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Beer

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Everything posted by Beer

  1. Beer
    Even though it's not in Eastern Europe Czechia is likely one of those opportunities. Though the expected number of new MBTs is very low (two battalions at best).
  2. Beer
    One particularly interesting point from the Su-25 pilot which is relevant to the weird videos from Ukraine showing Russian choppers firing salvos of S-8 in the air. The interview was taken before the war started but this point is mentioned there although with bombs. Even the basic export Su-25K was equipped for "accurate" loft bombing. The system was able to calculate the point of release in climb for the given ordonance and a target illuminated by the laser rangefinder. The pilot said it was useful basically only for an area target as it was naturally inacurate but he said they did it few times with KMGU submunition containers. With free fall bombs he said the standoff distance was around 3,5 km. He also said it would be used only for preselected targets, never for a free hunt.
  3. Beer
    Well, in the past couple of years the military has started transforming back to continental conventional use from a small expeditionary force supporting various NATO missions all around the globe. Since we don't have any deserts in Central Europe it's logical to select darker camo. IMHO the small units working in Sahel, on Sinai or anywhere in the deserts can use whatever other NATO camo (or the old Vz. 95 desert) just like they already do. On the other hand the Central Europe also changed somewhat from the mid-90'. Now it's less green and less wet than it used to be hence why the new camo is less green and less dark but still reasonably darker than multicam.
  4. Beer
    Czech military replaced the SVD/SVDN-3 with a new CZ Bren 2 PPS DMR. The new rifle is chambered in 7.62x51. On the other hadn there are reports about some initial reliability issues with certain types of ammo. I don't know exact details.
  5. Beer
    Czech MOD is preparing to replace the Vz. 95 camo with a new one called MAD21. The new one shall replace both the forest and the desert variant of the old one with just one universal one. At this moment the testing is still ongoing and no final decision was taken. From left to right: Vz. 95 forest, MAD21, Vz. 95 desert Not the best photos but they give at least some general idea... https://www.czdefence.cz/clanek/mad21-novy-maskovaci-vzor-pro-acr
  6. Beer
    First Czech EL/M-2084 MMR of 12 ordered (4 of them for Spyder batteries, 8 for surveillance). https://www.armadninoviny.cz/ceska-republika-ma-prvni-izraelsky-radar-multi-mission-radar.html
  7. Beer
    Hungarian AF buys 12 L-39NG. It's an expected thing because 51% of the company is owned by a Hungarian consorcium closed to the prime minister Orbán. What is interesting is that only 8 of them are to be usd as trainers, the other 4 are said to be reconnaissance variants (to be equipped either with a gimbal or a recon pod). At this moment there are firm orders for 30 L-39NG with the Vietnamese batch being in production. The Czech Omnipol consorcium which already owns 49% of Aero (or owns ERA, the producer of VERA-NG passive tracker) recently bough the company Aircraft Industries (former Let Kunovice) from its Russian owners. http://omnipol.com/cz/media/#6268fa44c75ba
  8. Beer
    Czech MOD started negotiations about the second batch of the AH-1Z/UH-1Y deal with US. At this moment there are 4+8 on order and the second batch shall make it total 12+12. ATM it's not clear whether the second batch will be also made of newly built airframes or used USMC machines.
  9. Beer
    Czech Republic started a process to decide the future of its fighter force due to the fact that the current leasing deal for the Gripens C/D will terminate at the end of 2027. At this moment it seems that there are basically only three realistic scenarios. 1) Grippen C/D will be purchased and modernized. This scenario is the least likely for various reasons. The currently used airframes are already rather worn and the planes would need a replacement relatively aerly afterwards anyway. The current fleet counts only 12 JAS-39C and 2 JAS-39D which isn't enough per what the military wishes (and which the MOD supports). Buying additional Gripen C/D in 2027 desn't seem to be a good idea (even though basically everyone here is very happy about the Gripen's service record). 2) Purchase of Gripen E/F, most likely 24+4. This option seems to be viable only in case of signifficantly better cost of the programe (including the long-term outlook). 3) Purchase of F-35A, most likely 18-24. This is for sure the option prefered by the military but it remains to be sen whether there is enough money and political will to push it through. In theory there are also other options such as Rafale, EF2000, F-16V or F/A-18E/F but I don't think it could end with them.
