Showing posts with label T-55. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T-55. Show all posts

Sunday, 2 April 2023

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A Far Cry: Yara’s HS-100 Tanks

armour , Exotic Armour 0 Comments

By Teslashark in collaboration with Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
There are lions, and there are lambs. Rule, or be ruled. A Castillo must be a lion. For Yara is full of lambs. (By Antón Castillo)
 
The 2021 Yaran Civil War was largely overshadowed by the Nagorno-Karabakh War one year prior and the Russo-Ukrainian War shortly thereafter. The war quickly proved a single-cell thunderstorm similar in intensity to the former, yet located right in the middle of America's Caribbean backyard. A significant number of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) were deployed by both the Fuerzas Nacionales de Defensa loyal to the brutal regime of Antón Castillo and the opposing rebel alliance known as Libertad. One of the AFVs that saw intensive action on both sides was a deceptively unassuming tank, the HS-100. Often misidentified and reported as a T-55 or T-62 by even the most seasoned military analysts, the HS-100 MBT is the perfect embodiment of the tumultuous history of the Caribbean island nation of Yara.
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Friday, 30 September 2022

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The Oryx Handbook Of Cuban Fighting Vehicles

BTR , BTR-100 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
Abbrevations:
 
- CBAF (Carro Blindado de Apoyo de Fuego) = Armoured Fire-Support Vehicle
 
- CBE (Carro Blindado de Exploración) = Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle
 
- CBI (Carro Blindado de Infantería) = Armoured Infantry Vehicle
 
- C-AP (Cañón Autopropulsado) = Self-Propelled Artillery
 
- C-AP-AT (Cañon Autopropulsado Anti-Tanque) = Self-Propelled Anti-Tank Cannon
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Saturday, 27 August 2022

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Photo Report: Haftar’s Last Parade

Benghazi , Exotic Armour 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
The following photos were taken during a Libyan National Army (LNA) parade to commemorate the 7th anniversary of Operation Dignity at Benina airbase in Benghazi on the 29th of May 2021. Even though the LNA of warlord Khalifa Haftar was to merge with the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA) as part of the newly-established Government of National Unity (GNU), the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) passed a no-confidence motion against the unity government in September 2021. Khalifa Haftar subsequently announced his candidacy for the presidential election in December 2021 before it was postponed. The May parade was aimed at showing the LNA's (and thus Haftar's) strength to both internal actors and the outside world. In doing so, the LNA showed off a large number of equipment types inherited from the Gaddafi-era and received from Russia, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt since. [1]
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Wednesday, 15 December 2021

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Desert Storm: Listing The Polisario’s Inventory of AFVs

AA gun , Algeria 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
A number of Moroccan drone strikes on Polisario targets in the Western Sahara has once again brought attention to the long-neglected eponymous dispute. Fears that the fragile peace could soon make way for renewed conflict seem to grow starker by the month, with a lack of any hard response to the drone strikes from the Polisario Front possibly strengthening Morocco's will to use military means to resolve the conflict in its favour once and for all. [1] Although only the United States recognises Morocco's claim over the Western Sahara Region, the Polisario is isolated from any true political and military allies with the exception of Algeria.
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Monday, 15 November 2021

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Taliban Army Reinstates Armour Operations In Afghanistan

Afghan Army , Afghanistan 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

Armoured warfare in Afghanistan diminished drastically after the 2001 United States invasion of the country. While past regimes and factions relied heavily on the use of armour as fire-support platforms, the U.S.-led Coalition saw little use for heavy armour by the new Afghan National Army (ANA). Plans to re-equip the only remaining armour unit of the ANA with M60A3 tanks were eventually shelved as a result, and only through sheer dedication did the ANA managed to cling on to a single tank battalion. [1]
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Friday, 29 October 2021

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Kurdish Armour: Inventorising YPG Equipment In Northern Syria

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By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
A number of attacks on Turkish patrols in northern Syria have brought Turkey and YPG forces to the brink of war. In response to the latest attack, which saw the death of one Turkish soldier, President Erdogan vowed to clear northern Syria from the YPG. [1] In order to achieve this, YPG (Yek̨ney̻n Parastina Gel РPeople's Protection Units, itself the primary faction in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance) forces would either have to leave the border region voluntarily or take up arms and fight the Free Syrian Army and Turkish military. In the latter case, the YPG's armour is undoubtedly set to play a role as the faction's primary fire-support platforms. This article attempts to catalogue the YPG's fleet of AFVs and other heavy weaponry and explain how its armoured force came to be.
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Monday, 23 November 2020

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Fighting Attrition: A Look Inside a Damascus Armour Repair Facility

armour repair workshop , BMP-1 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The following photos were taken during a visit of a Russian journalist to a small armour repair facility in the suburbs of Damascus in June 2017. While already several years old – with several of the armoured fighting vehicles pictured likely having been lost to combat damage since – the images nevertheless provide an interesting insight into the inner workings of a small Syrian tank workshop.
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Thursday, 31 August 2017

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Armour In The Islamic State - The Story Of ’The Workshop’

BMP-1 , Exotic Armour 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The Islamic State's rise to the status of one of the most sophisticated designated terrorist groups ever to exist has been accompanied by an unprecedented level of ingenuity, adaption and brutality on the battlefields it engages in across Syria, Iraq and abroad. Exploiting the lack of security after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011 and making smart use of the power vacuum in Syria it effectively hijacked the revolution's original goals. The Islamic State would quickly present itself as a threat like no other – not only to Syria and Iraq, but to the entire world.
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Saturday, 11 March 2017

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Armour In The Islamic State - The DIY Works Of Wilayat Al-Khayr

BMP-1 , Deir ez-Zor 0 Comments

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The rise of the Islamic State from an militant group operating in Iraq to a self-proclaimed caliphate controlling large swaths of land in Iraq, Syria and further abroad has had a significant effect on the course of the Syrian Civil War, effectively hijacking the revolution's original goals and drastically changing the scope of warfare in Syria. At the forefront of this change is the Islamic State's ability to quickly adapt to the various situations that can be encountered on the battlefield, allowing it to become one of the most sophisticated designated terrorist groups to date.
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Sunday, 20 September 2015

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Handbook Of Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles

AFV , BTR 0 Comments

 
By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 

This list only includes vehicles and equipment in service with the Yemeni Army before the Houthi takeover of Yemen in 2014 and 2015. Vehicles and equipment acquired and produced during the ongoing conflict are not included in this list. The goal of this list is to comprehensively catalogue the pre-war inventory of the Yemeni Army, list the country's esoteric AFV designs as well as clarify what military equipment is currently available to Yemeni parties on the battlefield. Civilian trucks towing military trailers are not included in the list.

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Monday, 10 November 2014

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Vehicles And Equipment Captured By The Islamic State Inside Syria Until November 2014

equipment , Handbooks 0 Comments


By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

 

This list only includes captured vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment captured by the Islamic State may be higher than recorded here.

Although some of the tanks and artillery fielded by the Islamic State in recent offensives such as Kobanê were captured from Brigade 93 and Regiment 121 respectively, a great deal of effort has been put into avoiding double listings.

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