[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by WonderMomma ↗

1. "Russia is taking Soviet T-54/55 tanks, which were produced in the late 1950s, out of storage.

A group of researchers from the Conflict Intelligence Team notes that this is the first time this has been recorded. The tanks were spotted on trains in the city of Arsenyev, Primorsky Krai, where the Central Tank Reserve and Storage Base is located. Since last summer, T-62s have been sent to the front from there.

Radio Liberty showed satellite images of this reserve base taken on July 12, August 19, and October 2 last year. They show the base being emptied. In the fall, there were almost no tanks left in its open areas."

2. "A video appeared showing Russia removing 1950s tanks from storage and reportedly sending them to the frontlines - CIT"

Like someone wrote:

the T-54 was outdated from the moment it rolled of the production line. That was one reason the T-55 followed quite fast afterwards, to correct some of the more glaring problems.
The T-55 is the most produced tank after WW II and also the one that saw the longest consecutive army service, though not a tremendously successful one.
The Pros:
- It was a light tank - 35-36 tons - 15-20 tons less than Western MBTs. that gave him very good maneuverability in comparison to the West's MBTs (Centurion, Patton and AMX) of that era. Of course, the best engines were produced in Czechoslovakia...
- It had a very good Christy thread that gave him the ability to cross areas where Western tanks sank or got stuck.
- It had a very low silhouette, almost 30% lower than Western tanks. That made him more difficult to hit when in firing positions.
- It very simple and robust mechanical systems. Though more difficult to operate, they were resilient when compared to the more comfortable tanks with their hydraulic systems that exploded or malfunctioned.
- It ran on diesel. What on earth made the British put in the field a tank that used gasoline defeats me - these things were funeral pyres when hit.
- It had excellent machine guns. The PKT and DSK (heavy) machine guns were much better than standard Western equipment.
- Its optics were very good and very accurate. When you had the range, almost every first shot met it mark.
- The T-55 had an infra-red projector. This innovation gave it a huge advantage in night combat.

The cons:
- It had the slowest turret since Little Willie (who didn't have a turret...). You could see the other tank's crew eating sandwiches while they waited for you to train your gun on them.
- It had manual gears. Though not that exceptional at the time, anyone who had to crawl a tank uphill into a firing position can appreciate what a night,are it was to play with the clutch while doing it. Nasty.
- The main gun was horrible. It would heat rapidly and lose accuracy, and the breach protruded so much into the turret that the loader stood a very real risk of getting hit when it fired. One of my loaders broke his jaw in 11 places in this way.
- It had the worst fume extractor ever invented. Well, the T-54 barely had any, and the T-55's was at the very end of the barrel. About 50%-60% of the fumes entered the turret when the breach opened after a shot, and the fumes were choking and black, so you would work in a dim smoke cloud coughing your lungs out and with burning eyes. You could not fight a prolonged battle with this tank with the hatches closed.
- The T-54 didn't have a bottom floor to the turret. When the turret swiveled, the loader (and commander when inside) had to either run in the same direction or hang onto some levers, otherwise they'd get crushed like bugs. The T-55 fixed this incredibly stupid oversight.
- It had auxiliary gas tank on top of the rear bumper if the tank. During the 67' war dozens of T-55s were destroyed by the IDF shooting with heavy machine guns at these tanks and igniting them.
- It's main armor was pretty vulnerable once MBTs switched to the 105mm main gun. This gun (on the Centurion and Patton M60), and even the Patton M48's 90 mm gun could penetrate the T-55 from every angle.
- last point - the crew arrangement in the Soviet tanks was a mirror image of Western tanks. The only downside of that, and a serious one it was, was the loader standing to the right of the main gun. That meant he had to load the gun using mostly his left hand, and as the T-55's projectile weighed about 70 pounds and most people are right-handed, it had an impact on loading efficiency.
- It had the worst imaginable ventilation inside the turret, so using it in hot weather meant slowly roasting. The heaters were OK, I guess the designers were thinking of Siberia, not the Middle East or Africa.
- The tank is small. I understood the Russians limited crew member's height to 1.70m (5'8"), but for bigger men it is torture. I once had a driver that stood 1.90m (6'3") and weighed 250 pounds. the only way to get him to his sit was for the loader to repeatedly jump on his helmet to squeeze him in.

The T-55 was rugged, agile, low profile and decently armored. It became obsolete by the mid-60's, then remained on service for 40 more years. This was not a good tank, and the T-62 was an enormous improvement of any important factor - much thicker glacis, great 115 mm gun, better engine and much better targeting mechanism.

I know that many armies that kept it on upgraded their T-55s in the 80's to give it a fighting chance. Without such upgrades, it could never stand against a Western tank designed after 1970.

The only anecdotal redeeming attribute I can think of is this - It had a steel plate riveted on top of the end of the exhaust pipe on the left side. During active stand by, the driver would hop out with a bag of sliced bread and a block of butter, scrape that plate with a n iron brush and make toasts.

With the 400 degree fumes from the engine, a toast took about 10 seconds, so even a 90 second waiting station would get you a nice couple of toasted bread each, and a 4 minute wait would get you cheese toasts.

