Russian Invasion of Ukraine Megathread - Episode III - Revenge of the Ruski (now unlocked with new skins and gameplay modes!!!)

[Foltest]

Rate me as late if it was posted before, but France has confirmed that they are sending over some of their AMX-10 to Ukraine.
Light tanks that pack a punch. If Ukraine are smart, they would use them for hit and run.

French defense ministry confirms talks to deliver AMX-10 RC 'light tanks' to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the French president for preparations to send light tanks to Ukraine on Twitter.

www.lemonde.fr

https://archive.ph/fkUyl

 

[Feline Supremacist]

Rate me as late if it was posted before, but France has confirmed that they are sending over some of their AMX-10 to Ukraine.
Light tanks that pack a punch. If Ukraine are smart, they would use them for hit and run.

French defense ministry confirms talks to deliver AMX-10 RC 'light tanks' to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the French president for preparations to send light tanks to Ukraine on Twitter.

www.lemonde.fr

https://archive.ph/fkUyl

It's a 105mm canon on wheels with no armor; by modern standards it's not even a tank; a Ukrainian T-64 would do a better job. This constant "Oh boy a new Wunderwaffen!" is pretty tiresome, everyone's sending their outdated Cold War junk so they can revive their MIC to save their respective economies. Barnum was a genius when it came to people, I tell you whut.

 

[Blewberry Nausea]

No you idiot of course this new weapon for Ukraine will totally turn the tide! Moscow by Valentine’s Day!!!

 

[White_N]

Ukrainians abroad are now obliged to register for military service
link
link 2
Ukrainian embassies and consulates will facilitate the return to Ukraine during mobilization, during wartime and during a special period of conscripts and reservists who are on temporary consular registration.


Video with British special forces in Ukraine, Kherson direction. They are armed with Ukrainian semi-automatic rifles UAR-10

 

[Fatniggo1488]

Ukrainians abroad are now obliged to register for military service
link
link 2
Ukrainian embassies and consulates will facilitate the return to Ukraine during mobilization, during wartime and during a special period of conscripts and reservists who are on temporary consular registration.
View attachment 4204339

Video with British special forces in Ukraine, Kherson direction. They are armed with Ukrainian semi-automatic rifles UAR-10
View attachment 4204340

Lol holy shit, we're legit and fully at the "volunteers" phase of this conflict and by that I don't mean random plebittors.

 

[Ghostse]

It's a 105mm canon on wheels with no armor; by modern standards it's not even a tank; a Ukrainian T-64 would do a better job. This constant "Oh boy a new Wunderwaffen!" is pretty tiresome, everyone's sending their outdated Cold War junk so they can revive their MIC to save their respective economies. Barnum was a genius when it came to people, I tell you whut.

Depends on if they are getting reactive armor to go with them or not. Without, they are BMP-proof BMP-killers & mobile firesupport. With, they would be useful as either probing armor or as a heavy thunder run.

Most likely that's "without" since I don't think France deployed any reactive armor on their AMX's.

The Bastion APCs (read: Surrender Monkey MRAPs) are a much bigger deal, but I'm not sure how much a of a tactical impact they'd make.

Neither side is talking numbers; france has 240 AMX-10RCs. They are producing Bastions, but the target for Bastion is Africa/mid-east/SA; the french armed services evaluated and turned them down; the largest operator of Bastions is senegal with ~50. So it might be a dozen of shits they don't want any more, or possibly a larger delivery of fresh vehicles, but looks like around 20. That's not going make a dent, and will be more logistics burden.

My own speculation:
The big push in the fall was made possible by Thunder Run tactics - ukrainian commandos mounted up on black ford raptor trucks technicals and just rolled through any area that didn't have russian soldiers heavily defending it at that moment, attacking anything of importance, and then bugging out. Its incredibly disruptive, demoralizing to troops and makes officers panic "are we being encircled?", especially officers who are not given a lot of battlespace information, may distrust their superiors, and are in a army that operates in such a manner reinforcements might not show up or be reach able.

The AMX-10RC would be (near) perfect for an attempt to replay that - a 105mm gun that can keep up with the technicals and really sow chaos.
I say near perfect because I'm not able to find any data about crew protections, just the armor, but it looks like the crew would survive an RPG strike, but the vehicle would likely not.


As other posters have said, even if its the backbone for a Thunder Running Mariupol, Ukraine needs heavy armor to shore up their front.

