Tag Archives: tank

A flying M48A1? Or, how to paint your 1:1 scale M48A1.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 19DEC2019.

In December 2019, a serviced and freshly painted M48 Patton was returned to the U.S. Army Central HQ on Shaw Air Force Base, in South Carolina.

Arrival at the Fort Knox paint shop. USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 13NOV2019.

USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 13NOV2019.

The M48 spent about two months at Fort Knox, Kentucky, getting a make-over at the Logistics Readiness Center.

USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 13NOV2019.

USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 13NOV2019.

From this view of the engine deck you can see it’s a M48A1 Patton.

USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 03DEC2019.

USA photo by Bianka Lathan, 03DEC2019.

USA photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 26SEP2019.

In September 2019, the faded gate guard was taken away from its post in front of Patton Hall on Shaw Air Force Base.

USA photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 26SEP2019.

USA photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 26SEP2019.

USA photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 26SEP2019.

USA photo by Sergeant Victor Everhart, 13MAR2015.

It’s been guarding Patton Hall since the building’s dedication in 2011.

New clothes for the old tank. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Anri Baril, 16DEC2019.

The Minnesota Military Museum’s M48. Minnesota National Guard photo, 05FEB2013.

M48A2C ‘gate guard’ on display in Republic of Korea (South Korea). USA photo by Private First Class SeoWon Lee, 05MAR2015.

VEHICLE I-D: ZOMBIE TANK T-55, THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

VEHICLE I-D: GIANT R-C TANKS SEEN TEARING-UP WASHINGTON STATE!

VEHICLE I-D: M4 SHERMAN

VEHICLE I-D: Idaho’s 1-148 FIELD ARTILLERY GATE GUARDS

1939 v 2019; Germany invades Poland again, this time with the help of NATO!

In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland on the pretext that Polish terrorists were attaching German radio stations (which is now considered a False Flag attack).  It actuality was vengeance for having German territory stolen by the French and British empires, after World War One, to create what is now known as Poland.

The same thing happened after World War Two, and hundreds of thousands of Germans were disappeared by the Soviets and British empire as even more German territory was taken to create today’s boundaries for Poland!

(A generation gap exists between Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II and their grandchildren, The monument was erected by members of Poland’s ethnic German minority, which was suppressed under four decades of Polish communism, Revenge on Ethnic Germans: Czech Town Divided, For the first time, a central memorial and monument for the Germans expelled from Hungary were inaugurated in Budaörs, The 1,000s of Germans massacred after WWII, also during the war the Soviet Union rounded up hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans, and what happened to the thousands of German civilians expelled from Iran by the British and Soviet invaders?)

Marder 1A3/5. U.S. Army photo Sergeant First Class Class Michael O’Brien, 01JUN2019.

Leopard 2A5. USA photo Sergeant First Class Class Michael O’Brien, 01JUN2019.

From June thru July 2019, Germany invaded and occupied Poland, this time as part of a larger NATO operation called Noble Jump 2019.  The German led NATO ‘spearhead battalion’ also consisted of units from Netherlands (just troops as the Dutch got rid of their main battle tanks in 2011) and Norway.

Swedish made Norwegian CV90. Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 04JUN2019.

Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 04JUN2019.

Even women took part in the invasion (oh my!).

NATO video explaining the German led invasion:

“Noble Jump is a defensive exercise. It will prove our very high readiness ground troops are ready and rapidly deployable, wherever and whenever needed. Readiness and mobility are key to NATO’s deterrence posture.”-U.S. Admiral James Foggo, Allied Joint Force Command Naples/NATO Response Force 2019

German Fox (Fuchs). Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 08JUN2019.

On 13JUL2019, the invasion culminated in an epic tank battle involving armor from the United States, Germany and Poland.  However, in the video it seems they were all on the same side and you can’t tell who they’re fighting.  I don’t know who won.

Isn’t it ironic that a country punished for trying to regain and hold onto stolen territory is now helping U.S. led NATO to occupy those same territories?

HI-TECH FAIL: GERMANY STILL TRAINS UP OLD-SKOOL CAVALRY!

GERMANY FINALLY ADOPTS THE MINIGUN!

Vehicle I-D: M88A1 mud-bug

M88A1 Medium-Tracked Recovery Vehicle

The following pics are from Fort McCoy’s Maintenance Tracked Vehicle Recovery Course in July 2018.

Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, began its tracked vehicle recovery training in October 2017.

Vehicle I-D:  FRENCH CAESAR INVADES GERMANY!

MLRS, BRITISH RED COATS INVADE U.S. ARMY BASE IN GERMANY!

PANZERHAUBITZE 2000

Idaho female becomes 1st ever U.S. PanzerFräulein!

