Moldova is not a member of NATO, but has joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council making it an official NATO ‘partner’. NATO ‘partner’ countries are located all across the Earth, not just in the North Atlantic (the original justification for the creation of NATO was to form a joint defense system for countries in the North Atlantic).
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BTRs during wargames, December 2020. The flag on the first vehicle is the national flag, the flag on the second vehicle is the flag of the Ministry of Defense.
Official Moldovan Ministry of Defense video showing training with BTRs, towed D-20 artillery, various types of MTLBs, culminating in live fire, December 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Engineer vehicle based on T-72 hull, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Video of engineer vehicles in action, November 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BMP artillery radar vehicle followed by 2S9s and BMD-1s, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
An Antonov-2 flies over MTLBs, October 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
T-72 engineer vehicle, July 2020.
Video of vehicle review, and some live fire, July 2020. Sadly, that’s about it for the Moldovan National Army. At the end of the video the Minister of Defense, Alexandru Pinzari, admits they are working with “obsolete” equipment:
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Loading anti-tank missile (9M113 Konkurs, NATO codename AT-5 Spandrel) onto a BRDM-2-Anti-Tank armored car, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2019.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Moldova used to be a part of Romania, called Bessarabia. Under Soviet rule Bessarabia became the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova declared independence in August 1991.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 14SEP2016.
BMD based 2S9 Nona self propelled airborne artillery gun, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2016.
Since 1996, the North Carolina Army National Guard has been training with the Moldovan army, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Guard State Partnership Program.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
BRDM-2 over-watch as U.S. Marine launches a Javelin anti-tank missile in Balti, December 2014.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
An old BTR gets taken out by a Javelin.
Video, BTR dies:
Video explainer report, USMC anti-armor training in Moldova, 2014:
Video of various anti-tank weapons being used, December 2014:
From what I’ve researched, Moldova has between zero and possibly a whopping three Main Battle Tanks (MBT), all T-64BV.
Photo by Neil Brennan.
The reason for little or no MBTs in Moldova is apparently because of a cease fire agreement between Moldova and a former territory called Transnistria (Transnistria actually declared independence one year before greater Moldova, yet the ‘NATO’ world refuses to recognize it because it is one of the last few Soviet Republics that still believes the Soviet Union is alive and well). The Sweden based OSCE has been overseeing arms control agreements including the destruction of heavy military vehicles like MBTs. Moldova has complied, but not Transnistria (meaning tiny Transnistria has more armored vehicles than much larger Moldova).
The majority of Moldova’s existing armor are Soviet era armored cars of various types, then tracked utility vehicles like MTLB, and tracked self propelled artillery guns/rocket launchers.
Moldovan news pic of a supposed T-54? (note the spokes on the road wheels) that had been hidden by a family in a disputed district.
At the beginning of 2017, a news report said that a family had been hiding a T-54(?) tank on their property in the divided district of Anenii Noi. It was confiscated.
August 2018: Moldovan, N.C. troops train at Fort Bliss
Vehicle I-D: SUOMALAISET (Finnish) LEOPARDIT JA SISU PASI JA CV9030 JA MTLB JA 2S1 JA BMP-2 JA AMOS
Near El Paso, Texas, August 2020.
Border wall slowly stretches across the desert near Columbus, New Mexico, October 2020.
Wall construction over mountains on the Barry M. Goldwater Range aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, October 2020.
New wall completed near Tucson, Arizona, 02NOV2020.
17DEC2020, Tucson 10/28 Border Barrier near Nogales, Arizona.
21DEC2020, the final section of Yuma 10/27 Border Barrier is installed, in Arizona.
Arizona National Guard delivers a trailer full of food and supplies to the Navajo Nation, 06OCT2020. Since the beginning of the outbreak the Arizona National Guard took over transportation of food throughout the state.
Arizona National Guard stock the shelves of a food pantry in Sun City, 09OCT2020. Since the beginning of the outbreak in the U.S., the Arizona National Guard took over civilian food operations across the state.
