The type 87 is basically Japan's version of the Gepard anti-aircraft gun from Germany. It sports two 35mm rapid fire cannons. Now if that isn't awesome I don't know what is.
How come we American's don't have something this cool? I know its meant for anti-aircraft duty...but come on! That would rock as an infantry support vehicle! If that thing were rumbling down the street, you could bet that I'd be keeping my head down.
These awesome things are made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The same guys that have made Japanese military equipment since WWII. Japan Steel Works made the cannons though. (You guys hiring?)
Unfortuantely Japan keeps a lot of its military stuff classified, even their battle rifles. So, truth be told, I couldn't find out much about this guy, so I'll have to compare it to the German Gepard or "Flakpanzer" as its sometimes called. Gee, I wonder what "Flakpanzer" means?
The Type 87 is a bit smaller and lighter than a Gepard but it's also slower and has less operational distance. That's not really a concern for the Japanese because they're not about to invade anyone and Godzilla usually comes to them.
There is one more cool thing to say about the Type 87, the Japanese have nicknamed it "Guntank" which is an awesome name on its own, but it's a giant robot from the Gundam anime series. See the family resemblance?
The Centauro is an Italian armored fighting vehicle. It's like a light, wheeled tank. It's in the tradition of "tank killers" that goes back to WWII.
It was made for heavy firepower, medium armor and eight wheels to get it wherever it needs to go. It's for off roadin'! These things are slick and fast. In Iraq I saw some and they gave off the impression of predatory sharks. The Italians driving these things all wore peacock feathers on their helmets. They're Italians so even if they're at war they make sure they're dressed their best
How fast? This thing can go about 70mph which is faster than my car and can go 500 miles without refueling. Again, better than my car.
It packs a computerized fire and controlled, gyro stabilized 105mm gun. Compare that to the U.S.'s Stryker. (hint, the centauro wins) What all that fancy techno babble means is that his baby can fire on the move the way our M1Abrahms tank can.
The armor can take heavy machine gun hits, but unless you add the modular additional armor, it won't take anything stronger than that. The modular armor would increase its life expectancy though.
And of course its NBC capable, protected against Nuclear, Biological and Chemical attacks.
There's a variant that's a Infantry Fighting Vehicle version.
And there's a version that kicks even more butt. If 105mm just isn't big enough for you, try the upgraded 120mm!
The Centauros have seen combat in Bosnia and in the Iraq War. Also, the U.S. purchased a few for research into our own Stryker program. We kept the eight wheels and sleek look but we forgot to add fire power and coolness. Oops.
There's something primeval and perhaps genetic about us fearing something huge and horrible swooping in from the sky. From myths of dragon and griffons we get a real world scary monster. The "Hind" helicopter. Make no mistake, this is a scary beast.
Look at that thing. It's not here to drop off lollipops. It's an aggressive looking machine of death. It carries 8 troops and has hard points for rocket pods, anti-tank missiles and cannons. It can secure an area with its firepower, drop off a Spetsnaz team and then hang around to offer fire support. Also, the Russians nicknamed it the "flying tank" because it's heavily armored and can withstand direct hits from a .50 cal.
During the 60's the Russians started looking into this whole helicopter thing. They developed a few prototypes and eventually settled on the Hind. "Hind" is a NATO designation btw. The Soviets, being good communists, shared the Hind with all their satellite and puppet countries. Many of those countries still use the Hind. While in Iraq I saw a Romanian Hind. The Romanians, one of our largest allies of the coalition used a great deal of commie equipment. They'd land their Hind at our base and all the Americans would swarm it, drool over it and of course, take pictures with it. The pilot wore aviator sunglasses and new he was the rockstar when he pulled up with a Hind as his ride.
I love the eyes painted on it.
Now, aside from being heavily armored and armed, it's also freaking fast. Surprisingly, those little wings provide 40% of the lift when it's going fast. The Hind held the speed record for helicopters for a long time and it's female helicopter records still stand. Because Russia is cool enough to realize that chicks kick butt too.
So, fast, lots of weapons, lots of armor and carries troops. In a word: Friggin' Awesome! (Okay, that was two.)
Sure, it looks and sounds tough, but how successful was it in combat? Let's look at a list of wars this bird's fought in.
Russian - Afghanistan war
Iraq - Iran war
Ogaden War Cambodian Vietnamese War Chadian - Libyan Conflict Nicaraguan Civil War Sri Lankan Civil War Persian Gulf War Croatian War of Independence Wars in Chechnya and on and on and on all the way up to the Iraq and Afghanistan War. Like all helicopters, it suffers in dry, dusty areas like Iraq and Afghanistan. During the Russian invasion of Afghanistan the Mujahadeen learned to move around at night during the day time because they were afraid of the Hind's and called them "Satan's chariots." That's an awesome nickname to earn from your enemies. They usually did not carry troops in Afghan and mainly provided air support with the armored doors removed for greater speed, range and maneuverability. Many countries will continue to use the Hind for many years to come. But, the South Africans are starting to upgrade their Hinds with advanced optics, Forward Looking Infrared, advanced avionics, heat exhaust filters digital glass and a duel fed 20mm cannon. Here' a pic of the advanced version.
