Karamazov

Same one as in Skylancer's post above.

What the hell happened to the drivers hatch? 

Welcome to SH!

According to the Pavlov T-80 book it was a version of s.p.2 but with the 5TD3 engine, built in 1974.

Perhaps they confused it with Iron Curtain on Strykers, the US Army is buying enough Trophy units for 4 ABCT worth of Abrams.

Australian M1A1 refuels from a C-130.
 

 

ZTZ-99A Autoloading—

Greeting everyone, many of you are familiar with this very tank, and why shouldn't you be, it's a pretty good tank. Nevertheless, I am here to give a better insight into what this tank has to offer.
 
Where should we start, I usually like to first start off with protection, if you don't mind.
 
PROTECTION
 
Unlike T-90A tank which we've seen enough in the past decade, T-90M has new "Relikt" Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) which offers much better protection when compared to Kontakt-5 present on T-90A tanks.
On top of having better ERA package, it is also much better covered in ERA, because those silly Shtora-1 dazzlers got removed and no longer take majority of space on the turret's front.
As you can see, dazzlers took up a lot of space, on top of that, those ERA blocks between the gun and dazzlers could not have been made the same size as regular Kontakt-5 blocks, because of... dazzlers.
T-90M only retained laser-warning receivers in the place of dazzlers, which gives a much better ERA coverage on the turret.
As you can also see on the picture, the tank now has a proper gun shield  which should protect the gun mantlet against unwanted visitors (projectiles, ofc).
The Upper Front Plate is also covered in "Relikt" ERA. 
 
The side of the hull is protected with panels with built-in ERA blocks. The sides can be additionally protected with 4S24 blocks mounted with bags.
 
The side of the turret is protected with 4S24 ERA blocks, side and rear of the engine compartment are protected with cage or "Slat" armor
 
On top of external protection, T-90M has some cool features to protect the crew. The insides of the tank are covered with non-flammable aramid fabric which serves to catch fragments formed by projectiles or perforated armor. The autoloader's carousel also received additional protection to protect it against additional fragments. Additional protection is also ensured by moving extra ammunition to safe ammo rack with blow-out panels placed on the rear of the turret which is additionally protected with cage armor.
 
 
FIREPOWER
 
The tank has 2A46M-5 125mm gun, which is the latest gun from the 2A46M series. The tank received a new feature which was not previously seen on Russian tanks, and that is Muzzle Reference Sensor (MRS) which takes the information of barrel changing its form in cold or hot weather condition and brings them to ballistic computer for more accurate shooting. The ammunition it can fire is of course the best Russia has to offer for the gun, and those are 3BM59 and 3BM60 APFSDS projectiles. There are also reports of 3VOF128 HEF projectile entering service with Russian army, which can also airburst and detonate after penetration. Other projectiles include HEAT and ATGMs.
 
The Fire Control System is really nice. It of course, has Sosna-U main gun sight, which has automatic tracking ability and uses 2nd generation Catherine FC Thermal Imaging System. The commander has much better time since unlike previous Russian tanks he now has his own Thermal Viewer  connected to the 12.7mm Kord HMG (unlike T-90MS (SM) domestic variant has 12.7mm). CITV incorporates Catherine XP Thermal Imaging System which is 3rd generation TIS, which is better than what most modern tanks have. In addition, both gunner and commander can access back-up sight located next to the Sosna-U sight. Commander has access to new multifunction display which on top of other things, show location of the tank. The tank has YeSU-TZ Battle Management System which allows communication with all units on the present battlefield, making warfare much easier. Another small, but important improvement is the commanders cupola, unlike older T-90A, commander now has full 360deg view with larger vision blocks all around the cupola. In addition, the hatch can be rotated for different purposes and there are 4 cameras for additional 360deg view.
 
 
MOBILITY
 
The tank weights 48t and it is powered with new V-92S2F 1130hp diesel engine, with 2000rpm and maximum torque of 4521Nm (pretty neat). In addition to such a good engine, the tank received automatic transmission APP-172  which is VERY NICE. On top of that, the tank received an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) which reduces the fuel consumption when the tank is idle by powering the electrical systems.
 

That is it for this post, if I find more information I will add it in, and if I made a mistake I will also correct it.

Depends on how you define difficulties. In general yes the tanks are always difficult. This is a result of never being to do actual services on the tanks due to time constraints. As far as engine/transmission it all just depends man. Our engine actually blew during this field problem, alot of it just comes down to engine age and luck. I think the Brigade as whole blew at least 10 packs during that rotation as a whole. 

I am far from US lands, under protection of his majesty Tsar Vladimir Putin. And all GULag's prisons are closed.
Also, this is my work after all.

 

That's me 

https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/bae-systems-unveils-upgraded-mark-2-challanger-2/
 
Full text:
 

The Abrams M1A2SEPv3 and SEPv4 will now be called, respectively, the M1A2C, and M1A2D.
 
Source: https://www.armyrecognition.com/september_2018_global_defense_security_army_news_industry/new_designations_for_upgraded_m1a2_sepv3_and_sepv4_abrams_main_battle_tanks.html

Thank god, the ever increasing acronym soup was getting old.

Us invade something after driving under river 

 
 

....or was it "LoooSeRed"?

Was typing too fast 

https://www.janes.com/article/82633/idf-to-get-more-surface-to-surface-missiles
 
Interesting stuff.
 

written there "Result of tank's tracks explosions on the T-72, Obj.219 and T-64A in equal conditions". 

Soviet tank development in the second half of the Cold War was... interesting.  NATO intelligence assumed that the T-64->T-72->T-80 represented a continuous development of better and better tanks.  In reality, they were three parallel developments.  This obviously didn't make any sense from a logistical standpoint.  It was driven by political considerations and different factions of engineers trying to grab as much glory as possible for their design bureau.  The article "Why Three Tanks" by Stephen "Cookie" Sewell in this edition of Armor magazine explains it in more detail.
 
The "Kharkovites" were the faction out of Kharkov, Ukraine, responsible for the T-64 tank.  This amazing thread by LoooSeR helps explain the differences between the three tanks.

The 64 has narrower knife wheels, which remained intact and effectively 'cut' the track. The 219 has wider wheels, the outer one of which got wrecked. The wider wheels support the track more against uneven loading, and the energy spent on breaking the wheel prevented it from breaking the track.
 
Again, this is just informed conjecture.