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19 Jan 17. India to deploy newly ordered T-90MS tanks along border with Pakistan. The Indian Army (IA) plans to deploy about 464 newly ordered T-90MS main battle tanks (MBTs) along India’s western and northern borders with Pakistan, military officials told IHS Jane’s on 19 January. The T-90MS MBTs, which are being acquired in kit form from Russia for INR134.80bn (USD2bn), will in the coming years supplement around 850-900 Bhishma MBTs currently deployed in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Punjab, both of which border Pakistan. Bhishma is the designation for the Indian variant of the T-90S MBT, the export model of the T-90 MBT in use with the Russian Ground Forces. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
19 Jan 17. British Army sends tank through Channel tunnel. The British Army has sent a tank and various armoured vehicles through the Channel tunnel for the first time as part of an exercise to practise for a deployment to Europe. Five armoured vehicles loaded on wagons were sent to France after midnight on Wednesday as part of the exercise. The 40-minute return journey was completed a few hours later. The Warrior armoured fighting vehicle was loaded at the army’s rail head at Ludgershall in Wiltshire, while a Warrior recovery vehicle, a Challenger tank, a matching recovery vehicle and a reconnaissance vehicle were loaded at Folkestone before heading through the tunnel. The army is said to be looking for ways to transport its tanks once bases in Germany are closed at the end of the decade. If they are needed by Nato’s rapid reaction force, they are likely to be moved by rail. The drill was carried out by Leidos, a private contractor, following cuts that have seen the army’s rail transport specialists axed. The Ministry of Defence said that tanks could also be transported by ferry and airlift if required. The ministry kept the exercise relatively quiet, inviting no media and sending a short message with a photograph over Twitter before midnight. The army regularly held exercises transporting tanks on Europe’s rail network during the Cold War but this had stopped in recent times. The forces have used the Channel tunnel to transport containers of supplies and equipment but never armoured vehicles. The exercise was part of a series of Nato operations across Europe designed to test logistics and infrastructure in the face of an uncertain future. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The army successfully conducted an exercise to test the viability of using the Channel Tunnel to move vehicles and equipment to mainland Europe, adding to the existing range of options available and increasing the agility of our armed forces.” (Source: The Times)
18 Jan 17. Tatra Trucks for Czech Armed Forces. The Czech Ministry of Defence received a delivery of 26 Tatra T-810 flatbed trucks. They will be followed by 40 T-815 heavy and medium trucks with container loaders and 41 T-815 transporters for PRAM 120-mm-mortars by May 2017.
Since 2008 the Czech military has been replacing older logistical vehicles by Tatra trucks modified according to the requirements of the Czech Armed Forces. The Czech inventory contains about three thousand T-810 and T-815 trucks in various configurations, including vehicles with protected cabins that are generally earmarked for international operations.
Tatra trucks are equipped with the time-tested chassis platform which allows for the attachment of a variety of superstructures. Between 2008 and 2009, the military procured 588 Tatra trucks with eight design modifications which comply with specifications agreed upon two years earlier. (Source: ESD)
17 Jan 17. Germany’s Leopard Tanks Prove Vulnerable In Islamic State Fight. The reputation of Germany’s vaunted Leopard 2 tank, which forms the mainstay of NATO’s armored forces, has taken a pounding in battles with