What else lies in the future for this formidable attack/transport? I'm not sure but I can't wait.
When I first joined the Army it was as an artillery man or "red leg" as they're sometimes called. (Red leg refers to the civil war when cannon crew wore red leggings.) And the cannon I had the "joy" to work with was the M 198 155mm Howitzer. Just the word "Howitzer" sounds pretty awesome. It's a giant cannon in the old tradition of Napoleon. You haul this huge cannon to the spot you want and the battery concentrates all its firepower on one spot. It's slow, outdated and cumbersome but it can be air dropped by helicopter into places where its far more advanced self propelled brethren couldn't go. I've never actually done this and we've always just hauled it behind a truck.
Here we see a cannon crew loading this beast. The shells way about 100 pounds and hurt your shoulder when you have to carry them around. Two people use a tray to hold the shell to the breach and then two people ram it in. The second rammer takes the pole away while the #1 man shoves the powder bag hat comes in three charges, closes the breach and primes the cannon with a primmer that's like a 9mm round without the bullet. He then takes the lanyard and gets ready to pull when the gunner or team chief say its time. Meanwhile someone is taking the cloth powder bags out of metal canisters and preparing them for the next round. The gunner aims the cannon according to what the Fire Direction Control tells them to aim.
Confused yet? It's a very complicated dance of movement, specific jobs, who goes where and who needs to stay out of the way.
Here's the breach. On the left is the wheel to turn the cannon left or right for minor adjustments and on the right is the wheel that elevates the tube. On either side are the aiming instruments which I think consist of magic, luck and a little old fashioned guess work.
This beast is heavy. When the truck pulls up to the designated location, the crew jumps out the back and immediately begin to unhook the cannon from the truck, open its legs and begin preparing it for fire. Almost always there's a major adjustment to be made so everyone has to pick up the legs and traverse the whole cannon. Let me tell you that "bumping the trails" sucks. Have I mentioned that this cannon is heavy? And in 100 degree Virginian weather it sucks big time. I won't even get into the suckage of putting the camo net up and down.
There are different types of rounds the Howitzer can use. "Willie Pete" or White Phosphorus rounds use chemicals to burn things over a wide area. Very dangerous. Standard explosive, rocket assisted, satelite guided anti-armor and flares to name a few. Artillery, "King of Battle." You can't win a battle by artillery alone, but you can't win without it.
I won't even tell you the foul names my drill sergeants called artillery men.
First, let me say that a PSL is not a Dragunov. It's more of a stretched out and enlarged AK 47, which isn't a bad thing at all, but the Dragunov or SVD uses a different internal system. However, they perform the same role. Either way, the PSL is a sexy looking rifle.
The Romanians when they were "volunteered" to join the Warsaw Pact was offered the SVD, but the Romanians wanted something easier to produce, so they decided to make their own gun. "Hey, the AK's like super easy to make. Why don't we just make a big version of that?" And so they did. It's not a "sniper rifle" like what we think of in the west, the eastern Europe has a different philosophy about such things. Instead of a super accurate bolt action, they wanted a gun that was more of a designated marksman rifle that would add a little range and firepower to a platoon or squad. But they also wanted a rifle you could fight with. So, the PSL is semi-automatic with a ten round magazine, a x4 power scope that still allows the user to use its iron sights.
Let me talk about the scope for a second. A x4 power scope isn't very powerful. However, it does give you a much larger view of what you're looking at which is great for finding targets and avoiding tunnel vision. So, it's more of a combat scope. Also, it's very easy to use. Let me show you.
Okay, do you see the "T" shape? Those horizontal lines are for windage if you don't want to fiddle around with the knobs. The vertical marks for for every hundred meters. (not yards) So if my scope is dialed in for 300 meters and I see a target at five hundred, I don't have to break my sight picture to change the scope, I just use the marks there to go down two more and I'm right on target! Do you see the ski slope looking thing on the left? It's a range finder. There's a "1,7" at the bottom. That tells you that the person it's designed for is 1.7 meters tall which is about 5ft 7in. You put your man size target so it touches the bottom line and whatever number it comes out to is how far away the person is in hundreds of meters. It's super simple and super quick.
But how does it perform? The AK is not known for being the most accurate firearm in the world and with the PSL being based off of the AK, you'd expect similar results. You'd be wrong. The PSL can be surprisingly accurate though it does have its eccentricities. The PSL is ammo sensitive and it seems that each PSL likes a different kind of ammo. So if you ever get one you have to try different ammo types before you find your match. Also, the barrel is thin which helps keep weight down, but it tends to overheat and when it does it starts to loose accuracy. But how accurate is it? Accurate enough. This pic shows a 2 inch group at 100 yards. Not bad I'd say considering the new army SR-25 costs a billion dollars and gets 2.5 inch groups. So, the PSL is plenty accurate and effective enough for combat.
How does it perform against body armor? Between my two deployments the SAPI plate (the hard bullet proof part of the armor) was upgraded to a heavier, more protective plate. Believe me, I felt a difference. The reason for the upgrade was because of Iraqi bought PSL's using armor piercing ammo. How effective is it? Let's see...
The Romanians export the PSL like crazy though the supply is drying up and they're becoming harder to find. They say they'll be exporting a Nato 7.62 version. Mine uses 7.62x54r which is a round that's been around since the late 1800's. Same round used by the old Mosin Nagant.
The controls are identical to an AK as is the take down. If you know how to run one, you know how to run the other. The wooden skeletal, thumbhole stock is short to compensate for heavy winter clothing or body armor.
I've taken the PSL through a tactical carbine course to see how it runs as a combat rifle.
I'm use to the M4 or AK-47 in such situations but I really wanted to see how the PSL would run. It worked, but it had its problems. Yes, you can use it as a combat rifle in outdoor areas just fine. But it runs into problems in urban areas due to its long barrel. I found I had to stand further back from cover and follow-up shots were much slower. Still, it worked just fine.
The PSL is kind of like a jack of all trades, master at none. It does long range and combat fighting, but excels at neither. It is however, a good, all-round combat rifle.
The saw is perhaps one of my favorite all time weapons ever.
I carried this automatic wonder during my first deployment to Iraq. It was a big, heavy beast compared to everyone else's M-16's, but let me tell you that while carrying it I felt very comfortable about getting into a fire fight. I PTA to carry, but it'll be your best friend if trouble ever finds you. I hear a lot of complaints about it, but I never experienced any problems with it. The only time it ever jammed on me was due to the crappy blank ammo we were using. It's not so big that it can't be fired from the shoulder like a rifle. You won't be able to hold it in that position for too long unless your the Terminator but when you fire full auto it helps keep the gun level.
Here's a pic of me and "Big Medicine," my SAW. On my IBA body armor you can see a large green pouch, (under my right hand) that is an Army issue ammo pouch for the 200 round drums. Like many Army issued pieces of equipment, it didn't work. You couldn't close the flap when a drum was in and if you made anything like a "lean over" motion, the drum would automatically eject itself. I had to carry my ammo in a back pack until I ordered some civilian made drum pouches from Spec-Ops.
The quick change handle had a nasty habit of breaking and I never had to switch the barrel out but for some reason my command was fanatical about carrying the extra barrel with me. That was a joy I could have done without. My sling there was three point sling made for M4's, but I jury rigged it for my SAW.
One night, during me rare night off, my sergeant comes and says "Hill, they need you for a patrol. Actually, they need your SAW." So, instead of watching "The Ring 2" like I had planned, I got to go outside the wire and patrol through a garbage dump. It was very surreal. There were small fires burning where homeless Iraqis were squatting. I could see the far off spotlights of the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and we walked through this place with barely a glance from the homeless. I didn't do a lot of foot patrols because we did more convoys. I was the .50cal gunner but I had the SAW in case the 50 went down. I was one heavily armed mo-fo.
The SAW is a Belgian weapon that's licensed to be made in the USA. It fires the 5.56mm round, the same as the M-16's and M4's. And the Marines want to replace it with...an M4, but that's a topic for another time. The South Koreans use their own copy of the SAW called a K3, made by Daewoo.
Over the years some improvements have been made. Here's un updated SAW with some features I wish I had. The stock was too long on my old SAW so a collapsible one would have been greatly appreciated. A vertical fore grip would have made handling MUCH easier and an optic would have been welcomed.
Welcome to the Arsenal. Here I will discuss 20th and 21st century military equipment from around the world. I will talk about small arms from the Makarov and M9, the M-16 and the SVD to main battle tanks, fighters, missiles, body armor and gear. If it's used by a modern military, I'll talk about it! Some of what I may talk about I'll have personal hands on experience with. Some, I will not. I served two tours in Iraq and performed several different roles from artillery, MP, cavalry and even Chemical Decontamination. (I don't know how I got into that last one there.) I got to play around with a lot of cool toys in the military and in my civilian life. I've traveled to different countries where I saw their equipment first hand. In Iraq I met many coalition allies and never missed a chance to check out their gear. I got to play with Tavors, K2's, SA80's, PKM's and many more. However, I also love the big stuff and seeing Apache attack helicopters and main battle tanks going into action is a terrible and beautiful thing. Stick around and enjoy!
