As of 11SEP2023, NATO-Slovakia now has six NATO-Germany supplied Leopard 2A4 battle tanks.
Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
The taxpayers of NATO-Germany should be proud that they are funding 15 rebuilt Cold War era Leopard 2A4 battle tanks for NATO-Slovakia! It is part of a deal Slovakia made to give 30 Cold War era BVP-1 (BMP-1) Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine.
Official Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic video of the first live-fire training of the Leo-2A4 for Slovak tank crews, in August 2023:
German tankers teach Slovak tankers how to boresight the Rheinmetall 120mm gun, August 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
Bore-sighting the Rheinmetall 120mm gun, August 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
The 120mm round has a silver/gray casing which is combustible plastic, not metal. This one has a Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS, aka Sabot) projectile, the blue color indicates it is a training round. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
These are 120mm HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) rounds. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
A Leo-2A4 delivered to Slovakia, April 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
A Indiana Army National Guard soldier gets a lesson on how the BVP works, 15SEP2015. Indiana Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Daniel Dyer.
Slovak BVP (BMP) based ambulance. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Micah VanDyke, 12OCT2016.
During the ‘Cold War’, Czech-o-Slovakia was one country created by the victors of World War Two by forcing Slovakia and Czech Republic together (just as they did after World War One). Czech-o-Slovakia became a member of the Warsaw Pact in response to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Slovak BVP-1 (BMP-1). U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Micah VanDyke, 12OCT2016.
Slovak BVP-1 during a NATO CBRN exercise near Lešť, 20MAR2017. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Justin Geiger.
In the Czech-o-Slovak language the BMP became Bojové Vozidlo Pěchoty (BVP), which means basically the same thing as the Russian BMP; Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV). Like most users of the BMP/BVP, Czech-o-Slovakia made many different versions, including their unique OT-90.
Slovak OT-90 crew launches an S2M anti-aircraft missile, October 2013. Photo via Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic.
According to the current Ministry of Defense of Czech Republic (aka Chechia), the OT-90 was developed to carry a squad of infantry equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.
The man/woman portable S2M missile. Photo via Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic, October 2013.
The large turret of the BMP/BVP was replaced with a smaller turret (same used on the Czech-o-Slovak designed OT-64 armored car), to make room for the specialized anti-aircraft weapons.
S2M launch from OT-90. Photo via Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic, October 2013.
After the so-called Cold War ended, Czech Republic and Slovakia went their separate ways, and since there was no more Soviet-Warsaw Pact, they both joined NATO (NATO felt it necessary to remain in existence, even though its stated enemy the Soviet Union no longer existed). Today’s NATO-Czechia replaced their OT-90s with NATO-United Kingdom designed Land Rover vehicles. NATO-Slovakia still uses the OT-90.
Battle for Ukraine:February 2014 (NATO backed coup) to present.
U.S. Army video (by Sergeant Alan Brutus) of Slovak BVP-2 live-fire, during wargame Dragoon Crossing, 16SEP2015:
More live-fire video (by Christoph Koppers), 16SEP2015:
NATO video of rail off-load of Slovak BVP-2s and OT-90s, in NATO-Latvia, 13APR2017:
NATO video of Slovak BVP-1s and OT-90s, assigned to a newly formed ‘anti-Russia’ NATO Battle Group, 21SEP2022:
On 29NOV2022, the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic announced that 30 BVP-1s had been sent to Ukraine. Officially it is part of a NATO weapons deal, in which Slovakia would get 15 upgraded Leopard 2A4 battle tanks from Germany.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
Towards the end of August 2022, Slovak MiG-29s made their final military flights during the Slovak International Air Fest over Malacky-Kuchyňa Air Base. Although they had been recently upgraded with NATO standard equipment, and were expected to be in use until 2035, the Ukraine Crisis resulted in the sudden/hasty retirement of the MiG 29s.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
A recent U.S./NATO sponsored air defense agreement between Czech Republic (now known by the wimpy name of Czechia), Poland and Republic of Slovakia, will have Slovak air space defended by Czechia’s Swedish made JAS-39 Gripens and Poland’s U.S. made F-16s, until Slovakia is equipped with U.S. made F-16s (in 2018 Slovakia agreed to buy 14 F-16 Block 70/72 from NATO-United States).
Military personnel of Slovakia and the United States pose in front of a Cold War MiG 29 ‘Gate Guard’ on Sliač Air Base, Slovakia, 28JUL2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Savannah L. Waters.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
For more proof that the MiG 29 was to be in use for at least another decade, in November 2018 the Slovak government decided to continue operating the MiG 29 until all the expected F-16 Block 70/72s were delivered. But now, Slovkia’s eleven recently NATO upgraded MiG-29s are just hanging around, waiting for so-called NATO guidance on their fate.
