The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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New Russian Mystery Tank
by James Dunnigan
January 7, 2008
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The Russian Defense Ministry recently announced that the army would be getting a new tank within two years. While the ministry statement appeared cryptic ("running gear, power unit, armaments and systems of fire control, target identification and reconnaissance that are absolutely new"), it actually described one of the two tank prototypes that have been under development for some time. The most likely "new tank" is a "T-95" tank that is based on the T-72 hull. Add new armor and a gun (and ammo) that performs to Western standards (like the 120mm weapon used in NATO tanks) and all the latest electronic goodies (thermal imagers, anti-missile system, digital communications). There is a T-95 in development, by the same firm that developed the T-72 and T-90 (which was adopted by India as their main tank.) The T-95 would weigh about 50 tons, and experiments have been made arming it with a 152mm gun. For various practical reasons (space, recoil), there's not much point in going to a larger caliber gun. But who knows. Well, maybe the NSA geeks with access to the really high rez satellite photos do.
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