  10. Beer
    The outcome of the tender was, mildly said, weird at best. Now we are in a situation when we desperately need to buy the IFVs anyway but for sure for a much worse price since everything got much more expensive in the past year. I don't want to go into a blame game but for sure the previous government didn't manage the whole project well. According to various gossip the "would-be winner" was the CV90 but whether that is true or not isn't relevant anymore. Let's see what and how will the new government acquire now. Meanwhile there is a lot of talk about MBT acquisition. At the moment it is hard to speak about numbers or types but I dare to bet that there won't be an opened tender. I expect a direct government-government deal. I personally think it will be done with US and I guess it will be two battalions in the better scenario and one battalion in the worst (ATM we have only one battalion of T-72M4CZ and an uncertain number of reserve T-72M1 - part of the original 110 or so was transfered to Ukraine).
  11. Beer
    Hi guys, long time, no see. Here I have something of a really high informative value. Very long (2-3 hours) and detailed interviews with former pilots of our combat planes with English subtitles (at the moment some final parts remain to be translated). If you are interested in stuff like training and tactical procedures, pilot's life, various peculiar details, technical details, radio, navigation and weapon equipment, accidents or their experience with foreign machines just watch. Col. Václav Vašek - pilot of L-29, L-39, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-29, B-737, A320 - display and test pilot of MiG-29 Lt. Col. Josef Miler - pilot of L-29, L-39, MiG-21, MiG-23 - display and test pilot of MiG-23 Col. Leoš Liška - pilot of L-29, L-39, Su-25 - display pilot of Su-25 According to the author more will come in the future.
  12. Beer
    All three bidders sent their final offers in the Czech IFV tender before the deadline. All three vehicles also meet the set of requirements. The final decision will come soon but due to the fact that the parlamentary ellections will be held at the beginning of October the decision may be taken only by the next government. https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/nato/bvp-lynx-ascod-cv90-obrana-armada-passive-obrnence-pechoty.A210901_185613_zpr_nato_inc
  13. Beer
    Allegedly Karrar turret
  14. Beer
    Allegedly the first round which was won by the almighty Royal British Rolling Bunker was launched with engines off.
  15. Beer
    That thing is incredibly ugly.
  16. Beer
    Few days back the ill-fated Il-112V project suffered another setback when the prototype crashed killing all three crewmembers onboard. The crash occured because of massive engine fire at low speed and altitude possibly combined with non-functional propeller feathering system (not confirmed yet). There is a lot of talk about the TV7-117ST engines being source of constant troubles all the time through the development (aside of issues with airframe weight and center of gravity). Video of the accident
  17. Beer
  18. Beer
    I read that one of those old Sea Knights currently used by US embassy in Kabul actually served in Vietnam in 1967-1970 (154038).
  19. Beer
    Sea Knight still in use?
  20. Beer
    And now it's all over. That was fast...
  21. Beer
    Taliban defeated Rashid Dostum and Ata Noor forces in Mazar i Sharif and the remains of their forces are trying to flee into Uzbekistan. This is only today. With this speed the ANA will cease to exist in matter of days and Kabul will be the last government controlled territory already next week... Taliban AF in action
  22. Beer
    Russian Navy brand new Beriev BE-200 RF-88450 crashed on a firefighting mission in Turkey. All eight people onboard died in the crash. Video of the accident and a photo of the wreckage under the link: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20210814-0 From the video it looks to me that the crew probably misjudged the climb they needed to take to get over the mountain.
  23. Beer
    According to this article (about weight growth of modern vehicles and the impact in Czech specific conditions) the weight of IFV contenders (in specification from Czech tender) is following: CV-90 Mk4 37 metric tons, ASCOD 2 42 tons, Lynx KF-41 44 tons. The article mentions that AS-21 has 42 tons (presumably in Australian configuration). https://www.czdefence.cz/clanek/armada-ceske-republiky-versus-hmotnost-obrnene-techniky
  24. Beer
    As the collapse of the ANA continues, Taliban keeps acquiring aircraft for its own AF...
  25. Beer
    The ammo belt is specific for the Rheinmetall gun not the ammo itself. The issue is that you can't feed the MK30-2 from MK44 ammo belts. This.
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