200 Russian tanks found abandoned in forest

[WhiteTara]

Source: Telegraph UK

A news website near the city of Yekaterinburg posted a video of the forgotten tanks showing passers-by clambering inside the vehicles and playing with empty ammunition belts. The only items that seemed to be missing were live rounds and the keys to the tanks' ignitions.

"There are tanks all over the forest, abandoned," an unnamed reporter on the video says. "If you need one, come and get it."

Locals in a nearby village said the tanks had been sitting there for almost four months covered in snow. The armoured vehicles were identified as a mixture of T-80 and T-72 battle tanks, the workhorses of the Russian army.

"We were shocked," Pavel L, a local, told Russian media. "It is like you can sit behind the wheel, start up the engine and drive off and nobody would notice!"

A military spokesman claimed the tanks were in fact being guarded by special patrols and were in the process of being dispatched to a military base. But military prosecutors appeared sceptical about his claims and opened an official investigation. Wary of further bad publicity, the army has urgently begun relocating the tanks.

The scandal comes days after one of Russia's top military commanders suggested the country did not need half of its 20,000 tanks and might scrap many older models. Tanks played an important role in the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, with Russia capturing dozens of Georgian tanks in the short conflict.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7338097/200-Russian-tanks-found-abandoned-in-forest.html

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at least they weren't armed nuclear bombs. The whole world seems to be breaking down.

[dairydog91]

1. I'm going to file this under "Why Am I Not Surprised" nt

nt

[charlie and algernon]

2. I laugh when I think about how many US and Allied spies would've killed

to get inside a T-72 or T-80 and now they're just lying in the open for anyone to view, lol.

[WhiteTara]

5. OT...what an incredible picture! n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

7. Looks like the Russians don't have plans to invade any country soon

what else they could need for those tanks.

[charlie and algernon]

9. oh i know, I was remarking how things have changed

20-30 years ago, spies would've dreamed to find a russian tank to "inspect" in case they ever came roaring across Europe. Now their vaunted tank corp is sitting abandoned in the forest.

[formercia]

10. We did, in 1982

Saddam let us play with a T-72 in 1982. Why do you think the kill ratio was so lopsided in the Gulf War? In return, he wanted Redstone (American SCUDS) for his ballistic missile programs. The press reported on a lot of US missile parts being found in 2003, but that was quashed, lest the people find out that we were instrumental in the development of Iraqi Ballistic Missile technology. What would our 'friends' in Israel say?

[Aristus]

18. It's a little silly, isn't it? I remember when I was in the Gulf, a bunch of guys clambered into a

captured Iraqi T-72 and took pictures. The film was confiscated by some douche-bag intelligence types, saying "This information is classified", and shit like that. Now they have YouTube videos where you can view live-fire operations from inside Russian-made tanks, and nobody hollers about it...

[Igel]

25. "Classified" usually has a time limit on it.

In reality, if not in little bureaucratic minds.

Greek fire used to be a highly guarded secret. Where the Arabs got their slaves was a secret, as was trade around the Cape of Good Hope. Steel was a secret, as was gun powder. Even how to make purple dye was a secret. Where D-Day would take place was a secret. The day after D-Day took place it wasn't really classified any more.

At some point when the tech or information is sufficiently obsolete, when the people who's asses are covered by the "classified stamp" are no longer alive and nobody's left to be sued or embarrassed, the classification no longer much matters.

As to the T-72 tankscapades you mention, I have to wonder why the film was confiscated and called classified. Perhaps the FSB would think it so,but why would Westerners?

[bossy22]

3. this is the great russian military

that demands military/strategic balance with the U.S. Blow it out your ass Russia

[HeresyLives]

8. Russia has far more modern items now

They are currently buying Mistral-class assault ships from France.

[bossy22]

11. which are basically a converted small cruise ship

capable of carrying helicopters. they are no match to Either the WASP or TAWARA class helicopter carriers the U.S. has (also about 1/2 the size)

It is true that they are modernizing, but they arent replacing aging equipment on a 1:1 or even close to that. for example, the russian airforce has close to 1200 fighters, but most of them are old. The govt plans to replace most of them with only about 200-300 new fighters.

