Rumania to donate T-55 tanks to Afghanistan, Article in the 'Evenimentul Zilei' daily

See link (in Rumanian only):
Evenimentul Zilei Online

It's mentioned that Rumania has a surplus of T-55 tanks. These are refurbished by the 51st Tank Battalion of Turda. The commissioning will be done by the Americans.

BTW, the reporter notes that the T-55 tank is old technology, used also in W.W. 2. [sic!]

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on October 07, 2004 07:39 pm

So what's new in Romania? Our "modern" army is equiped to fight at ww2 conflicts, not XXI century warfare.

One would expect a male reporter to know better what the famous Soviet tank of WW2 was or at least research it, as the web is "loaded" with info on the T-34 and the post-war MTB T-55.

I think Romania's donation of 50 tanks to the new Afghan army should be applauded. Given that country's fragile, new-born democracy and their lack of an established army (which is now just being trained by the US and its coalition), this donation is sizeable and will help much.

P.S. I think the fact that the T-55 is not the latest generation tank is irrelevant. Afghanistan would use them to defend against Taliban/insurgent attacks who don't have tanks anyway. So they will not be used in tank-against-tank battles, where the model and technology of the tanks would make a difference.

As a matter of fact, I read an article that says the Afghans prefer the T-55 because it's the tank they've been using for decades and it's easy for them to train on and maintain. Also, the Taliban's tank's were never superior so they really don't need anything better.

As a side note, Russia gave them 40 x T-55s back in either 2000 or 2001.

I think that even an WW1 armored vehicle can be - in specific situations - efective in that guerilla skirmishes, against the talibans.

Its very logic for the afgans to prefere T-55s, they known them very well .

This post has been edited by Dan Po on October 16, 2004 12:56 pm

Exactly. Very well said. Any armored vehicle helps against the taliban who mainly fights with assault rifles (although they do use some RPG's and very few howitzers).

Well, I know "the reporter notes", but he is human and he is wrong.
T-55 was not used in WWII.

T-55 was a development of Joseph Stalin-3, which never saw combat in WWII, but impressed and raised concerns for the Western observers during the parades of late 1945...1946.

I heard from others, while serving in the army, that Romania still had in use T-34.
They were just for training, but anyway it was in 1984-1985.

Now, to add some ideas to what Mabadesc wrote: Right now the Talibans are in defensive, so you have to follow them on narrow paths, on steep reefs, if you want to get them. The armored vehicles are not so helpful in this case. But they are a very good deterrent if the Talibans have the idea to come downhill and attack villages and towns.

Well, I know "the reporter notes", but he is human and he is wrong.
T-55 was not used in WWII.

T-55 was a development of Joseph Stalin-3, which never saw combat in WWII, but impressed and raised concerns for the Western observers during the parades of late 1945...1946.

The T-55 is not a development of the JS-3 Josef Stalin from WW2. The JS-3 developed into T-10 & T-10M heavy tanks, which were armed with a 122mm Gun.

The T-54/55 series is considered by many experts to have been developed from a little known Russian tank called the T-44, which was the Soviet Unions first attempt to replace the excellent T-34/85 main battle tank. The T-44 first appeared in near the end of 1944 and saw no service during the war. If any production of the T-44 took place it was on very limted scale, maybe 100? In 1947 the T-54 first entered production in 1947. If upgraded the T-54/55 can be a useful tank, provided it is not going up against the latest generation of main battle tanks such as the Leopard 2, Challenger 2, M1A2 Abrams or T-90. The tailban have few tanks are very weak in Anti-tank weapons.

Thank you.

Good and correct data Stephen!

About T-44, i have a "family enigma".

An "unchi" ( how it say aunt hosband?) make his military service at tanks. In all his region was know at "buldozerul"/"the dozer" - best of the best driver (a hills region). And, this man tell me memorys with T-34 and T-44 - small numbers.

Maybe, russians give us a small quantity? Like small numbers of Panthers?