 

[Fatniggo1488]

The whole Kherson debate is kinda dumb. If it wasn't just a Russian withdrawal to their claimed territories and instead an actual full-on rout from an occupied area, there wouldn't be a lot of question about it. Even with how relatively calmly the US rout from Afghanistan ended, there were still a notable number of casualties. Likewise, we know for a fact the Ukranians love to post pictures of dead Russian soldiers and "saboteurs" they capture, torture and then kill, but this hasn't really happened in the case of the Kherson withdrawal which makes it pretty obvious that this wasn't really a Ukrainian military victory and more of Russian forces just pulling back to where they want the lines to be.

Edit: also @WolfeTone Nigger you're gonna love this

https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/10/18/ukraines-parliament-officially-recognized-chechen-republic-of-ichkeria-occupied-by-the-russian-federation/

 

[teriyakiburns]

The AMX-10RC would be (near) perfect for an attempt to replay that

That's pretty much what the AMX-10 is built for. While the French colloquially call it a "char" (something they call just about everything with a gun on top regardless of its role), it's actually a roues-canon, or "wheeled gun". It's a very heavily armed scout car.

 

[Foltest]

It's a 105mm canon on wheels with no armor; by modern standards it's not even a tank; a Ukrainian T-64 would do a better job. This constant "Oh boy a new Wunderwaffen!" is pretty tiresome, everyone's sending their outdated Cold War junk so they can revive their MIC to save their respective economies. Barnum was a genius when it came to people, I tell you whut.

Agree on calling it a wunderwaffen is fucking dumb.
However the 105 canon is still strong enough to punch russian AFVs.
Combine with its speed, and you have a recon vehicle that is able to punch though most of russians AFVs.

 

[teriyakiburns]

British special forces in Ukraine

That bloke is not any regular and definitely not special forces. SAS wouldn't be caught dead on camera and the royal marines wouldn't sweep a rifle like that. He's a volunteer. By the accent, I'd say he's from somewhere in the north east or the midlands.

 

[Useful_Mistake]

Henryk M. was accused by the district prosecutor in Głogów in Lower Silesia of the crime of publicly praising the initiation and conduct of an aggressive war by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. He faces from several months to 5 years in prison.

Western democracy and freedom in action.

EU Assessed in November That Russia Lost up to 60% Of Its Military Tanks and 250,000 Soldiers in Ukraine

I'm sure this time this is true! Totally!

Germany discusses delivery of Gepard to Ukraine with two states

Germany to hand over Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine

Interesting. Should be helpful to Ukraine.

 

[Glowie]

Very interesting.

That's orthodox Christian thing. Every January 7th, last thing authoritarian government needs are religious majority turning against them.

Russia is suffering enough from brain drain as. Putin is at the point of allowing citizenships to people who are willing to fight (and die) in Ukraine.

I don't know about the next guy, getting the privilege of living in soviet Era concrete jungle as a reward isn't really appealing to me.

Russian shills ITT are easy to talk shit, I don't see them shooting at "ukropigs" that they hate so much, it's easy to talk shit but walking the walk is another.

How many people who are in Russian military are doing their tour of duty in Ukraine right now? I'm genuinely curious. Watching slavs fighting other slavs and a ex KGB despot who is clinging on past soviet glory is entertaining in itself.

 

[CaptainAutism69]

Ukrainians abroad are now obliged to register for military service
link
link 2
Ukrainian embassies and consulates will facilitate the return to Ukraine during mobilization, during wartime and during a special period of conscripts and reservists who are on temporary consular registration.
View attachment 4204339

Video with British special forces in Ukraine, Kherson direction. They are armed with Ukrainian semi-automatic rifles UAR-10
View attachment 4204340

So who wants to tell vince?

 

[introvertedobserver]

I've learned to never say never, but if Russia uses even tac-nukes, the rest of the world will have no choice but to respond. This is how you lose China - who TBF isn't really doing anything, but "not being against us" is huge.
The reason is Ukraine is not an existential threat to Russia, just to their expansion plans. Having to use Nukes on Ukraine not only makes you look unstable, but worse than that it makes you look weak.

I do believe its possible Putin might give the order, but I doubt anyone with warhead access will obey.

