Paraguay keeping M3 Stuart, M4 Sherman tanks in service

[D5CAV]

The French upgunned some Shermans with a 105mm cannon.

That would be the Israelis. They managed to shoehorn in 105mm rifles and Diesel engines. They were called "Super Shermans".

[D5CAV]

That's cool, although I can't imagine why they would need tanks...

Sacrilege! You will turn in your Cavalry Stetson, spurs and saber forthwith!

[PawPaw]

That's cool, although I can't imagine why they would need tanks...

Sacrilege! You will turn in your Cavalry Stetson, spurs and saber forthwith!

I wish I knew what happened to my spurs. Lost them during one of the moves, I guess. Sad, but true. I've been meaning to buy a replacement set, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I did put together a Cav Stetson, and use it during Cowboy Fast Draw events.


Several months after one such competition, I happened to see another competitior in a retail setting and he told me that he didn't recognize me without my hat.

[slowpoke]

Looking around on teh intarwebz a bit, it appears these are pretty much the extent of their armor capabilities. So, if you've got a spare $250k lying around, you could pick up the Chieftain that's available and then take over Paraguay. Just sayin'...

I was at the auction when the hammer came down on that very same Chieftain for a little over $100k.

The real deal, if I had the money, was the Leopard 2 with live gun and two power packs that sold for about $200k.

At that very same auction, the Sherman tanks sold for between $500k and $1 million.

Paraguay should sell their WW2 era tanks for big $$$s to collectors and buy some of the surplus Leopard 2's floating around the global arms market.

You can get refurbed t72s from the Czechs for the price of a luxury car. Figure the leopards have more maintanence needs.

[toad]

Looking around on teh intarwebz a bit, it appears these are pretty much the extent of their armor capabilities. So, if you've got a spare $250k lying around, you could pick up the Chieftain that's available and then take over Paraguay. Just sayin'...

I was at the auction when the hammer came down on that very same Chieftain for a little over $100k.

The real deal, if I had the money, was the Leopard 2 with live gun and two power packs that sold for about $200k.

At that very same auction, the Sherman tanks sold for between $500k and $1 million.

Paraguay should sell their WW2 era tanks for big $$$s to collectors and buy some of the surplus Leopard 2's floating around the global arms market.

You can get refurbed t72s from the Czechs for the price of a luxury car. Figure the leopards have more maintanence needs.

It could be a wash as far as maintenance goes. The Russians designed with the philosophy that they would do limited field maintenance and if a tank was down they move it back to a moveable depot that would have the cranes needed to pull the turret to so they could get at the engine. The depot would also have a stock of parts. Also the T-72's had an auto-loader which adds to the complexity.
The Leopard 2 needs a trailer for the German instruction manuals
"You vill use the 0.2 kilogram hammer on the v-847.09 nut remover until a full turn es done then you will use the k-457.021A 21mm wrench to completely remove the nut which you vill place in the organizational board (zIV-mine got) in the spot identified for it."

[JAG2955]

I was at the auction when the hammer came down on that very same Chieftain for a little over $100k.

The real deal, if I had the money, was the Leopard 2 with live gun and two power packs that sold for about $200k.

At that very same auction, the Sherman tanks sold for between $500k and $1 million.

Paraguay should sell their WW2 era tanks for big $$$s to collectors and buy some of the surplus Leopard 2's floating around the global arms market.

You can get refurbed t72s from the Czechs for the price of a luxury car. Figure the leopards have more maintanence needs.

It could be a wash as far as maintenance goes. The Russians designed with the philosophy that they would do limited field maintenance and if a tank was down they move it back to a moveable depot that would have the cranes needed to pull the turret to so they could get at the engine. The depot would also have a stock of parts. Also the T-72's had an auto-loader which adds to the complexity.
The Leopard 2 needs a trailer for the German instruction manuals
"You vill use the 0.2 kilogram hammer on the v-847.09 nut remover until a full turn es done then you will use the k-457.021A 21mm wrench to completely remove the nut which you vill place in the organizational board (zIV-mine got) in the spot identified for it."

The onboard computer is telling me that the circuit boards in track pads 4, 17, 32, and 66 need their batteries changed and clocks wound.

[Jericho941]

If on my own dime, I wouldn't wanna play with anything German bigger or more recent than a Panzer IV or StuG III.

I wouldn't buy anything Russian pretty much ever.

M4A3E8? Now that's the goal.

[randy]

Also the T-72's had an auto-loader which adds to the complexity.

The joke back in the 80's was that the Red Army Choir had a large group of one armed sopranos who were former T-72 gunners.

[HTRN]

Paraguay should sell their WW2 era tanks for big $$$s to collectors and buy some of the surplus Leopard 2's floating around the global arms market.

This. There is or was, until fairly recently a large glut of let's on the market, with various your open militaries downsizing due to budget cuts. The 2a6 version takes second place only to the latest and greatest version of the Abrams, ND could probably be had for under a million a unit. Add in a panzer 2000 for mobile artillery and you've got something to even make uncle Sam a bit nervous about fighting.

But this would involve, you know forethought, and not giving in to massive amountso of graft and corruption involved in the funds.

[Greg]

Paraguay should sell their WW2 era tanks for big $$$s to collectors and buy some of the surplus Leopard 2's floating around the global arms market.

This. There is or was, until fairly recently a large glut of let's on the market, with various your open militaries downsizing due to budget cuts. The 2a6 version takes second place only to the latest and greatest version of the Abrams, ND could probably be had for under a million a unit. Add in a panzer 2000 for mobile artillery and you've got something to even make uncle Sam a bit nervous about fighting.

But this would involve, you know forethought, and not giving in to massive amountso of graft and corruption involved in the funds.

Why?

Seriously, why would they bother?

What they have is cheap, simple, easy to maintain. They have no military purpose, aside from maybe what our SWAT teams have APC's for. They're toys to look good in parades and they do that just fine.