As rumors abound that the fabled US M1 Abrams tanks have finally made it to Ukraine and have been spotted among the ranks of their forces, it remains unclear whether these weapons will fare better than other NATO hardware that Kiev had thrown into battle beforehand.
Images leaked on social media indicate that Ukrainian forces may already be operating the M1 Abrams main battle tanks that the White House previously promised to provide Kiev. The news comes weeks after images of charred wrecks of German Leopard 2 tanks made headlines.
While these Abrams tanks are yet to be seen in action on the battlefields, Kiev may have a reason to keep this armor out of harm’s way, argued Sergey Suvorov, a retired colonel of the Russian army and tank expert.
“I think they are keeping these tanks in reserve to avoid more reports about NATO hardware burning,” Suvorov suggested. “Well, they (Abrams tanks) will burn anyway. These Abrams tanks were burning in Iraq and in other places where they got deployed.”
He also dismissed claims that the Abrams tank’s engine cannot handle the subzero temperatures in the Ukrainian conflict zone during winter.
Whereas a diesel engine often takes up to 30 minutes to “heat up” in order to start in cold weather conditions, a gas turbine engine like the one M1 Abrams or the Russian T-80 tanks have can start “within 50 seconds in any freezing weather,” said Suvorov.......More Below
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