05 January 2017 (05:32 UTC-07 Tango 06) 16 Dey 1395/06 Rabi ‘ath-Thani 1438/08 Ji Chou 4714

In August 2016 Sergeant First Class  Erin Smith was awarded with Idaho’s Spirit of Freedom Award.  Her ‘exceptional’ act was becoming the first ever female ‘tanker’ in the United States military!  (I wonder why the U.S. main stream national news media didn’t mention it?)

SFC Smith officially became a M1 tanker (MOS 19K) in June of 2016.  Her original MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was healthcare specialist.  She deployed to Bosnia in 2002 and then Iraq in 2004, where she was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

Smith’s transition to a combat MOS was the result of U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter opening combat jobs to women at the end of 2015.  However, I’ve always known some women can handle combat jobs no problem.  Several NATO member countries have had female’s in combat jobs for decades, such as Idaho’s neighbor to the north Canada.

While deployed for a ‘friendly’ armor contest with Canadian tankers in 2002, an impromptu main-gun loading contest was held between Bravo Company, 2-116th Armored Cav, Idaho National Guard and Canadian tankers in Alberta.  Main-gun rounds weigh about 19kg (40 pounds) and unlike the auto-loading Soviet/Russian panzers most U.S.-NATO tanks are manually loaded. Guess who won the manly competition? A skinny Canadian army officer who just happened to be a female!

But that’s not the first time I witnessed a female kicking ass over males. While attending Army Basic Training in 1982 one of my Army Drill Sergeants was a little female who could out push-up and out sit-up the men!

Still, I’m proud the Idaho National Guard can boast having the first female M1 Abrams tanker in the U.S.!

IDAHO: “THIS IS WHERE ARMOR FIGHTS!” FIRST FEMALE COMBAT MECHANIC!

Syria, 24 – 27 October 2015: Watch as teenager is killed by Islamic State tank! Islamic State gets new U.S. pickup trucks! Drones packed with U.S. plastic explosives shot down! NATO Turkey flies insurgents from Syria to Yemen! Turkey preps for Rojava invasion?

Despite the U.S.-EU-Saudi-Israeli instigated war in Syria, the Syrian Universal Group for Home Appliances is participating in the 118th China Import and Export Fair currently held in the city of Guangzhou, southern China.  On top of that, revenues from free trade zones inside Syria have actually increased.  The Syrian Director-General of the Free-Trade Zones Establishment says from September 2014 to September 2015 revenues increased by 240-million Syrian Pounds (SYP).

Syrian intelligence says they know what happened to the hundreds of U.S.-EU-Saudi-Israeli backed insurgents that Run Away (as Monty Python would say) into U.S. led NATO Turkey; more than 5-hundred were loaded onto planes bound for Yemen!  Intelligence says the 5-hundred+ insurgents were loaded onto two Turkish Airlines planes, one Qatar Airways plane and one Emirates airline plane.   After arriving in Yemen, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) agents met the insurgents, dividing them up and transporting them to different regions of Yemen and KSA.

Aleppo Governorate:     Syrian Arab Army Air Force  bombed U.S.-EU-Saudi-Israeli backed DAIISH (Islamic State; DA for al-DAwla, I for al-Islamiya, I for al-Iraq, SH al-SHam [al-Sham = Syria]) in al-Sheikh Ahmad village to the south of the Air Force Academy.  Two insurgent rockets impacted in al-A’zamia neighborhood, at the roundabout of Bilal Mosque, killing four civilians and wounding 26 others.  14 National Defense Forces (pro-government militia) personnel killed when they drove over a landmine in al- Ramosah road during a battle for control of a cement plant.

Damascus (Rif Dimashq) area:   Syrian Arab Army continued battling U.S.-EU-Saudi-Israeli backed Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front) and Jaish al-Islam in the Eastern Ghouta and the Western Ghouta areas of Damascus countryside, as well as attacking the Ajnad al-Cham insurgents in al-Jameyat neighborhood of Daraya City.  Eight civilians were wounded by mortar rounds lobed by Jaish al-Islam on Bab Touma neighborhood in Damascus City. Two civilians in al-Wafidin Refugee Camp wounded during mortar attack by Jaish al-Islam.

Daraa Governorate: Syrian Arab Army shot down seven small RC hobbyist type drones over Ezraa City. The drones were  packed with the U.S. explosive C4 (‘plastic’ explosives).  This is the second time a wave of RC drones tried to attack the city, the first time was on 11 October when nine similar RC drones were shot down.  Nine Nusra Front insurgents killed in Daraa city.

