Free Republic

The Chinese army appears to have fielded a brand-new light tank suitable for mountain warfare. New photos depict the diminutive fighting vehicle, which China has reportedly dubbed “ZTQ,” trundling across rough terrain. The ZTQ, which Beijing apparently developed in order to help defend China’s western land border, is impressive in a lot of ways—and not the least because the U.S. Army, the world’s leading ground combat force, tried and failed for years to acquire a similar vehicle. More and more, Beijing is matching American military capabilities with new warships, stealth fighters and combat helicopters. The ZTQ represents one military niche...

ON the world's highest and most hostile battlefield where daily shelling continues, India and Pakistan have fought for 16 years over a glacier.At 20,000 feet, it is so hard to breathe that simply walking requires a rest after every four paces, and so cold that the merest touch of metal on skin produces instantaneous frostbite. Speaking makes the head spin and the lack of oxygen can cause the lungs to fill with blood and fluid, suffocating the victim.Yet up here, amid the soaring peaks where the Karakoram and Himalayas meet, elite forces of the Indian and Pakistani armies are waging...