Sebastien Roblin, War Is Boring: Turkish Tanks Take a Pounding in Syria
Rebels armed with guided missiles punish Ankara’s tank force.
Ankara’s tanks have been in the news a lot this year, whether prowling the streets of the Turkish capital in a failed coup attempt, or taking missile fire from rebel fighters on the Syrian border.
Recently, Turkish armor crossed over into Syria and drove the Islamic State terrorist group from its last holdings along the Turkish border — and also fought with U.S.-backed Kurdish rebels, creating a frustrating diplomatic quandary for the White House.
It’s easy to see why Turkey’s tanks are so active. The country is facing one of its worst geopolitical crises in decades, and it also maintains an enormous tank force — more than 2,400 all told, greater than the tank forces of France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined.
But only Turkey’s 354 German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks are modern designs, and even those date back to 1985.
The vast majority of Turkey’s tanks are American-made M-48 and M-60 Patton tanks. The latter type, which entered service the same year as the Cuban Missile Crisis, is rather long in the tooth. But curiously enough, the M-60 has seen the most combat.
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WNU Editor: The above video .... if those are Turkish tanks .... is very revealing on how vulnerable these tanks are.
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