Aside from that feature, you can have it. A truly lousy tank.

happy roasting and gassing yourself

[WonderMomma]

My god.

[Roosta]

Originally Posted by WonderMomma ↗

Zelenskyy makes a surprise trip to Bakhmut today, 22 March. He stops for tea at a Donetsk gas station.

Hmmm, Who's the babe with the blond hair

[Roosta]

Originally Posted by WonderMomma ↗

Article: https://www.businessinsider.com/kane...ies-2023-3?amp

A New Zealand veteran who led an elite unit in Ukraine and staged a dramatic rescue was killed in the fighting
Mar 22, 2023, 6:02 AM

-A New Zealand veteran who led an elite unit in Ukraine died on Monday, multiple reports said.
-Kane Te Tai, an ethnic Maori, documented his time on the front lines on social media.
-A viral video showed how he helped rescue a Ukrainian prisoner of war in Bakhmut earlier this month.

A New Zealand veteran who led an elite unit in Ukraine and helped rescue a prisoner of war was killed on the front lines, according to multiple reports.

Kane Te Tai, whose code name was "Turtle", was killed on Monday, Stuff.co.nz reported, citing the Ukrainian official Yuriy Sak.

Radio New Zealand also reported the death, without citing specific sources. It said Te Tai was in the town of Vulhedar when he ended up separated from his unit and was killed in the trenches by Russian soldiers.

His mother, Ngaire Te Tai, told Radio New Zealand that her son's contacts in Ukraine confirmed his death and that his body had been recovered.

Officials in Ukraine and New Zealand told Insider they were aware of the reports and were working to verify them.

Te Tai, who is Maori, enlisted in the New Zealand Army in 2002 at the age of 17, The New Yorker reported in December. He went to fight in Ukraine in May and led a secretive reconnaissance unit that was part of the GUR, an intelligence organization in the Ukrainian military.

Te Tai did a tour in Afghanistan and then worked as a private security contractor before going to Ukraine.

In February, CNN interviewed Te Tai as he trained new recruits in Vulhedar, where he and other foreign soldiers said they understood they could be killed fighting for a country that isn't their own.

Jordan O'Brien, another New Zealander fighting in Ukraine, told Insider he knew Te Tai as "a solid soldier who did his part to help a country in need."

Insider spoke to Te Tai over the weekend and was in the process of arranging an interview.

The soldier, who was active on social media, frequently documented what fighting on the front lines in Ukraine looked like. Earlier this month, a video showing his unit's rescue of a Ukrainian prisoner in Bakhmut, went viral.

Footage from Te Tai's bodycam showed the moment the prisoner recognized him, shouting "New Zealand! New Zealand!" Te Tai, overjoyed, yelled "my brother!" in response.

The captive, identified as Alexei Gordeyev, was found while Te Tai and his unit stormed a basement on Russian territory, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian government.

"It was the best thing to happen to me in this God-forsaken war," Te Tai captioned the video. "To be able to save your friends is something that almost never happens but I'm thankful and feel blessed that it was us that could pull him from that Hell hole."

In an interview with Newshub on Tuesday, friend Aaron Wood said Te Tai was a "man amongst men,"

"A guy like that, who you can rely on in extreme circumstances, you don't run into that too often," he said.

Te Tai told The New Yorker in December that he was not afraid of dying, saying: "I've had a good life, I can die happy."

As of Wednesday, New Zealand media reported that efforts were underway to bring his body home.

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Related posts in chrono order:
https://www.documentingreality.com/f...8/#post7865491
https://www.documentingreality.com/f...8/#post7865543
https://www.documentingreality.com/f...ml#post7867580
https://www.documentingreality.com/f...ml#post7867788

RIP Mate !

[WonderMomma]

Originally Posted by Roosta ↗

Hmmm, Who's the babe with the blond hair

I believe she is one of the gas station employees. She seems to get in on a selfie with the other employees. She could just be a bystander who happened to be there.

There are some very beautiful women in Ukraine!

[ride]

Originally Posted by WonderMomma ↗

The Russian pilot who took down the American drone over the Black Sea is awarded.

I was initially confused. The pilot was the old fat guy or the old guy?

[WonderMomma]

Originally Posted by ride ↗

I was initially confused. The pilot was the old fat guy or the old guy?

The guy on the left (plump guy) is the pilot. The guy on the right giving him the medal is Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence for Russia

[WonderMomma]

Turkey was previously blocking Finland's bid for NATO membership but that has since been resolved. I think they still have some discussions to have in regard to Sweden's membership to NATO.

"The President of Finland signed the law on the country's accession to NATO.

This step was the final point in the ratification of all necessary documents at the national level. According to experts, the Finns will be able to finally join NATO by the end of this year.

Like it or not, NATO is expanding."

[WonderMomma]

"President Zelenskyy visited Kherson region. He talked to residents of Posad-Pokrovske village and heard first hand about the problems they face because of Russian aggression." (English Subs)

[WonderMomma]

"Foreign-made components are found in Iranian drones that are shot down by Ukrainian Defenders, including those produced in Japan, China, the US etc.

Ukrainian Army passes them to our foreign partners so sanctions can be imposed." (English Subs)