Hello everyone,

I was just going through my picture folder and realized that this whole blog could be filled with interesting stuff going on in Syria and with various arcane vehicles that appear there randomly. It’s not the direction I want to take this blog, but from time to time, it doesn’t hurt. So, without further ado, let’s delve again into the pits of stronk snackbar engineerink.

Just a random T-72? But this is no ordinary T-72! Check the turret – no “dolly parton” armor (the “cheeks” on the turret where the composite inlay is installed on later models starting from T-72A) or upgraded FCS. That’s the original T-72 Ural (Object 172M), likely the export variant (Object 172M-E) from 1975 (was replaced by 1979 by the T-72A). As you can see, the turret has no ERA holders. ERA became a standard T-72 equipment only in 1985 (Kontakt-1, the typical “bricks”).

The hull of the original Ural tank is no match for modern ATGMs, which is why it was rigged by Kontakt-1 blocks. There are HUGE differences between various iterations of T-72 hulls, T-72 to T-72A to T-72B were big leaps in protection. Here, to give you an idea about the composition, a schematic by Artem Gavrilov:

On today’s battlefield, the original T-72 Ural is no match for modern weapons and can basically serve as a fire support vehicle, not in direct tank combat versus more modern variants. It’s also very unsafe but in the absence of anything better… yeah. This particular vehicle looks like it belongs to Ahrar al Sham (basically Al Qaeda leftovers in Syria).

To follow the latest news about Syria conflict, I recommend joining one of the Facebook groups dedicated to Syrian weaponry (for example this one) or follow Looser’s Syrian thread on Sturgeon’s blog (updated daily)

Hello guys! Okay, moving away from the Picture/Photo of the Day format because I couldn’t keep it up every day. Instead, I’ll just use normal titles. Even though, “normal”… okay.

This photo shows a recently captured T-90A MBT, driven by snackbars (not sure who, I think it’s not ISIS but the “moderate heacutters” aka FSA, hence the high-tech escort). If you are wondering where the ERA is – it’s missing, revealing a nice look at the welded T-90A turret (the standard T-90/T-90S has a round, cast one). The Syrian Arab Army “Tiger” forces managed to basically ruin everything inside the turret with a grenade and the optics are blown to shit from the outside, so this vehicle is completely useless for combat and can be used as a tractor only.

Hello everyone,

Today, guntracks are commonly associated with islamist terrorists (aka snackbars), but one thing’s for certain, the middle eastern “engineering school” didn’t invent them. They were around even before the First World War. Even after the second world war, they were used by some first world armies.

This is a guntruck of sorts, deployed by the Portuguese during the Portuguese Colonial War in the 1960s. I can’t imagine that driving around off road was comfortable for the person inside the armored “news stand” (or however you call it), but against insurgents armed with vintage WW1 rifles, it was probably enough. Of course, then the war escalated and only ended 15 years later with the collapse of the Portuguese colonial empire, but during the early days, such trucks were not uncommon.

Hello everyone. Just briefly today.

Bradley with British Rapier AA missiles. Because why not.

If you have of any properly sourced info about this project, I’d love to hear it.

“When you allahuakbar just right…”

I’d say this is an Iraqi Abrams, destroyed by an IED. The destruction level was likely caused by an ammo explosion (the blowout panels are, well, blown out) and one roadwheel was torn from the suspension (that’s where the bomb likely exploded).

Continuing with the photos of weird or at least lesser known tanks – check this out.

This is the Spanish M60A3E1 Cristobita, a prototype upgrade for the aging M60A3 from the early 1990s. Three prototypes were built after the rejection of the expensive Lince program. It seems to just consist of spaced armor, maybe some composites in the front, but I think that’s unlikely (look at the rear of the turret how attached it is, looks pretty flimsy). Very few details are known. The idea was rejected in favor of purchasing the Leopard 2.

Sorry for the sporadic updates, it’s been another tough week. This time, however, I do have a special picture for you, courtesy of Artem Gavrilov.

Check this out. War in Syria, of course. The tank is probably a T-55 or some of its variant. Not important. Check the explosion (detail in lower left corner). What happened here is a HEAT shell was fired by another tank and detonated in mid-air when triggered by flying debris. The dust trail you see next to the tank is actually the HEAT shell “jet” traveling through air. The original video is unfortunately no longer available.

You don’t see that kind of timing much on photos :)

This is a Chieftain Mk.5 originally delivered to Iran and captured by Iraq in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. The photo wouldn’t be that strange, only – it’s from last year from Basra. The Iraqi actually repaired it with the intention to use it in battle along with some more obsolete vehicles such as the AMX-10P IFV. What became of it is unknown.

This is one of the more interesting and less known Soviet contraptions – the 2S15 “Norov” tank destroyer.

Basically it’s a product of the same school of thought as the 2S14 Zhalo-S – the idea was to put a powerful gun on a mass-produced light chassis to create a cheap and powerful tank destroyer. In this case the chassis is that of the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled gun (although as you can see, it has been modified) and the gun is a 100mm… something. Type unknown. The gun would be installed in a brand new turret equipped with an automatic radar-controlled fire control system. The main developer was the Yurga Machine Plant, the developer of the FCS was the “Strela” design bureau in Tula. A prototype was supposed to be built by the “Arsenal” plant (not sure which one, there were apparently more facilities of the same name).

The decision to design the vehicle was taken on 17.5.1976. The vehicle was supposed to be produced from 1980 onwards but the plant didn’t meet the deadline. The deadline for prototype construction shifted first to 1981 and then to 1983, when the actual testing started. At that point, however, news reached the Soviets about modern western MBT variants, against which 100mm guns were too weak. The project was declared obsolete and cancelled in 1985.

Not much else is known save for the fact that the armor was likely very light (Gvozdika level – some 15mm to 20mm of steel) and the vehicle was generally quite fast (maximum speed of 60 km/h, 300hp YAMZ-238 engine, weight probably around 15 tons).

Take an ugly personal car and add a machinegun. Oh, and make it Italian of course. What do you get?

The OTO Melara Gorgona. The OTO R 2.5 Gorgona vehicle has been developed as a private venture by OTO Melara and was announced in 1982. Two versions wereoffered; an unarmed police model and a combat model which could be fitted with various types of armament. The vehicle is fully amphibious, being propelled in the water by its wheels with steering being accomplished in a similar manner to that of land operations.

Ugh…