Iama

And after Romania donate obsolete T-55 tanks to Afganistan new army, is USA turn to trow away his obsolete APC to the same new army. If T-55 had some little chances agaisnt RPG-7, an M113 how many chances can have?


Afghan Army Gets Armored Personnel Carriers (edited for length)


Source : US Department of Defense


"KABUL, Afghanistan --- The Afghan National Army is getting a new look over the next few months. As a result of a recent equipment donation, they will appear a little less Soviet and a little more like their Coalition partners.

The Afghan National Army recently took delivery of 10 M113A2 armored personnel carriers from the United States at Camp Pol-e-Charkhi, on the outskirts of Kabul. This was the first shipment of vehicles with more to follow.

Lt. Col. David Braxton, logistics operations chief at the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan, said, “Based on the force structure designed for Afghanistan’s internal threat, armored personnel carriers were identified as a requirement for the Afghanistan National Army.

The U.S. M113A2s are an excess defense article, which allows them to be donated. Given the performance and popularity of the M113s around the world, it is an excellent match for the (Afghan National Army’s) (armored personnel carrier) requirement.”

The M113s already have a home. They will become part of the 2nd Kandak (Battalion) Mechanized Infantry, in the 201st Corps’ 3rd Brigade, located in Kabul.

The 218th Infantry Regiment of the South Carolina Army National Guard, part of Task Force Phoenix, has been tasked with training the Afghan National Army to operate and maintain the new vehicles.

According to 1st Sgt. Bobby Duggins, one of the kandak’s embedded training team advisors, “The (Afghan National Army) soldiers are totally excited about receiving this vehicle. The M113 is a new vehicle for them and there is always a level of excitement when you introduce something new.”

“Because this (armored personnel carrier) is so versatile, it can be used in many ways,” added Duggins. While the Afghan National Army will use the armored personnel carriers primarily to transport troops, Duggins added that the M113 “can also be used as a squad heavy weapon (to fire mortars), and it can be used by medical units and maintenance teams going into the battlefield.”

In addition to the 10 M113s that arrived recently, Braxton said, “We expect 45 M113s and 16 M577s (command vehicles) to begin arriving the second week in May. The remaining vehicles will be in country throughout the next month for a total of 63 M113s and 16 M577s.”

Because the 2nd Kandak Mechanized team was previously fielded with another armored personnel carrier, the Soviet BMP1, training on the M113 was a smooth transition.

Prior to the arrival of the U.S. M113s, the kandak soldiers were trained by the International Security Assistance Force’s Norwegian Battle Group using five modified M113s they deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year. According to Lt. Col. Jon Mangersnes, Norwegian Battle Group commander, “We conducted two weeks of practical training. This type of training cannot be conducted in a class room; you have to get hands on the vehicle.”

The training covered the basic operation and maintenance of the M113, including how to start, steer and maneuver, and how to manipulate the operator switches. “It was a lot of fun for my guys,” added Mangersnes. “The Afghan soldiers were very receptive to the training and the younger soldiers are extremely proud to be in the Afghan Army.”

The total donation, including repair parts, is estimated to be worth $10 million.

The U.S. is the only country providing the M113s, ensuring that all the M113 variants are the same so they will be less expensive to maintain.

“To sustain the M113s here in country, the Afghan National Army’s 3rd Brigade is receiving a one-year stock level of repair parts,” said New Hampshire Army National Guardsman Chief Warrant Officer Gill Colon, the Task Force Phoenix logistics officer and embedded training team advisor to the 3rd Brigade.

The maintenance for the M113 fleet will be conducted by Afghan National Army mechanics who will be trained by U.S. mobile training teams.

The South Carolina Army National Guardsmen who normally train the 2nd Kandak will be leaving Afghanistan in a few months.

According to the unit’s executive officer, Maj. Greg Cornell, “We want to get the (Afghan National Army) mechanized team at least to team-level proficiency on the M113 before we leave. A special range is being prepared so that we can work on maneuvers and team-level live-fire exercises.” "


Iama