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Iraqi Tanks, Vehicles and Artillery ( Soviet / Russian)


gwb123
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I am starting this thread so that members may share photos of Iraqi tanks, vehicles and artillery, both in theater and later as displayed as war trophies.

 

As subtitled in the Topic Title, much of what equipped Saddam Hussein's army appears to have come from Russian stocks. I was tempted to place these under a Soviet / Warsaw Pact topic, but these have their own history far away from Europe.

T-55 2.jpg

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First up are a set of photos that I took at Iowa's Gold Star Museum at Camp Dodge, just outside of Des Moines, Iowa.

 

I took these photos in 2010 when the museum was in the early stages of setting up their displays. It already had a fine collection on display, and from the photos on the internet it appears they have made a number of improvements.

 

https://www.goldstarmuseum.iowa.gov/

 

They have a vehicle park of mostly US vehicles from the Cold War period, but also a number of what appear to be captured Iraqi items. Unfortunately at the time there were no markers or placards to give the background of the vehicles there, so one is left to speculate as to how they came to be in the middle of Iowa.

 

The first item is the venerable T-55 tank. This one looks like it has had some rough handling either in the field or in shipment.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-54%2FT-55

 

 

 

 

 

T-55 1.jpg

T-55 3.jpg

T-55 4.jpg

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Despite their huge numbers around the world, some US personnel who have encountered the T-55 have considered it to be a poorly made vehicle. Note the less than polite spray painted message on the T-55 wrecked on the infamous "Highway of Death" in 1991. (Source: same Wikipedia article)

 

A close up of the one in Iowa shows a very mangled fender skirt along the side. In the first photo, damage to the front of it can also be observed. This shows the economy with which the Soviets / Russians only armored the most vital portions of the vehicle.

800px-Destroyed_Iraqi_T-55_on_highway_between_Basra_&_Kuwait_City_1991-04-18_1.JPEG

T-55 5.jpg

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This was parked with the Iraqi equipment, but I am not sure what it is or what the country of origin would be. It does not seem to match anything that the Soviets made.

 

If anyone can provide an identification, I'd be grateful.

 

If anyone has any other photos or story that fit this topic, please feel free to add to the thread.

 

I know the 1st CAV museum also had some Iraqi vehicles captured from the First Gulf War, and I will see if I can find some on-line photos.

UNK 1.jpg

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That’s a Chinese NORINCO M1939 twin 37mm towed AA gun. The Iraqis had them in service.

 

Thank you. I was thinking Chinese. I can't seem to find a good reference article on the twin version.

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easterneagle87

Good pictures. On a deployment through Ft. Stewart, GA I took a bunch of pictures of Iraqi vehicles brought back from the First Gulf War. It seemed every building had a vehicle out in fronmt of it.

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I was at Fort Hood when 2AD and 1st CAV returned from ODS. I volunteered at the 2AD Museum when we took delivery of a MT-LB, BRDM-2, 2S1, BMP-1, Type-59/T-55, and T-72. We got the BMP, 2S1, MT-LB, and T-72 running (along with a T-62 that came from an unspecified country in the 80s) and used them in a training video where they were filmed through the TADS on an AH-64 Apache while driving around.

 

I have a lot of photos I've never shown before of these vehicles. Here's the BMP-1, a sweet driving machine with a 15.8L 300HP 6-cylinder Diesel. I took a series of interior photos too as this was captured fully equipped.

post-185417-0-44979400-1545675855_thumb.jpg

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The 2S1 was the NATO code for the M-1974 122mm SP Howitzer. Nice sized turret with a tunnel connecting the rear area with the driver's position in the front left. We sanded it and repainted it while I was there. Here we are driving it around to the painting area. The MT-LB ambulance is parked next to it, the Chinese Type 59 is behind it.

post-185417-0-05648200-1545676080_thumb.jpg

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This low mileage T-72 was like new when captured, the 35L 780HP V-12 Diesel ran like a clock. Very powerful, very fast, and had a shifter much like the old Hurst Speed Shifter where you slammed it manually down a notched gate from gear to gear as you sped away. The smoke generator worked too, very very well.

post-185417-0-41464100-1545676466_thumb.jpg

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The Fort Hood Sentinel newspaper sent out a photographer to film our training in black and white. Here's the 2S1 with the fresh paint job as an AH-64 Apache and OH-58 Kiowa fly out to 1,000 meters to begin filming.

post-185417-0-47064900-1545677621_thumb.jpg

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Lastly, I was in the turret when the driver (a CW2 Apache pilot) told me over the intercom he was going to try the smoke generator. He kept asking, "Is it working?" and I kept yelling, "Turn it off!". End result shut down traffic at Fort Hood for almost a half hour.

post-185417-0-94045600-1545678236_thumb.jpg

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Here's a new one that I'd never heard of... a T-55 Enigma.

 

Apparently it was a failed experiment to up armor the T-55.

 

This one lives on as a gate guard for the 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion (Technical Intelligence) at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.

 

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/Iraq/t-55-enigma/

 

 

T-55_Enigma_203rd.jpg

T55Enigma_02-203rd.jpg

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