Sgt.Squarehead

The twin-mount on the Italian tankette is normally for a pair of LMGs, with the flame thrower it looked like this, fully kitted out:
 

 
http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/italian-carro-valoce-l3-33-lanciaflame-flamethrower-ww2.html

The running gear (suspension, wheels, etc.) are not directly fixed to the hull (by welding/bolting) except for the part necessary for the power transmission; instead they are connected to the hull only via elastomer mounting elements. The elastomer connections can negate some of the vibrations and oscillation when moving; this leads to a slightly smother ride, but mainly reduces the generated noise; according to German studies by some 20-25 dB(A). The first German vehicle to be fitted with a decoupled running gear was the M113 driver training tanks, but only for noise reduction.
 

 
On more modern vehicles such as the Puma, the choice of decoupling the running gear also has other advantages: There are no penetrations of the hull bottom and sides (except for the transmission/final drive), which greatly enhances the protection agianst mines. Furthermore on the Puma the fuel tanks are located within the decoupled running gear, so that armor penetrations won't result in burning fuel leaking into the crew compartment. BAE Systems recently presented the Bradley Next-Gen prototype, on which also all fuel was moved outside of the crew area.
 

 
On modular vehicles such as the NGP and the Swedish SEP, decoupled running gears allow easier integration of modules.
 

 
Edit: just to clarify, the noise is only reduced inside the vehicle.

Here's the winner of the M3/M4 Medium Tank STGB poll over on Britmodeller:
 


 
Unsurprisingly, it's from Andy Moore. 
 
Here's the runner-up:
 


 
Staggeringly this one was painted with a brush! 

Here's the winner of the M3/M4 Medium Tank STGB poll over on Britmodeller:
 


 
Unsurprisingly, it's from Andy Moore. 
 
Here's the runner-up:
 


 
Staggeringly this one was painted with a brush! 

The only reason I'm not just nuking this flaming garbage can of a thread is that SH_MM has stepped up with some really interesting stuff.  Thanks SH_MM.

There's so many federal laws on the books, the average person has most likely broken a handful just by living. 
 
On this board? We'd go for a high score.

I thought pixelated floozies normally came from japan?

Jeeps, what exactly defines "Anti-American"?  Generally I cringe when I see that phrase, it's right out of the McCarthy playbook.

What devotion to Trump?
 
Mine?
 
Bwahahaha that's the funniest shit you've said yet Walt!
 
You're so far off base here you're not even wrong... but it's still pretty fucking funny.
 
I didn't vote FOR TRUMP... I voted for NOT HILLARY and not the evil preparation H alliance that was the rest of the Republican pack...
 
So far NOT HILLARY and NOT MCCAIN/JEB is doing a great job of not being any of these people!
 
At the very least we get to see new and exciting fuckups rather than business as usual.
 
That's really all I was hoping to get and I got it that even before November 8th...
 
The two major parties doing everything they can to discredit themselves and the mainstream media coming along for the ride is just icing on the cake at this point.
 
So what reason again do I have to be unhappy?
 
Because the government isn't functioning for shit and fucking up everything it touches?
 
It was going to do this no matter what!
 
At least this way some awareness is being generated, and I strongly suspect the seeds of real change are getting the time to take root and grow just a little bit more daily.
 
Even if the Dems take the midterms Walt, the seeds that have been growing since that day in November all but guarantee that any "victory" your team has will be very short lived and pyrrhic...
 
And for that thought alone I wake up with a ghost of a smile every fucking morning.
 
 

From my external perspective, the performance of the Democrats (& their Tory/New Labour allies over here) really is quite something to behold.....They've actually managed to make Donald J Trump look like a stand-up respectable guy (compared to them). 
 

This qualifies as a big deal to me.
 

 

Yeah, I don't see the personnel turnover as some sort of sign for anything other than the fact that Trump is the first president in a long ass time to come into office without a cabal of political figures and favors amassed from a life of work as a political figure.

Kanye pretty much smears himself.  He married a Kardashian for fuck's sake. How much lower do you get than that?

https://ecoross1.livejournal.com/716218.html
One of bloggers that i saw many times in LJ:

 
   Photos here, i will not translate all of his comments as majority of them are uninteresting for those who follow this thread. Will add my own if there is something worth noting.
Hmeymim AB
 
Aleppo/ Journalists arrived to Kuweiris on the plane and then went to Aleppo by cars

 
 

Good old Hillary and Huma of course... I'm sure it was only a coincidence, just like the fires, and having a conversation about grandkids on the tarmac inside a secured airplane.
 
People are so suspicious these days!
 
Just because a family and everyone they associate with act like people who have a bunch of stuff to hide doesn't mean anything other than they like their privacy!
 
 
In a way it is pretty amusing though watching her have to work off her pretty extensive "debts" to people I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in hock to. She so thought she had her shit wired tight and an entire nation by the balls so it's very satisfying to see her now in the position of being an entirely disposable and deniable pawn to all the big bads she promised so much to and spectacularly failed to deliver.

Ewww, foxtrotalpha.

"Everything has gone wrong, the asteroid redirect mission fucked up."
-@RobotMinisterofTrueKorea
 

That would involve the Saudis knowing how to fucking use the expensive equipment they've bought. Saudi Arabia is a backwards LAUGHABLE shithole. They can't figure out how to kill the Houthis with billions of dollars of the best western military equipement that money can buy.
 

Christie was no tanker (and also kind of a wanker) although he did make a model or two. However; these were all testers (made to scare up investors) and as such had barely any guns, armour or crew.

Another wehraboo fantasy debunked.
 
http://metro.co.uk/2018/04/18/nazi-submarine-smuggled-hitler-south-america-discovered-near-denmark-7477100/

That would require blacktaildefense to know literally any facts about the Type 96 or 99 at all though.
 