Also remember that Russia's "Nuke Triad", in a conflict against NATO/US, is really a monoad. They don't have any advanced stealth strategic bombers. Back in the day, the operating ceilings of cold war bombers made them interceptor-resistant, but that was seriously degraded in the 80s and now is practically a non-factor. As a strike against NATO, their bombers are nearly a non-threat; they are still a threat for less militarily evolved neighbors though.

The US has B-2 spirit (and soon B-24 raiders) which is able to operate at high ceilings, with stealth, and incredible endurance. A B-2 Spirit could take off from Guam, and be going anywhere in the world. So if you are Russia, even if you suspect this a real mission targeting you and not the US fucking with you, you don't know where those bomebr will be coming at you from. They could even seem to be heading west, and the swing north and then strike St. Petersburg from the Barent sea.

Russia has boomers, but Russian boomers lack the stealth and operational capabilities that US subs have. An Ohio class can creep near the shore and launch submerged without support. Russian boomers need to have their surface navy pull security. Unlike the US where sub launches are a viable surprise first or immediate retaliatory strike from anywhere, Russian subs are ground-based launchers at sea.
(Also the US has enough nuclear attack subs they could task two subs to every Russian boomer, including the ones in drydock, and still have a few idle.)
Given the prevalence of US space imaging, and sub-fleet disparity, the "good enough" stealth and need to operate with surface navy security turns out to have not been that bad in the long term, and efforts that would have gone into trying to make them stealthy enough for independent blue-water operations were probably better spent somewhere else.

Ukraine may not be an existential threat to Russia, but Russia completely loosing in Ukraine is an existential threat to Putin's power. And I think he's exactly the type of person that would order tactical nuke strikes in a last ditch attempt to get Ukraine to give some concessions so he can avoid a complete loss.

Russia can't win a war of attrition when the Western world is continuously resupplying and actively increasing Ukraine's military capabilities. His only real option is to continue escalating.

 

[Logoden]

The AMX-10RC would be (near) perfect for an attempt to replay that - a 105mm gun that can keep up with the technicals and really sow chaos.
I say near perfect because I'm not able to find any data about crew protections, just the armor, but it looks like the crew would survive an RPG strike, but the vehicle would likely not.

I do not want my dear Jupiterian leader to implicate our state even more into this clusterfuck to satisfy his deliriums of grandeur and its masters, but it might be a good occasion to further test the AMX-10 in a more symetrical warfare, a probably good opportunity for the french army to reevaluate their military doctrine. Take note the AMX-10 will be replaced by the ERBC Jaguar. I also read here and there the munition used for the main gun takes around 2 years to be produced for the french army, but I have only comments so take it with a grain of salt.

I used an auto-translate, it might be inaccurate. Apologies in advance.

Spoiler: Some incomplete informations from the AMX-10 french wikipédia page(it seems to be more fleshed out than its english counterpart).

Ammunation
The Canon F2 of the AMX-10 RC uses exclusive ammunition of 105 × 527r which are not interchangeable with the 105 mm ammunition at the NATO14 standard. 38 shells are swept away, 12 shells ready for shooting, the latter are stored vertically, to the left of the barrel cylinder head, supported against the tower basket. The other 26 are stored in a rack located in the box, to the right of the driver.
The typical endowment in ammunition is 10-flick-spun, 9 hollow load shells and 19 explosive fragmentation shells15. The range of ammunition used by AMX-10 RC includes:

OCT 105 F3: A hollow busy shell capable of perforating (and this at any distance) a steel plate more than 350 mm thick or more than 150 mm under an incidence of 60 °. The weight of the projectile is 5.7 kg for an initial speed of 1,120 m/s;
BSCC 105 F3: The Boulet Enfimili Creuse (BSCC) is an ammunition of exercise with the same ballistic as the Occ 105 F3;
OE 105 F3: an explosive fragmentation shell. The weight of the projectile is 7.2 kg for an initial speed of 800 m/s;
Ofum 105 F3: a smoke shell containing white phosphorus with an initial speed of 800 m/s;
Ofl 105 F316: Entering the endowment in 1987, this arrow shell has an alloy bar of tungsten capable of crossing horizontally, at close range, a thickness of steel of 365 mm thick tilted at 60 ° or NATO targets simple target heavy tank and TRIPLE TRIPLE TRIPLE LARGE at respective distances of 1,200 m and 2,200 m. Its initial speed is 1,400 m/s.

