Showing posts with label T-62. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T-62. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 September 2023

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By Jan Kerdijk, Stijn Mitzer and Buschlaid
 
The Republic of Uzbekistan finds itself surrounded by five landlocked countries that define its borders: Kazakhstan to the north, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, Afghanistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest. This unique positioning designates Uzbekistan as one of just two doubly landlocked countries in the world. Its location in Central Asia becomes even more significant due to its shared border with Afghanistan. Given that the potential dangers of a terrorist threat outweigh the risk of a conventional military invasion, a significant portion of the country's military investments has been directed towards enhancing its counterterrorism capabilities through the acquisition of equipment such as K-53949 Taifun-K and Ejder Yalçın MRAPs and more than a dozen Eurocopter AS532 transport helicopters, a dozen Eurocopter AS550 utility helicopters, and four C-295W transport aircraft.

Monday, 21 August 2023

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By Thomas Nachtrab, Stijn Mitzer, Buschlaid and Jan Kerdijk
 
Kazakhstan found itself in a fortunate position when it came to inheriting military equipment from the USSR. The outcome was somewhat akin to a stroke of luck. If not for the drawdown of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany in the late 1980s, Kazakhstan could have been left with a substantial number of nuclear-capable Tu-95 bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), but sorely lacking in terms of conventional military equipment. However, with a significant number of troops formerly deployed to Europe being relocated to the Kazakhstan SSR, the country ended up inheriting a vast arsenal of military equipment far surpassing the needs of the newly-established republic.

Sunday, 2 April 2023

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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.

Tuesday, 4 October 2022

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By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The Tajik National Army operates an exotic inventory of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) inherited from the Soviet Army in 1991 and acquired or received from China, Russia and the U.S. since. In addition, the Tajik Army has undertaken a number of indigenous projects to improve the fighting characteristics of several AFV types. Situated in Central Asia, Tajikistan is bordered by Kyrgyzstan to the north, China to the east, Afghanistan to the south and Uzbekistan to the west. Tajikistan was embroiled in a civil war that ravaged the country from 1992 to 1997, and has fought several border skirmishes with Kyrgyzstan over the poorly demarcated border between both countries.

Friday, 30 September 2022

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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

Wednesday, 15 December 2021

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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.

Monday, 15 November 2021

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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]

Friday, 29 October 2021

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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 (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel – People'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.

Thursday, 31 August 2017

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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.

Saturday, 11 March 2017

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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.

Sunday, 20 September 2015

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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.

Monday, 10 November 2014

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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.