Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumRussian tank firing onto Ukrainian town and then soldiers laughing; at least 29 dead in new attack
they got an apartment building:
Putin's war for "New Russia" is becoming Europe's nightmare
newthinking
(3,982 posts)Just after they proclaimed that it was Russia that had started WWII
uhnope
(6,419 posts)lol
newthinking
(3,982 posts)For all we know it could be a video of anything including practice before the war.
James48
(4,435 posts)I can't tell if that is a 120mm main gun or 125mm main gun.
I'm thinking that is a T-80 variation.
What is very interesting is the size of the berm directly behind that tank.
It appears to me that there is a man-made berm directly behind and parallel to the direction the tank is firing in.
Very very likely this is a military tank firing range exercising a standard target practice, not a video of a tank crew in combat.
Tank crews in combat do not often stop and take pictures like that, but those on a target range do.
I call it as more likely to be on a range than in combat.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)FOR EXPORT PURPOSES ONLY, The Ukraine has produced at least 10 T-84s with 120 mm NATO Cannon.
I have NOT read the actual specifications behind the 120mm NATO or the 125 Russian Guns, but I do want to point out that when the Former Soviet Union developed their cannons the Soviets had a policy that they would never duplicated the same caliber UNLESS the weapons were interchangeable (Thus a 152mm Gun had to be able to use the same ammunition as a 152 Howitzer and a 152mm AA Gun). Thus the Soviet Union had a 120 Mortar and a 122mm Cannon and this 125mm Tank run, but all three may be 120mm barrel size. The different Caliber designations meant the ammunition were NOT interchangeable. This is to avoid situations like the US having at least two different 75mm cannons in WWII (One for Cavalry/Airborne troops and one for the French Model 1897 the US was still using as late as 1943, through the 75mm Tank Gun on the Sherman was a modified version of the Model 1897 and thus such Shermans could use French 75mm Artillery ammo).
Thus the conversion from 125mm Gun Tube to 120 mm Gun Tube may NOT be that difficult for I suspect the Germans stole the concept from the Russians in the first place (The Russians came out with their 125mm in the mid 1960s, the Germans with their 120mm in the early 1970s). Now, the Gun tubes are probably different enough NOT to be able to use each's other's Ammunition, but switching from one tube to the other is probably NOT that difficult (THese tubes also have very short tub life, I read one report about 2000 rounds before the tube has to be replaced, or more correctly the inner liners need to be replaced).
Example of such change in tube types was when Israel (and later Egypt) converted the T-54s/T-55s they had in stock from Russian 100 mm Ammunition to American/British 105mm Gun tubes (so that all of the tanks could fire the same ammunition as the US was giving M-60s tanks to both Israel and Egypt in the 1970s and 1980s).
As to the use of 125mm or 120mm gun tubes by the Ukrainian Army itself, the Ukrainian army has stayed with the 125mm Gun Tube for they can make that ammunition and tube themselves and the difference in performance between NATO 120mm and Russian 125mm is NOT that great to do a change UNLESS it was to reduce supply concerns. An Example of the later is the recent decision by Poland to switch to German Leopard IIs to replace their derivative of the T-72, th PT-91. Till Poland joined NATO, Poland saw no need to replace its tanks and stayed with the 125mm Cannon. After Joining NATO Poland started to replace these T-72 derivatives and their 125mm Tubes with Leopard IIs from Germany and their 120mm Tubes.
Thus if the US wants to Supply ammunition to the Ukraine, all the US has to do is buy it from Poland and replace those 125mm stocks with 120mm stocks.
Thus this is a 125mm tube, there is no reason for either side to be using 120mm NATO Gun Tubes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_Polish_Land_Forces
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)No sir, not a bit.
(sarcasm)
newthinking
(3,982 posts)The rebels have stated they have specifically moved against the army and are not moving on the city. (Though I would imagine if the army is defeated they will probably secure the city as well.)
Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists
Kiev throws paramilitaries some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle with rebels
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html
WillYourVoteBCounted
(14,622 posts)Do you ever wonder why the US is interfering in Ukraine's business, given that
Ukraine is 5,600 miles away from the US, on an entirely different continent?
Did you know that Joe Biden's son and John Kerry's step son stand to benefit financially from this coup?
They both have positions with Ukranian energy companies.
The US spent $5 Billion overthrowing Ukraine's elected govt, and replaced them with corrupt billionaire Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko unleashed Nazi punishers on Eastern Ukraine, where most people speak Russian.
Telegraph: Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists
Kiev throws paramilitaries some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle with rebels
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html
Truthout: The New York Times Discovers Ukraine's Neo-Nazis at War
http://truth-out.org/news/item/25566-nyt-discovers-ukraines-neo-nazis-at-war
German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers http://www.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/german-tv-shows-nazi-symbols-helmets-ukraine-soldiers-n198961
A former US State Dept official is now serving as Ukraine Finance Minister. The irony? Now government meetings have to be held using the Russian language since one of the new(foreign) ministers doesn't speak Ukranian.
Ukraines Made-in-USA Finance Minister
December 5, 2014
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/12/05/ukraines-made-in-usa-finance-minister
WWIII? The US congress has passed House Res 758 giving the US President authorization to declare war on Russia, a nuclear power. Russia won't stand by while Kiev attempts to ethnically cleanse the ethnic russians of eastern Ukraine.
Kiev wants to eliminate the eastern Ukrainians because
1) as a block they vote for politicians who are friendly towards Russia,
2) they live on land with vast resources that the oligarchs want, and
3) population reduction comes in handy for a country that is bankrupt.
More than 700,000 people fled Ukraine for Russia during the countrys first four months of conflict.
http://www.dw.de/unhcr-730000-flee-ukraine-for-russia/a-17833179
UN Says Over 920,000 Ukrainians Internally Displaced Due to Conflict
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150124/1017290101.html