Protection
The box consists of a mechanical structure in 7020 aluminum alloy which provides protection against the bursts of artillery projectiles and Automatic Middle Caliber. The Aluminum 7020 alloy has the particularity of presenting good mechanical resistance, the space between the wheels is occupied by fuel tanks. Between December 1990 and January 1991, the AMX-10 RC of the 1 ° RS units, 1 ° REC and RICM having to participate in Operation Daguet were overcome by the giat in the military city of King Khalid (KKMC). This high hardness steel overbrais was installed at the front, on the pilot pane and on the mask of the turret. The wheels were also covered with aluminum-sable-sable gaiters. Since the end of the 1990s, overbill made of high hardness steel sheets 5 mm to 10 mm thick also covers the sides of the turret as well as those of the box. This addition is definitively losing the AMX-10 RC its amphibious capacity but, in return, protects it against pierin-incendices and 23 mm BZTs at a distance of 300 m.

From CNEWS - Archive

Spoiler: [B]Guerre en Ukraine : tout savoir sur les chars AMX-10 RC que la france va livrer à l'Ukraine[/B]

While the war in Ukraine continues, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron announced the delivery to kyiv of "light combat tanks" of French manufacturing, the AMX-10 RC.
A strategic military turning point. This Wednesday, January 4, Emmanuel Macron reiterated his desire to militarily support Ukraine with the announcement of an "exceptional delivery of equipment for ground-to-air defense, as well as the reinforcement of the training of Ukrainian forces, and The implementation of a special fund of 200 million euros to allow the Ukrainian army to provide equipment ”.

In this package, France will notably deliver French combat tanks, the AMX-10 RC, old but renowned for their effectiveness. No indication as to the number or deadlines has been specified. This delivery will integrate into the progressive replacement of the AMX-10 RC of the French army by another battle tank, the Jaguar.
French army flagship
Flagship of the French army, the AMX-10 RC is a vehicle on wheels and not on tracks like most tanks. It is therefore "very mobile", "certainly old but efficient", said the executive in a press release. In service since 1980 in the army, this versatile machine has been of all external operations. However, he has undergone many improvements over the years.

From now on, it is equipped with a 280 horsepower “Baudoin” engine and six -wheel drive which give it mobility and autonomy. This 9m long steel monster, counting the barrel, for just over 3m wide, can reach 80 km/h. He is also able to travel 800 kilometers on the roads, without needing refueling. In addition, its system of variation in ground clearance, adjustable depending on the land, allows it to cross almost all types of obstacles.

On the armament side, the AMX-10 RC has a 105mm cannon and two 7.62mm machine gunners. Its optical means, which give an optimal observation whatever the conditions, allow it a deployment day and night.

The tank, about 16 tonnes (20 in combat order), is activated by a crew of four people: a chef, a drawer, a charger and a pilot. Intended to fulfill intelligence, safety or investigation missions, it is entirely amphibious, that is to say that it can move on earth and in submerged environment, and it can also fight in contaminated atmosphere.
A strategic military turning point
The arrival of this vehicle within the Ukrainian army is a decisive element that could tip the balance of power on the front. Its deployment could notably allow Ukrainians to build coordinated counter-offensive operations to do a lot of damage in the Russian ranks. So far, France has mainly delivered trucks with Caesar artillery systems which have been particularly effective and useful for Ukraine.

