Saturday, February 12, 2022

Russian tanks with wimpy guns?

 The Russians have been showing a lot of newsreel stuff of their army on maneuvers just outside of Ukraine.  Assuming this footage is recent, and not left over from WWII, I see some strange stuff.  A bunch of tanks with tiny cannon, like 1 inch (20mm)  bore.  The lesson from WWII is that any decent tank needs a three inch (75mm) gun.  Modern main battle tanks have moved up to 4 inch (100 mm) and 5 inch guns (120mm).  I wonder what the Russians are doing buzzing around in 1 inch gun tanks?  And I saw a number of Russian tanks with really narrow treads.  Another lesson from WWII is tanks want the widest tread possible to prevent them getting stuck in snow or mud.   

   Have the Russians forgotten their lessons from WWII?  Or are the Russian newsreels showing obsolete or training versions of their equipment? 

No comments: