Armored Fighting Vehicles VI: Eye of the Tiger

[Daryk]

Some of them look really close though!  8)

[Garrand]

Looks like a mix of mock-ups on Chieftains & Centurions. The one showing the back-end looks like it has the LR fuel tank used by Aussie Centurions (I built a model of one!)

Damon.

[chanman]

"Not tank country, my arse!" Leopard 2A6CAN in Afghanistan. The Canadian Leopard 2s are pretty distinctive with their dinged up slat armour and an antennae farm extensive enough to double as a SIGINT listening post  :D

[Daryk]

Well... ALMOST extensive enough...  8)

[Failure16]

I wonder if the increased propensity for jointness and combined arms/support options means that troopers on the ground in these expeditionary ops have to monitor more commo nets than ever before. I mean, four antennae means at least four radios (if they are SINCGARS or ASIP) in the tank...

"Not tank country, my arse!"

They said as much about Vietnam. The Blackhorse and Three Quarter Cav (amongst others, of course) proved them all wrong in short order.

[Daryk]

Let's see:
Local Net
HQ Net
Air Support Net
Artillery Net
...

[Failure16]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Back in the olden days of yore, individual tanks were not monitoring all of those nets. Hell, at the turn of the century, the 2/11 S-3 only monitored two nets...and during an NTC rotation, the squadron HQ elements were acting at an echelon higher (so, 2/11 the 32nd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment). Now, that's not to say that the two available radios were not changed as needed, but it was still only two nets at a time.

I guess if you are one of a handful of tanks out in the wilds of AfghanLand, you probably want to talk to all sorts of people very quickly if something untoward happens.

[chanman]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Back in the olden days of yore, individual tanks were not monitoring all of those nets. Hell, at the turn of the century, the 2/11 S-3 only monitored two nets...and during an NTC rotation, the squadron HQ elements were acting at an echelon higher (so, 2/11 the 32nd Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment). Now, that's not to say that the two available radios were not changed as needed, but it was still only two nets at a time.

I guess if you are one of a handful of tanks out in the wilds of AfghanLand, you probably want to talk to all sorts of people very quickly if something untoward happens.

I guess you can't just shoot the one with the antennae to take out the command vehicle if they're ALL festooned with antennae

[Daryk]

"Ambiguity increasing" deception is a thing...  8)

[chanman]

"Ambiguity increasing" deception is a thing...  8)

Can't un-see them now. Maybe they're really hardcore wifi extenders  :D

[Daryk]

Hedge cutters?  In the desert? ???

[chanman]

Hedge cutters?  In the desert? ???

How else are you supposed to mow the tall poppies?  ??? (It's a mine plow)

[PsihoKekec]

It's a mine plow in the travel position, in deployed position it tills the soil and pushes aside any buried mines and IEDs. In a pinch it can also be used to breach the walls of the compounds.
Canadians found them to be quite a life savers, so they kept Leopards I in Afghanistan even when they started fielding Leopards 2, as they didn't have mine plows for Leo 2s.

[Daryk]

Ah, thank you gentlemen!  :thumbsup:

[Prospernia]

It's a mine plow in the travel position, in deployed position it tills the soil and pushes aside any buried mines and IEDs. . . .

Unless, the IED is a 2,000lbs bomb, which, it won't matter.

[PsihoKekec]

Those were extremely rare, while smaller ones were rather disruptively common.

[worktroll]

Sometimes you can't make these things up ...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/24/pub-crawling-santas-get-armoured-vehicle-stuck-in-cornish-hedge

A vintage armoured vehicle filled with Santas had to be freed by police after getting stuck in a Cornish lane.

The Santas, who were believed to be on a pub crawl, got wedged in a hedge at Marsh Lane, near Hayle.

Devon and Cornwall police were called at about 7.40pm on Thursday after reports that a vehicle had been damaged. No one was arrested.

Merry Christmas!

[Daryk]

Not something I would have ever come up with, certainly!  :toofunny:

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Sometimes you can't make these things up ...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/24/pub-crawling-santas-get-armoured-vehicle-stuck-in-cornish-hedge

Merry Christmas!