[AlphaCentauri]

14. They are probably thinking in defense term

just the basic stuff if they are not willing to invade other countries, they don't need many weapons

[HeresyLives]

16. LOL no they're not.

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/mistral/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_class_amphibious_assault_ship

Russia is modernizing it's force for specific purposes...that means a smaller more specific military.

They have nukes for anything big.

[Cal Carpenter]

15. And the great US military has quite a track record too...

A few very quick finds on google, there are lots more...

"A 17-month investigation into the possible sale of jet-fighter parts to Iran has uncovered startling evidence that four whole F-14 Tomcat fighter jets — you know, the kind featured in the film “Top Gun” — changed hands on the black market in the late 1990’s for less that $4,000 apiece.

The buyers, though, were not exactly agents of the Axis of Evil....(more) "

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/sting-uncovers-illegal-military-equipment-sales-to-museums/

"Buy These From eBay points out a Washington Post story about how stolen military equipment has ended up on eBay and Craigslist. Undercover investigators reported being able to purchase defense-related items with "no questions asked." Let's hope the sellers don't get their hands on any retired rebellious robots. From the Post: "Among the items purchased include two components from F-14 fighter jets, bought from separate buyers on eBay. The warplanes, now retired by the military, could easily be purchased and transferred to the Iranian military, which is seeking its components, the report said. Investigators couldn't determine where the sellers had obtained the F-14 parts. They also purchased from a Craigslist seller a used Nuclear Biological Chemical protective suit, other protective accessories as well as an unused chemical-biological canister, which contained the mask filter used to guard against warfare agents. The property was likely stolen from the Defense Department, the report said.""



Not to mention all the stuff we've left scattered in rice paddies:

SAVANNAKHET, Laos — With their parents working in the rice paddies and nothing much to do in the village, 7-year-old Dam Somphone and his two friends decided to go into the forest to look for a bomb....
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/13/120233

:shrug:

[PacerLJ35]

17. F-14s are now very tightly controlled for that very reason

The only way you'd get one is if you're a museum, and even that, you'd get a shell, stripped of any useful parts.

[AlphaCentauri]

4. Mexico can use those tanks

it could save US tax payers some bucks

[Mopar151]

6. I am amazed that they were not skidding firewood

or being salvaged for scrap metal.

[Brother Buzz]

21. Those engines are pretty thirsty

I wonder if it might be a better proposition feeding the oil directly into a stove. Nevertheless, I would have no objection to parking one in my backyard to tinker on and spruce up for our local May Fair parade. I suspect our city fathers would require hardwood or rubber sacrificial strips attached to the treads to protect our precious pavement. Our street was torn out and replaced with an engineered road base so the underground services are properly protected so I'd be good to go.

[jberryhill]

12. I Can Never Remember Where I Parked My Tank

Good to know I'm not the only one.

[formercia]

13. Vodka will do that to you.

:toast:

[Mopar151]

20. Not the good stuff...

But what Russians drink when they can't get the good stuff - it'll make you forget to keep breathing.

[era veteran]

19. Not your daddy's Red Army

rust never sleeps

[Soylent Brice]

22. note to self:

book flight to Russia to seize, and transport back, free tank lying around in the woods, in order to continue preparations for Zombie Apocalypse.

[Blue_Tires]

23. probably no fuel

and it can be argued that land-based conventional warfare with tanks and marching armies has gone the way of horses and bayonets....

at least they can be recycled into something, I think...

[Xithras]

24. Found the video. It's not quite as stupid as it sounds.

The article makes it sound like they drove the tanks out into the trees and parked them there. The tanks are actually neatly parked in a clearing along a major railroad siding in an industrial area. The only odd part about the whole thing is why they didn't have at least one guard out there to shoo away the curious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFXJDr-v5JE

[Lagomorph]

26. Just buy one.

http://www.tanksforsale.co.uk/T72_tanks_for_sale_page.htm