Interview with a syrian tank operator

[Groove]

No politics please.

 

[danilop]

Interesting. We don't know exact Syrian maintenance procedures to make the final judgement regarding side armor falling off during non-combat situations.

 

It's sturdy, battle proven (with proper ammo and trained crew) and cheap tank - it's still very useful.

Edited January 13, 2013 by danilop

[BTTW-DratsaB]

Excellent clip, worth 5 hours of Discovery documentaries in 5 mins! :)

[KLR Rico]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

[Namenlos Ein]

 

etc…

http://www.anna-news.info/taxonomy/term/752

Edited January 14, 2013 by Namenlos Ein

[dumgrunt]

re the side skirts, he mentions the similar problems experienced in Georgia and the Chechen conflicts. The side skirts alone provide standoff. but the ERA will reduce the chance of a mobility kill. I'd say they fall off simply because they weren't redesigned for the additional weight of the ERA briquettes to hanging off them. Either way they are better there than not.

[RagnarDa]

Absolutely terrifying

[Dudikoff]

Interesting. We don't know exact Syrian maintenance procedures to make the final judgement regarding side armor falling off during non-combat situations.

 

Well, they didn't say it falls off regularly, just when you hit something (e.g. an obstacle) because the hinges are too weak compared to the weight of the thing. I don't think it has much to do with the maintenance procedure.

[Manuel]

Very interesting! Loved to watch!

[danilop]

Well, they didn't say it falls off regularly, just when you hit something (e.g. an obstacle) because the hinges are too weak compared to the weight of the thing. I don't think it has much to do with the maintenance procedure.

 

Rust problem maybe?

[Kenan]

^^Nothing a next patch couldn't fix.

[danilop]

:lol::lol::lol:

 

:thumbup:

[Alfa]

I think dumgrunt is right.

 

It does indeed sound like as case of the hinges being dimensioned only to carry the weight of the skirts themselves - i.e. not "up-scaled" to carry the additional weight of the ERA blocks.

[112th_Rossi]

He looked very tired.

[Teknetinium]

Using Tanks in that Urban environment feels very very scary.

[Namenlos Ein]

 

 

[Invader ZIM]

It's terrifying, in many of the videos about the fighting you almost never see regular infantry going in with the tanks, it looks like these tanks make regular runs into devastated villages without the aid of dismounted infantry to help protect the tanks and take up positions to control ground. This could definitely drag on for some time.

 

As a Western observer, that alone terrifies me.

[Maior]

It's terrifying, in many of the videos about the fighting you almost never see regular infantry going in with the tanks, it looks like these tanks make regular runs into devastated villages without the aid of dismounted infantry to help protect the tanks and take up positions to control ground. This could definitely drag on for some time.

 

As a Western observer, that alone terrifies me.

 

 

Well, actually, looking at the videos closely, you see only small groups of tanks conducting hit and run attacks. It looks like they're using tanks to soften the area before advancing with the infantry. Notice that the tanks fire one shot and then withdraw for most of the time. This also caused the Syrian rebels to disperse making a concentrated defence harder to achieve. Not impossible if they have a good reserve system. I like the improvised CQB armour they applied to the tanks.

 

Most of the tanks used are T-62s it appears.

 

 

EDIT: also, Syria brings pictures of Stalingrad back to mind. Amazing devastation...

 

EDIT2: After some looking into, Syrian army tactics appear to be working. Interesting. These fast tank raids are turning out one of the best ways to use tanks in an urban environment. Interesting indeed.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Maior

[Griffin]

The second video explains that the tanks are supporting infantry. There are also many videos with infantry included. Many times they drive around without them too though. I don't know how much they can actually see enemies in that environment. Probably most of the shots are guesswork. Too easy to hide in that rubble. Also too many videos of tanks blowing up due to IED's and RPG's. Though it's amazing to hear how many direct hits a tank can survive as that tankist explains. Watching some of the RPG vids it feels like the rebels have never heard of backblast. :D

[Sierra99]

No politics please.

 

Grove,

 

Do you know what the context of the interview was? It almost looks like a contractor questioning the performance of a tank they are supplying.

 

Just curious.

 

Sierra

[Maior]

The second video explains that the tanks are supporting infantry. There are also many videos with infantry included. Many times they drive around without them too though. I don't know how much they can actually see enemies in that environment. Probably most of the shots are guesswork. Too easy to hide in that rubble. Also too many videos of tanks blowing up due to IED's and RPG's. Though it's amazing to hear how many direct hits a tank can survive as that tankist explains. Watching some of the RPG vids it feels like the rebels have never heard of backblast. :D

 

You can actually see blackened T-72s. I saw a half an hour long video on the battle of Darayya and there was this interesting formation of three tanks and three BMPs. Probably extracting troops as they left soon afterwards. Such a formation is strong indeed. Very professional the Syrian army. Also, It's probably those larger 4 tank formations that support infantry since those are the only ones who seem to stay in the same place for longer periods. When it is just one or two tanks, they fire and leave. Probably on known rebel positions.

 

As for most shots, well, the tanks do have a ton of sensors including IR. They probably have good SA when coupled with infantry fed target data.

 

It's hard to see where this war is going although I must say that it appears 2013 began on Hassad's favour.

 

I cannot stress enough on how similar to stalingrad Syria is. All that destroyed infrastructure is going to take ages to repair. Not to mention the amount of money that'll be spent on that. Whoever is the winner, won't get much of a prize left.

[Alfa]

Do you know what the context of the interview was? It almost looks like a contractor questioning the performance of a tank they are supplying.

 

I could be mistaken, but it doesn't look that way to me.

 

The interviewer asks questions of a very general nature about things like the performance of the engine, the autoloader, the armour protection etc - the type of topics you often see debated by military "buffs" on internet forums, while the tank commander talks about low-tech practical issues that might seem insignificant, but affects the crew's ability to do makeshift repairs and as such can have a pretty big impact during combat.

[Invader ZIM]

When your thrown into dangerous situations.....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R0hD6T6Ke5E#!

 

Anyone know Russian? The improvised spaced armor created by it's crew on this T-72 is impressive. The blown out IR searchlight on the turret front indicates these tanks have no thermal systems.

[Maior]

The auto translation is understandable in this video for the most part. He's just stating the obvious. Welded iron grating filled with bricks. Also, the glass of the ir search light seems busted. The bulb seems ok.

[Invader ZIM]

I was impressed with the large stone slabs being used on the sides of the tank. The IR system would be of limited use anyways in this situation. Last thing I would want is having to take armor in a built up area at night with the Syrian systems available.