MiG-29UB trainer. Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
It should be realized that the Czech-o-Slovakia was an artificial country created by the British empire led victors of World War One. During the lead-up to World War Two, Germany became the so called protectorate of the area of Czechia, while an independent Slovak State was declared. After that war, the victorious Soviet Union forced the two back together as the Czech-o-Slovakia.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
After the unofficial Cold War unofficially ended, former Warsaw Pact member Czech-o-Slovakia split up, into the Czech Republic and Republic of Slovakia. Slovakia took 24 MiG-29s as part of the divorce from Czechia and as part of payment of debt owed by the former Soviet Union.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
In the past few years, Slovakia embarked on a program to convert its military to NATO standards, one of those actions included sending four fighter pilots to the United States to train on F-16 Falcons, in 2020.
Slovak MiG 29 flies with two Indiana Air Guard ‘BlackSnakes’ A-10C Thunderbolt-2s, 27JUL2016. Indiana Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sergeant William Hopper.
A Slovak MiG 29 flies alongside a Czech JAS 39. Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
Nebraska Air National Guard video, September 2013; a Nebraska Air Guard KC-135 refuels a Czech JAS 39 Gripen over Slovakia, while a Slovak MiG 29 Fulcrum plays the bad guy and ‘intercepts’ the ‘invaders’:
Tiger Meet Mig 29UB. Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
23mm gun-smoke. Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
2008 Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky (Mo Sr) video, pilot talks about flying the MiG 29:
“The security situation has changed.”-Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Foreign Minister of Deutschland, 02 September 2016
“I welcome…. the proposals by Minister Steinmeier…. …We need to avoid a new cold war, we need to avoid a new arms race… …NATO and the European Union are faced with the same security challenges… More than 90% of the population of the European Union live in a NATO country… …it’s good for the European Union, it’s good for NATO at the same time.”-Jens Stoltenberg, current Secretary General of NATO, 02 September 2016
“What we are looking for is to trigger EU operations more easily.”-unnamed assistant to the Defense Minister of République Française, 09 September 2016
The plan (supposedly written in August) calls for synchronizing taxpayer funding to create joint recon, medical and logistical support units in preperations for a new War on Terror. European military academies, and state run schools, will promote the idea of a unified EU military. Article 44 of the EU Lisbon Treaty will be implemented. New weapon systems will be jointly developed. It’s expected to be adopted at the upcoming EU summit in Slovenská Republika.
News media in Deutschland blame this latest martial development on the United Kingdom’s Brexit (Britain exits the European Union) plans. Apparently past proposals for a unified EU military had been vetoed by the United Kingdom (which is also a member of NATO).
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Deutschland’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier discuss a new united European military, 02 September 2016:
This video compares the militaries of Française and Deutschland, but soon they will be one:
Indiana Air National Guard’s 122 Fighter Wing deploys A-10 Thunderbolt 2s to Slovakia. No, those are not ‘warthog’ art painted on their noses, they’re supposed to be snakes. And there’s some vid of Slovakian MiG-29s.
26 November 2015, 17:51 UTC-07 Tango 01 (06 Azar 1394/14 Safar 1437/16 Ding-Hai 10th month 4713)
U.S. led NATO members Czech Republic, Norway, Poland and Slovakia have increased military spending. They’re using the 13 November attacks in France, and the degrading situation in Ukraine, as excuses.
“The government is bent on replacing Soviet-era equipment through the most ambitious acquisition and modernization drive in modern history. ….Slovakia’s Defence Ministry announced plans to purchase two Italian-made Spartan transport aircraft, Czech-made Bren rifles and nine UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters. The ministry also plans to acquire a new mobile air defense system. The Ukraine conflict and the consequent worsening of the security landscape….is used to legitimize it.” Michal Šimečka, Institute of International Relations
Czech Republic is already involved in the illegal NATO invasion of Mali, but now says it’s ready to ramp up the number of combat troops to help its NATO allies: “France may need to regroup its fighters and focus more on the military strikes against ISIS. For instance we are serving together in Mali and the Czech Republic would be ready to step in for France there by sending more troops. ….the Czech Republic could participate with its anti-chemical unit or field hospital as it did in the Persian Gulf War.”-Bohuslav Sobotka, Czech Republic Prime Minister
“We are faced with a different Russia. I want to warn against the fact that some people see this as something that is going to pass. The situation has changed. And it has changed profoundly.”-Ine Eriksen Søreide, NATO Norway’s Defense Minister during interview with CNN
“Poland’s Ministry of Defense launched a tender to acquire 104 new battlefield reconnaissance radars…”–DefenseNews
“NATO member Poland has signed a deal on military cooperation with non-member Sweden amid concerns raised by increased Russian military activity in the Baltic.”-The Local
41% of Swedes now favor Sweden joining NATO after Sweden’s Security Service Säpo said their biggest threat is Russia, not Islamic State aka DAIISH (DA for al-DAwla, I for al-Islamiya, I for al-Iraq, SH al-SHam [al-Sham=Syria])!
UKRAINE DEAL GETS NATO-CZECH REPUBLIC ‘NEW’ taxpayer funded LEO 2A4
