due to layered armor and other features, the T-72 has better armor protection than the T-62.
The turret has conventional cast armor that can measure up to 280 mm, the nose is about 80 mm thick and the glacis is 200mm thick laminate armor.
Later T-72Ms and T-72M1s models are mounted with laser rangefinders that ensure high hit probabilities at ranges of 2,000 meters and below.
The T-72 has a Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ) radiation detection system, an anti-radiation liner (except on export models, such as those imported by Iraq) and a collective NBC filtration and overpressure system.
Fire Power: The low-rounded turret mounts a 125mm smooth bore gun with a carousel automatic loader mounted on the floor and rear wall of the turret.
The 125 mm gun common to all the T-72 models is capable of penetrating the M1 Abrams armor at a range of up to 1,000 meters.
More recent BK-27 HEAT rounds have a triple-shaped charge warhead and increased penetration against conventional reactive armor and Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA).
The BK-29 round has a hard penetrator in the nose designed for use against reactive armor, and as a multi-purpose (MP) round has fragmentation effects.
The 1K13-49 sight can be used for both night sight and Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) launch sight, but not simultaneously. (Thermal gunner night sights that permit night launch of ATGMs are available.)
T-55s with "bra armor", semi-circular add-on armor, have turret protection increased to 330 mm (KE) and 400-450 mm (CE). Other improvements available include a hull bottom reinforced against mines, better engines, rubber track pads, and a thermal sleeve for the gun. The 1K13 sight is both night sight and ATGM launcher sight; however, it cannot be used for both functions simultaneously. Optional sights and fire control systems include the Israeli El-Op Red Tiger and Matador FCS, Swedish NobelTech T-series sight, and German Atlas MOLF. The Serbian SUV-T55A FCS, British Marconi Digital FCS, South African Tiger, and Belgian SABCA Titan offer upgraded function. One of the best is the Slovenian EFCS-3 integrated FCS. A variety of thermal sights is available. They include the Russian/French ALIS and Namut-type sight from Peleng. There are thermal sights available for installation which permit night launch of ATGMs.
The Russians claim that the S-300 missle is an Theater ABM system. We shoudl get some of these or the 400's. http://www.rusarm.ru/products/ad/s300pmu1.htm
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