Deir Ezzor Governorate:   Syrian Arab Army destroyed a small DAIISH convoy of U.S./Japanese made gun-trucks in al-Hweika neighborhood of Deir Ezzor City.  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports DAIISH is forcing male residents of al- Bokamal to undergo DAIISH indoctrination at two mosques.  The city of Bokamal sits on the border with Iraq.  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports DAIISH executed two males by throwing them from the top of al-Hekma Hospital, they were accused of being homosexuals.  More proof residents are rising up against U.S.-EU-Saudi-Israeli backed DAIISH.  In al-Miadin City a man and woman riding on a motorcycle attacked DAIISH insurgents after the insurgents took control of the city.  Reports DAIISH also took control of al- Sina’ah neighborhood in Deir Ezzor City.

VIDEO: SYRIAN ARAB ARMY, LEBANESE RESISTANCE, RUSSIA attack INSURGENTS on The Al-Ghab Plain, Hama.

https://youtu.be/iuATnHsklCs

Hama Governorate:  Syrian Arab Army Air Force bombed DAIISH in the villages of al-Sheikh Hilal, Rasm al-Tineh, Rasm Amoun, Jbab and Tanahej in the eastern countryside of Hama province. Three civilians wounded after DAIISH remote detonated a landmine in the al-Saan-Jib Khsara road, as a minibus drove by.  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports eight Afghans fighting for the Syrian Arab Army were executed after being captured by insurgents.  The insurgents turned out to be Uzbeks and Turks.

VIDEO: DAIISH EXECUTES 19 YEARS OLD MAN WITH T55 PANZER, THEY ACCUSED HIM OF RUNNING OVER DEAD DAIISH BODIES WITH A TANK! These executions are not faked, watch video for proof!!!

Homs Governorate:    Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces (militias) and Syrian Army Air Force conducted intensive battles against DAIISH in al-Baiyarat area 10 kilometers west of Palmyra City as well as other locations. Reports say DAIISH executed three men by tying them to columns at the Palmyra ruins, then blowing up the ruins.   Nusra Front targets in Teirmala, Jawalak, al-Ghanto, al-Farhanyeh, Umm Sharshouh and Talbeseh were targeted as well.  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports DAIISH publicly chopped off the head of a man they accused of murder.

Idlib Governorate:  12 Jaish al-Fateh, Jund al-Aqsa and Nusra Front gun-trucks destroyed and at least 60 insurgents killed.  Some of the insurgents included Turks.

Raqqa Governorate: At Gire Spi (Tal Abyad), Kobanê Canton, YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units)-YPJ (Kurdish Women’s Defense Units) report being directly attacked by U.S. led NATO member Turkey.  Tal Abyad sits right on the border with Turkey.  YPG-YPJ reports that Turkish troops were shooting at them with U.S. designed M16A4 assault rifles and M2 .50 cals, and that Turkish ground forces have increased patrols along the border.   The attacks began on 25 October.  The Turkish attacks on Kurdish defenders seem to coincide with attacks by DAIISH.  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed the attacks during an interview with Turkish news media, stressing that Kurds are considered enemies of Turkey.  Weak minded Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan even stated “All they [Kurds] want is to seize northern Syria entirely…..this constitutes a threat for us…”  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that in DAIISH controlled areas the public use of TV has been banned.  In Raqqa City, DAIISH female police (hisba) arrested a woman for improper clothing.  It’s being reported that DAIISH has just received at least ten brand new U.S. and Japanese made pickup trucks, which have been converted into gun-trucks.

Sweida Governorate: Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces (militias) ambushed and destroyed a DAIISH vehicle in Tal Asheihib al-Shamali area.

20-23 October 2015: NATO members abandon United States! Jordan abandons U.S. & joins Russia! 

Vehicle I-D: Armor museum Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Military Vehicle Park, part of the John B Mahaffey Museum Complex, click the pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make them bigger and see more:

VEHICLE I-D: RAT ROD 1967 BLH AUSTIN-WESTERN USN SEABEES ROAD GRADER $14,794

Sale of 200 German made tanks to Saudi Arabia may be illegal

The German Parliament is investigating the sale of 200 of the latest version of Germany’s Leopard 2 tank to Saudi Arabia.  It was an unnamed Saudi source that revealed the sale.

German law bans the sale of major weapons systems to countries in crisis hit regions: “Selling 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia is far from ethical foreign policy.  The country is in the middle of a regional powder keg.  You shouldn’t be giving out matches there.”-Andrea Nahles, SPD General Secretary

Der Spiegel revealed that it was Chancellor Merkel’s security council that approved the sale.

What makes this even more controversial is that Germany already gave Saudi Arabia a $93 billion ‘stimulus’ package, specifically for military/security use.  It’s rumored that Saudi Arabia needs the military help after invading the tiny island country of Bahrain, and after constant military action on their border with Yemen.

Makes you wonder where all their oil money went?

Video of Leopard 2, mostly the latest version, but some older versions of the Leo 2. The one with the pointy turret front is the newer version.