Page 23 - History of War - Issue 25-16
P. 23

MAIN BATTLE TANKS



                                                        Left: A T-62 main
                                                        battle tank of the  5  BATTLEOFTHEVALLEYOFTEARS
                                                        Soviet Red Army lays  GOLAN HEIGHTS, ISRAELI-SYRIAN FRONTIER 6-9 OCTOBER 1973
                                                        a smokescreen
                                                                        At the height of the Yom Kippur War crisis, Israeli forces, including a
                                                                        relative few Centurion main battle tanks, make a heroic stand against
                                                                        invading Syrian troops and Soviet-made T-54/55 tanks.
                                                                         6  KOSOVOWAR
                                                                        KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA, BALKANS FEBRUARY 1998 – JUNE 1999
              SOVIET MAIN TANKS                                         With NATO support, the Kosovo Liberation Army secures the withdrawal
                                                                        of Yugoslavian forces from its territory. Main battle tanks such as the
              T-54                 T-72                                 German Leopard 2 are deployed to Kosovo with the International Security
              In service: 1946-present  In service: 1973-present        Assistance Force.
              T-62                                                        The German-designed Leopard 2 main battle tank deployed with the armed
              In service: 1961-present                                    forces of several nations in Kosovo to maintain a tenuous peace
              T-90
              Origin: Russia
              In service: 1993-present
             Right: An original T-54, The Soviet
             Union’s irst main battle tank



            “MAINBATTLETANKSSUCHASTHEGERMAN
            LEOPARD2AREDEPLOYEDTOKOSOVOWITHTHE
            INTERNATIONALSECURITYASSISTANCEFORCE”

     6
                                                                   1                                     TYPE 90 KYU-MARU
               8
                                                                                                                 Origin: Japan
                                                                                                         In service: 1990-present
                           7       2
                     5                                                                                   K2 BLACK PANTHER
                                                                                                             Origin: South Korea
                                                                                                         In service: 2014-present
                                                                                                                    TYPE 96
         3         MERKAVA                                                                         Origin: People’s Republic of China
                   Origin: Israel                                                                        In service: 1997-present
                   In service: 1979-present                   4



                         7  BATTLEOFBAGHDAD                                 8  SYRIANCIVILWAR
                        BAGHDAD, IRAQ 3-12 APRIL 2003                       SYRIA MARCH 2011-PRESENT
                        During the culmination of the US-led coalition invasion of Iraq to  During an ongoing, multifaceted civil war, the military of Syrian
                        topple dictator Saddam Hussein, US armoured forces take control  President Bashar al-Assad has employed Soviet-built main battle
                        of the Iraqi capital, destroying enemy tanks with great precision.  tanks such as the T-54/55 and T-72 in an effort to defeat insurgencies.
                                                                            Below: Two destroyed Syrian Army main battle tanks lie amid the
                                                                            rubble of a mosque following a 2012 battle in the city of Azaz









                 Right: M1
               Abrams main
              battle tanks of
              the US Marine                                                                                                  Images: FreeVectorMaps.com, Getty
               Corps patrol
              a street in the
              Iraqi capital of
              Baghdad after
               its capture in
                April 2003


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