Comments on: Qaddafi: “Say, that’s a nice tank you got there…”

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:54:51 +0000

That too.

By: mins0306

mins0306 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:19:13 +0000

Actually, I was talking about how national pride and prestige influences the procurement of weapon systems, instead of plain old common sense.

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:11:00 +0000

Dollars and cents.

- 3rd generation ATGW, $20k.

- Modern MBT, $8m.

It’s about the export market, not national defense.

By: mins0306

mins0306 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:23:41 +0000

Good point.

But on the hand, the same argument can also apply to S. Korea. Why doesn’t the ROKA buy more anti-tank missiles, which are cheaper, instead of the hugely expensive XK2?

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:35:14 +0000

Frame was probably a bad choice of wording. I do know that the Turks will make a number of modifications to the XK2 to make it a better operational fit with their likely tactical scenarios.

So Egypt has all that huh? Why don’t they just get Kornets to counter the M1s and just lure the Apaches into kill zones with a lot of anti-aircraft fire? I’ve become rather disappointed in the Apache’s demonstrated vulnerability to small arms fire.

By: mins0306

mins0306 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:29:18 +0000

Oh..ok, didn’t catch that. Well I’m not a regular participant so….

Anyway, one of Libya’s neighbors is Egypt, which if I remember correctly once got itself into a shooting war with that particular nation. Egypt has a high-tech arsenal which includes F-16s, E-2C Hawkeyes, AH-64 Apaches, and M1A1 Abrams battle tanks.

So, it’s obvious why they might be interesed in the XK2.

As for XK2 having a frame for a variety of configurations, not sure about that. Need to recheck a magazine I have at home.

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:01:08 +0000

Why yes they are, particularly with that groovy, low-rider suspension it has. However, the Turks also have dry plains and deserts (in addition to hilly areas) for their planned version of the XK2. Thus, I imagine that its frame has room for a variety of configurations…

By: bumfromkorea

bumfromkorea — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:32:06 +0000

Aren’t Korean tanks designed for mountainous terrains? I thought Libya was mostly deserts and dry plains?

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:15:53 +0000

Thanks mins.

Actually, my first post was this:

http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/.....-to-graft/

My thoughts are that Korean weapons like the XK2 have got to be impractical for Libya. They have 3rd world neighbors. Why do they need a tank with 1st world capabilities?

However, I can see the KT-1 filling a role. That is unless Libya puts Russian rockets on the wings and use it to bomb Sudanese villiages…

By: mins0306

mins0306 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:48:54 +0000

Congratulations on your first post, WangKon.

Well, it won’t be the first time that S. Korea has helped Qaddafi, militarily.