"I'm too drunk to drive a car, but this isn't a car!"

[Failure16]

It's only embarrassing because they should have known that it takes a tank to break brush whilst the PCs follow in behind.

[I am Belch II]

Ive done a couple of Santa Bar crawls and all we had was a school bus, no APC.

[chanman]

Ive done a couple of Santa Bar crawls and all we had was a school bus, no APC.

The 'A' stands for Alcoholic  :D

[Failure16]

And here I thought it stood for "Amateur".

[chanman]

Gavin derivatives!

Taiwan's CM-21. I think those two large sponsons are extended fuel tanks? Bit of a weird overhang. It has the sloped rear to allow firing ports when those were all the rage (and we'll see them again soon. Note that the forward seats are benches on the outside facing inward, but the rearmost 4 are folding seats facing outward, in order to use the ports



Philippines upgrade with an Israeli remote turret and a 25mm cannon



Australian M113AS4, stretched hull (extra roadwheel) like the Canadian TLAV and a new one-man .50 turret


Canadian TLAV (stretched hull) engineering vehicle in Afghanistan


Canadian ADATS


Canadian M113 with slats and extra tall radio antennae in Afghanistan



Retired Danish IFV model with a 25mm cannon in an OTO Melara turret. It looks a lot like the 2-man 25mm turret on the Spanish VEC-M1


Italian VCC-1 APC. Similar to the Taiwanese CM-1 with the rearranged interior and firing ports



Malaysian AIFV


Malaysian AIFV on stretched chassis


Korean KIFV with what looks a bit like an ACAV-style gunshield for the M2. I would NOT want to be that driver with the GPMG deployed facing forwards from the cargo hatch!


KIFV chassis with the weapons from an M163


Dutch YPR-765s in Afghanistan. This one with a 25mm Oerlikon, but others seem to have the M2 with wraparound gunshield. Some of these have been passed on to Ukraine. Note the large antennae - I'm starting to think that was something necessitated by operating conditions in Afghanistan


Philippines fire support vehicle (FSV) with a Scorpion turret. Same idea as the Aussies


Singapore SHORAD version using of all things, Igla missiles. Wonder if Ukraine will rig up something similar with their donated M113s


Singapore's upgraded IFV using a Rafael RWS with a 25mm Bushmaster or a new cupula with a 40mm AGL and machine gun


Swiss Schützenpanzer 63/89 with a Swedish turret armed with a 20mm Oerlikon


Turkish M113A2T1 with an M45 quadmount. Profile is a little on the tall side...


More AA. Italian SIDAM quad 25mm



And for a real throwback, the LVT-5 and LVTH-6. Both linger in service in small numbers with Taiwan and Philippines

[Fat Guy]

I'm not quite sure how the name Gavin got attached to the M113, but I can assure you no one in the US Army has EVER used it.

It's always referred to as a one-thirteen, or simply a track.

[worktroll]

A military fanboi labelled the M113 with a name of an Airborne commander, and astroturfed a campaign in favour of the name change. Same guy also pressed for submarine aircraft carriers.

[Garrand]

I think the one you labelled as a Canadian M113 TUA is actually an M113 ADATS. Different missile system with a different guidance.

Damon.

[Failure16]

I'm not quite sure how the name Gavin got attached to the M113, but I can assure you no one in the US Army has EVER used it.

It's always referred to as a one-thirteen, or simply a track.

I've always known them as One-One-Threes, not One-Thirteens myself. But yes, if it is yours or in your unit, it is a track. If it is someone else's or in another unit, it is a one-one-three.

And yes, the boxes to either side of the ramp are fuel tanks and have been since the A3 model at an absolute minimum.

[Failure16]

AAR time:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/12/25/how-ukraines-1st-tank-brigade-fought-a-russian-force-ten-times-its-size-and-won/?sh=43f928046c59



As it turns out, light infantry working with tanks in restrictive terrain is a good thing. Who'd have thought?

[Daryk]

I'm going to guess every light infantryman ever? ???  :D