I knew that various WWII special forces carried daggers or stilettos, such as the famous Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, but the type of stiletto with which the above-shown, er, soldiers are equiped aren’t a particular weapon category with which I was previously familiar. The closest equivalent I can think of is Betty Grable’s legs, photographs of which boosted the morale of American GIs in WWII to such an extent that they probably had a significant impact on the course of the war. I think that at one point 20th Century Fox went so far as to insure her legs for 1 million IPCs…um, I mean dollars.
Soviet Tank Tech Upgrade
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Here’s an amusing news item. Tank technology may evolve, but the parade announcer’s clumsy claim that the tank stopped on purpose sounds like it’s straight out of the Brezhnev era. At least the crowd laughed, which is an improvement over the 1960s.
Russian super-tank ‘stalls’ on rehearsal parade in Moscow
7 May 2015Russia’s new high-tech battle tank has ground to a halt during a rehearsal for 9 May Victory parade in Moscow, prompting speculation of a breakdown.
One of T-14 Armata tanks suddenly stopped on Red Square, and the driver raised a red flag - apparently to signal that he had problems.
A tow vehicle was brought in, but the tank later managed to drive on.
The parade announcer said the stoppage had been planned to show how to “evacuate weaponry”.
This prompted laughter from the crowds who gathered to watch the rehearsal in the Russian capital, Reuters reports.
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Nice improvisation by the announcer.
Thank you for the piece, Marc.
Am up all night, incidentally, watching our election results come in. (Loser, I know.) -
Putting aside the false reassurance of the mechanical failure, is this tank really so far ahead of the West’s?
You guys know much more about this stuff than I do.
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If it is true, the Armata t-14 tank is able to fully automatically load and reload it self.
No men in the Tower. -
Whatever happened in the Red Square, Russia is back as the key world geopolitical player and again possesses equipment that matches the best of what resides in Western arsenals.