From Air-Cosmos - Archive

Spoiler: La France va livrer des blindés Bastion et AMX-10RC à l'Ukraine

President Emmanuel Macron officially announced to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that France was soon to deliver Bastion troop transport vehicles to Ukraine as well as armored AMX-10C recognition vehicles. The latter will be particularly useful for recognition missions but also for support missions, thanks to their mobility and their 105 mm barrel.
An announcement
On January 4, during a telephone call, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, discussed the currently underway conflict in Ukraine as well as on a future military assistance pack in France. The first to confirm via a tweet the delivery of light tanks as well as armored vehicles for transporting Bastion troops. The second confirmed the sending of light tanks as well as to continue supporting the Ukrainian armed forces in terms of air defense. For information, light tanks have been identified by other official French sources and by Reuters as AMX-10C armored vehicles.
A vehicle that wants to be very mobile
The AMX-10 RC is a armored vehicle for armed recognition arrived in 1981 in French units and which must replace the old EBR Panhard. Concretely, he must be able to shed light on combat tanks by carrying out recognition missions in areas deemed too dangerous for classic light recognition vehicles. Recognition obliges, it aims to be very mobile: the wheels are preferred to the caterpillars, as confirmed by the RC for "-canon wheels". The latter then have an exception within the Army, already used on the EBR Panhard: an oleopneumatic suspension allowing to lower or increase the height of the box as a function of the land.
No figure is currently given with regard to delivery to Ukraine. However, there will be no capacity hole: these vehicles are being retired with the arrival of new armored and combat armored vehicles (EBRC) Jaguar. In 2021, the Army used a total of 245 AMX-10CRC (latest improved version with a GPS antenna, electrification of the turret, ...).
A sacred punch for recognition ...
In addition to being very mobile, it also has a fairly rare firepower for a reconnaissance vehicle, with a 105 mm turret barrel, a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and an external machine gun (on the turret) also of 7.62 mm. It is also equipped with a Safran M401 shooting pipe (first French vehicle to have an automatic shooting pipe).
... with a logistics Achilles heel
The arrival of the AMX-10C will however represent a logistics challenge for the Ukrainians and will be entirely dependent on France. The semi-automatic 105 mm (105 F2 48 calibers) can draw different shells. However, they do not correspond to the 105 mm shells responding to NATO standards: the barrel draws only a certain type of munition of 105 mm (105x527r). Consequently, the offensive capacity of these future Ukrainian vehicles is totally dependent on French military aid.
A blindé(armored) that has proven itself
Nevertheless, the AMX-10C has participated in all major army operations. It is notably used at the forefront of the French armored forces during the Daguet operation during the storm of the desert in 1991. This operation will also see the addition of a dopwing, which will be generalized after the whole park of AMX-10C. This additional protection will see the abolition of its amphibious capacity. He also knows the Balkans, or even more recently Operation Barkhane. In addition to the recognition missions, its firepower and its armor have been of great help for many French and allied infantrymen. A debate on the classification of the AMX-10C is currently underway: armored or chariot? An article is currently being written and will be published soon.
New troop carrier
Another part of the delivery, France provides for the sending to Ukraine of light armored vehicles of troop transport (APC) of the Bastion type. This armored 4x4 vehicle is produced by the French company Arquus. It is armored and can take an external machine gun of 7.62 or 12.7 mm (manual or cable). A standard bastion includes two crew members and can transport up to 8 soldiers. The figure of 20 bastion is highlighted but not yet officially confirmed. It should be noted that the Ukrainian infantry has many portable anti -tank systems. Consequently, the delivery of a troop carrier has a double advantage for the Ukrainian armed forces: the increase in the mobility of the troops in general but also a better anti -tank capacity for teams specializing in anti -tank missions.

From Macron : Until the victory, until the return of peace to Europe, our support for Ukraine will not weaken. I confirmed it to President Zelensky: France will provide light combat tanks and continue its support for air defense.

May be one day, if he is desperate enough, our dear Leader Suprem Macron will send some LeClerc to Ukraine. Some frenchaboos would be creaming their panties.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

Rate me as late if it was posted before, but France has confirmed that they are sending over some of their AMX-10 to Ukraine.
Light tanks that pack a punch. If Ukraine are smart, they would use them for hit and run.

French defense ministry confirms talks to deliver AMX-10 RC 'light tanks' to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the French president for preparations to send light tanks to Ukraine on Twitter.

www.lemonde.fr

https://archive.ph/fkUyl

The French AMX-10RC is a piece of shit weapon system that is utterly unsuitable for Ukraine. Why? It has wheels instead of tracks, meaning it will will sink in mud and snow down to its tits the moment it gets off paved roads. Also it has aluminum armor, barely providing any protection to the poor bastards inside. The base variant of the AMX-10RC (without expensive and heavy armor upgrades which would make it even less maneuverable) can be turned into Swiss cheese by a mobik with a PKM, not to mention an RPG or a Lancet drone. Oh and they also use proprietary French ammunition, incompatible with anything NATO or Soviet. France is offloading old useless garbage to Ukraine under the guise of aid.

Oh yeah and the main gun on that platform is not stabilized, meaning it cannot even fire on the move. Kind of renders it useless as a tank hunter, no? Not that it will ever see an enemy tank, just waves of drones and artillery. As for it being a BMP killer, don't forget that a BMP is specifically designed for the terrain and isn't going to get bogged down in mud and snow due to it being tracked rather than wheeled. I guess the Ukrainians can bury these up to the turret and use them as static gun emplacements.

