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| India-Pakistan | |
| Serbia sells 282 T-55 main battle tanks to Pakistan | |
| 2020-04-01 | |
| [idrw.org] The Ministry of Defence of Serbia sold 282 T-55 tanks to Pakistan Army, which were from the arsenal marked as an obsolete equipment, Serbian Daily ‘Blic’ reported. The deal was agreed at the Arms Fair in Belgrade, and the contract of purchase, worth tens of millions of dollars, will be signed next week. A source from the Army told the daily that this contract is very important for the Serbian Army. In the business, these are known as "targets." “The tanks, which had to be sold as obsolete equipment, will be modernized and sold to Pakistanis. Modernization will increase T-55 value many times. The deal was made in great secrecy because it is a contract worth tens of millions of dollars. An agreement in principle was reached in person with Pakistani Minister of Defense Industry,” said the source. ‘Blic’ findings were indirectly confirmed by the Chief of the Defence Technology in the Ministry of Defence, Major General Bojan Zrnic. “It is true that there was an agreement in principle for the sale of 282 tanks from the arsenal of retired and obsolete military equipment, but I do not want to talk about with which country and the army this deal was made. It would not be appropriate because the contract has not been signed. What can I say is that the offer is extremely favorable for the Army of Serbia as the tanks will not be sold in its current state, they will be modernized first. This task will be entrusted to our defense industry,” says General Zrnic.
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| Posted by:John Frum |
| #13 The deal was actually finalized five years ago, at the Belgrade Arms fair, PARTNER (2015). Other armaments and vehicles are also on the receipts. A $ 35 million deal, from which moolah went to several middlemen from Islamabad to Belgrade. And certain pols now living in Pak-Punjab grew a little richer. Because there were continuous efforts to prevent contemporary and advanced tech transfers into Pak by other nations, the juicier deals never fell through. But the Def Min of Pak, Khwaja Asif and his masters still had to make money. So they spun a yarn about needing old tanks and howitzers for beating back the taliban. Interestingly, it was believed at the time, some of these tanks would end up in taliban hands. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2020-04-01 18:51 |
| #12 |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-04-01 17:32 |
| #11 All were up to the T-80s. They like to store ammunition in a ring around the turret. Hence you hit the ammo and the turret does a "pop goes the weasel" |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-04-01 10:05 |
| #10 These tanks are the 'Jack in the Box' / exploding turret ones, right? |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-04-01 10:04 |
| #9 The tanks, which had to be sold as obsolete equipment, will be modernized and sold to Pakistanis. Modernization will increase T-55 value many times. Yeah, instead of an old piece of crap that explodes it will be a not as old piece of crap that burns instead of explodes! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-04-01 09:44 |
| #8 The problem with 'large' concentrations of tanks is, you have to get them to the fight. That means HETS (heavy equipment transports), or rail. Also needed are shi*loads of POL (fuel) and maintenance people. All of this leaves a huge signature that can easily be seen by airborne platforms. If your adversary is monitoring his imagery. Your goose is cooked. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-04-01 09:01 |
| #7 Pakistan assembles stuff made in China. They just paint it green and name it after some Islamic invader. They need to buy the Chinese parts and these T-55s are much cheaper. I can just imagine the Indian armored divisions shivering in fear at the mighty T-55s coming their way. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2020-04-01 08:56 |
| #6 "Pakistan has received the first batch comprising of 100 modernized T-55 tanks from Serbia which further consolidates the former’s defensive capabilities. According to a Serbian defense news portal, Borbeni Effektivi, Serbia has dispatched the first 100 of 282 up to date T-55 tanks to Pakistan." |
| Posted by: John Frum 2020-04-01 08:52 |
| #5 Soviet Panzers *snort* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-04-01 07:56 |
| #4 Soviets chose short men for their panzer battalions as it was cheaper to make smaller tanks. Always the men who must adapt to the machine, rather than the other way around. Sad to see that concept catching on in our society. |
| Posted by: Herb McCoy 2020-04-01 07:06 |
| #3 Good for a siege line in high altitude India borderlands? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-04-01 00:54 |
| #2 Oh, they also should be somewhat effective against unarmed civilians so long as the buggers don't flank the tanks. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2020-04-01 00:54 |
| #1 These are very cramped vehicles. (I didn't fit, and didn't want to be cut out if I somehow slipped in.) Maybe if they were dug in in revetments and allowed to fire and displace, they might have some function. Mobil-ish bunkers. Pakistan was using T-55's, M48's and some chicom tank with stadia sights in mixed armor brigades when I was there. The hope was that something would get to the battlefield. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2020-04-01 00:49 |