......Or any Chinese equipment
 
.......Or the Abrams
 
.......Or literally anything whatsoever other than how he not only manages to put on his own pants everyday but manages to make these garbage youtube videos that are more cancerous than my respiratory tract.

About T-80UE-1 and UA
   Basically same upgrade, but if T-80BV is getting new FCS and some other changes it get T-80UE-1 designation, if T-80U - then T-80UA. But T-80UE-1s can have differences between them...
   Some T-80UE-1, according to photos posted on Otvaga, have "Plissa" thermal imager, but part of T-80UE-1s have PL-1 IR lamp.

 
 

 
GurKhan explains:
   So T-80UE-1 Sp1 is variant with PL-1 IR laser projector, Sp2 - with Plissa thermal imager. T-80UA also have similar 2 variants (with PL-1 and second one with Plissa), although no designations that i know.
 
   Also:
 
   And if tank have RCWS - it may be either UD or UE-1, if not - them U or UA. Cyprus got special variant T-80, similar to UA but without Ainet and with older mechanical loader. And one more moment - PL-1 is not a give away of model of T-80, as IR lamps on normal T-80Us could have been swaped for PL-1 during repairs (without any modernisations or changes inside).
 
   One notorious thing in UE-1 - some ammunition is located in the turret. I guess fuck everybody inside was MoD moto.

 
   To summarize:
   T-80UE-1 is T-80BV with T-80UD turret, new FCS and sights, with 1250HP gas turbine installed and Kontakt-5 build in ERA package on both hull and turret. T-80UE-1 Sp1 have PL-1 IR laser projector, while T-80UE-1 Sp2 received Plissa thermal imager. And both Sp1 and Sp2 have ammunition fucking stuffed everywhere in turret.

That device mounted instead of IR lamp is... IR lamp. Called PL-1, uses IR laser projector. 
BTR-82A with PL-1

 
BMD-2

Hi im new to this forum and i found the debate on the BMPT very interesting. I think that in this debate there are two levels or aspects that should be discussed separatedly. From now on i will refer to BMPT concept as Tank Support Fighting Vehicle (TSFV).

Firstly, the theoretical need for such a dedicated vehicle and the economical and logistical cost of it. So far, two armies have recognized the need for a specialized tank support vehicle which are Russia and Israel based on their experiences in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Lebanon and Gaza in asymmetrical type warfare. In that sense a TSFV should provide defense primarily against enemy infantry in the same way a SPAAG provides air defense, i like to think about it as a "bodyguard" for tanks. It has been said that Infantry and their IFVs can fulfill this role very efficiently, which is true (BTW, in the conflicts aforementioned, tanks  suffered casualties when they were in poor and often non existent coordination with infantry), by definition infantry is one of the most multipurpose units for ground warfare.  However, mechanized infantry also has its limitations: in case of an ambush the moment  infantry dismounts they instantly become easier targets to enemy than tanks, in case the infantry doesn't dismount and chooses to fight from within their IFV  they can´t be nowhere near as effective with their weapons and also IFVs have lesser protection levels than tanks. In both  theoretical cases, we would end up with 3-4 tank crewmen, 7-9 infantry dismounts  plus 3 IFV crewmen in danger for a total of  13-16 possible cassualties.  If you replace the IFV with a TSFV you get not only less people involved but also better protected and with superior firepower. From that perspective and for that specific mission, a TSFV makes sense and is preferable over mechanized infantry.  

Secondly, about the specific BMPT to be adopted for Russian army. In general, i like it but i think that its far from perfect, i´ll make a list of the things i would change and/or improve:
 
- To navigate either urban or mountainous  terrain you need high maneuverability as well to be able to escape ambushes. This means to be able to NEUTRAL TURN and GOOD REVERSE SPEED, which are two things that T-72/90 can´t do. So BMPT should have had a different transmission system to allow this.

- APS with 360 degree protection. ARENA APS (or a modernized variant) could have been perfect for this and its already available. Can´t believe the russians didn´t equip the BMPT with it. 

- Sensors to locate enemy snipers and ATGM teams. Its not a new technology and could be integrated into the APS.
 
- Better stations for bow gunners. I think that having bigger crews is a good idea, 5 pairs of eyes see a much more than 3 provided the have the correct tools and the right crew layout. In this case, the  bow gunners hatches should have have been rotatable (like old school commanders cuppola) and/or the grenade launchers should have been mounted differently on fully rotatable RCWS. I can imagine several simple solutions to this. Currently the bow gunners and grenade launchers in the BMPT are mostly wasted potential. 

- At last i would have made a slight modifications to the ATGM mounts: perhaps some sort of hard point mounts (like on the wings of attack helicopters and airplanes) to mount not only ATGMs but also MANPADS, rocket pods, flamethrowers, recoiless guns, etc depending on the mission. This way you can give the vehicle much greater flexibility and utility in any scenario outside its specific purpose of providing defense against enemy infantry using guerrilla type tactics. 

About the discussion of main armament: I think that 30mm autocannons are currently the best compromise. Firstly you have logistics commonality with the rest of the armored fleet. Secondly, you can fire up to four types of ammunition. Thirdly, you can carry much more ammo than, lets say a 57mm autocannon. Fourth and very important: the 30mm autocannons don´t protrude much from the vehicle which is a VERY important aspect for urban warfare often overlooked, actually one of the reasons the israelis kept the 120mm L44 gun is because it almost doesn´t protrude much from the Merkava and doesnt hinder as much its ability to take sharp corners in dense cities (or traverse its turret to actually use the gun). 

TLDR: I think that the concept behind the BMPT has solid foundations but the actual BMPT to be adopted, while overall good, can be improved a lot.

Sorry for my english, its clear that it isn´t my mother language.  

lol