Note how they had to put chains on the tires but the thing is still barely moving in foot-deep snow.

 

[Napoleon Bonerfart]

Russian shills ITT are easy to talk shit, I don't see them shooting at "ukropigs" that they hate so much, it's easy to talk shit but walking the walk is another.

After Moscow bombs a church in Donetsk tomorrow and litters the site with fragmemts of HIMARS rockets, as justification for a second wave of mobilization, they will get that opportunity.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

Let's explore Ukrainian culture through folk song! Make sure to turn the sound up.

"These singing policemen (slang for nazi collaborators) are the winners of the All-Ukrainian festival of insurgent song "For Ukraine! For its will." The third place was awarded to the vocal quartet "Trident" of the Kostopol House of Culture for the performance of the song "Glory to Ukraine! Let Bandera and his state live.” The organizer of the distance competition is "Volyn Scientific and Methodological Center of Culture". As often happens, the center of Bandera culture is located in Lutsk in the building of the former synagogue - the home of the famous Rabbi Perlov, the head of the Carlin-Stolin Hasidim."
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9XVza4oImo

Look at those characters, holy fuck. I can't stop laughing, the fat one reminds me of Švejk.
Edit: Looking at their physiognomies, I'm starting to think Cesare Lombroso had a point.

 

[Mav52ri]

The French AMX-10RC is a piece of shit weapon system that is utterly unsuitable for Ukraine. Why? It has wheels instead of tracks, meaning it will will sink in mud and snow down to its tits the moment it gets off paved roads. Also it has aluminum armor, barely providing any protection to the poor bastards inside. The base variant of the AMX-10RC (without expensive and heavy armor upgrades which would make it even less maneuverable) can be turned into Swiss cheese by a mobik with a PKM, not to mention an RPG or a Lancet drone. Oh and they also use proprietary French ammunition, incompatible with anything NATO or Soviet. France is offloading old useless garbage to Ukraine under the guise of aid.

Oh yeah and the main gun on that platform is not stabilized, meaning it cannot even fire on the move. Kind of renders it useless as a tank hunter, no? Not that it will ever see an enemy tank, just waves of drones and artillery. As for it being a BMP killer, don't forget that a BMP is specifically designed for the terrain and isn't going to get bogged down in mud and snow due to it being tracked rather than wheeled. I guess the Ukrainians can bury these up to the turret and use them as static gun emplacements.

Note how they had to put chains on the tires but the thing is still barely moving in foot-deep snow.

View attachment 4205115

It's a practical glass cannon with the gun being pretty good but that's really about it, with it just being made of aluminium armour (which as a general rule of thumb has around half the equivalent protection of RHA if I remember correctly), a Duskha with AP rounds can turn them to mincemeat from the side (provided it doesn't have it's add-on hardened steel armour plates on the side), some well-placed suicide drones will turn them into scrap easily also.

But let's see how they perform, but considering what you said, we'd probably only see them in urban areas or road arteries, if the Ukrainians are smart.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

It's a practical glass cannon with the gun being pretty good but that's really about it, with it just being made of aluminium armour (which as a general rule of thumb has around half the equivalent of RHA if I remember correctly), a Duskha with AP rounds can turn them to mincemeat from the side (provided it doesn't have it's add-on hardened steel armour plates on the side), some well-placed suicide drones will turn them into scrap easily also.

But let's see how they perform, but considering what you said, we'd probably only see them in urban areas or road arteries, if the Ukrainians are smart.

Yeah, maybe not a PKM but a DShK. Although who knows what a burst of 7.62x54R 7Н14 rounds would do to it, I can't find much more info about the armor on these, other than it being aluminum and fairly lightweight (due to the wheels not being able to support as much weight as tracks).

If they can keep these things fed and away from mud and snow, sure, they're better at that role than a pickup truck, but they do present a bigger and more inviting target to any drones or artillery in the area.

Edit as not to double-post:

...and now he can fell lumber in the same forced labor camp in Siberia as his grandfather, too. Guess Opa didn't tell him how the war ended.

https://twitter.com/rsiren2/status/1569271821337350144

Spoiler: old cartoon from 1945 wasn't lying