Jeff2146🇧🇪 Profile picture
Writer for @ArchivesDefense, volunteer with @GeoConfirmed and contributor to @Militarylandnet. 🍶🦊/✂️✨
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Nov 13, 2024 17 tweets 4 min read
The Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank

Part 3 - Series production

A thread 🧵 Image The previous part

Oct 30, 2024 21 tweets 5 min read
Development of the Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank

Part 2; 2nd Generation Prototypes, the Leopard 2AV

A thread 🧵 Image The previous part

Oct 18, 2024 22 tweets 8 min read
Development of the Leopard 2

Part 1; 1st generation prototypes.

A Thread 🧵 Image Previous part;

Oct 11, 2024 15 tweets 5 min read
Development of the Leopard 2 Main Battle Tanks.

Prologue; Kpz-70/MBT-70 and Keiler. Image As West-Germany entered the mid 1960’s before the first Leopard 1’s rolled of the production line it became quite obvious that the 90mm guns on the M48 and Kanonenjagdpanzer would no longer be sufficient to deal with threats from beyond the iron curtain. Image
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Sep 3, 2024 23 tweets 13 min read
Last month saw an enormous amount of Foreign Military Sales approvals by the US State Department.

In total 33,176 Billion USD in approved sales across 22 separate FMS cases.

Here is a short thread 🧵 of those approvals.


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🇳🇴 Norway – M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems

- 16 M142 HIMARS
- 15 M30A2 GMLRS Pods
- 15 M31A2 GMLRS Pods
- 100 M57 ATACMS

Estimated price; 580 million USD

dsca.mil/press-media/ma…
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Jun 23, 2024 72 tweets 18 min read
The USA’s heavy mover, HEMTT.


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The HEMTT’s story begins on 1978 when the US army conducts a market survey as part of its HMTT (High Mobility Tactical Truck) program. This study served to see if not off the shelve options existed that could be procured without additional development.
Apr 16, 2024 86 tweets 23 min read
Today we will take a look at NATO’s strongest combat vehicle not to mention the most adorable🥰.

The West-German Waffenträger Wiesel 1. Just look at how adorable it is Development work on the Wiesel begins in 1969 when for the first time tacticians and technicians of the West-German MOD and Heeresamt (Army department) conducted studies on replacing the ageing Kraftkarren (KraKa).
Apr 2, 2024 43 tweets 10 min read
Here is an anonymous AMA because @ThrustWR did it yesterday and I am a sucker for stea... borrowing good/fun ideas.

Question and answers will be posted in the replies as a thread.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… @ThrustWR Q - Why should the Belgian Air Force buy Rafale to replace its F-16?

A - Because the CEO of Dassault is a massive cry baby and will not stop bitching about us participating the the EU projects France wants so desperately until we buy the plane they never submitted to the tender.
Feb 28, 2024 57 tweets 15 min read
Today we take a look at West-Germany’s cold war Jagdpanzers. From development to production and export.

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As the Warsaw pacts threat to western Europe became larger in the early 1950’s it was requested that West-Germany reestablishes a military. This new military the “Bundeswehr” needed a equipping.

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Feb 3, 2024 17 tweets 5 min read
A quick recognition guide to the M109’s in Ukrainian service.

This serves as a guide on how to quickly and easily identify which M109 variant you are looking at.


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M109A3GN; Originally a German M109A3G sold to Norway and later donated to Ukraine. In total 23 of these have been delivered to Ukraine by Norway.
Jan 1, 2024 69 tweets 19 min read
The Dingo family of vehicles was Germany's answer to the quickly changing form that military action took in the late 90's and early 2000's.

(Happy new year all, I hope you all enjoy this new years gift)

A Thread 🧵
ATF Dingo 1
ATF Dingo 2
Dingo 1

The need for a new form of AFV became painfully apparent to the western coalition forces in 2002 as the transitioned from the high intensity engagements with the Taliban to military occupation duties.
Dec 25, 2023 67 tweets 16 min read
The CVR(T) is one of the more common western platforms in Ukrainian service it often gets overlooked. So let us take a look at the UK’s most successful modular platform.

A thread 🧵 Image The British military had traditionally seen great success in the employment of light vehicles in the scout role. Their small size, mobility and speed became defining characteristics for their reconnaissance forces.
Dec 18, 2023 15 tweets 3 min read
Oh boy.

A 🧵

1. The original thermal sight used on the T-90M was indeed produced by French company but has since been replaced by one that Russia claims it can produce domestically.
Nov 10, 2023 126 tweets 22 min read
Here we go. A thread on my all time favourite IFV the German Puma.

The word doc is 22 pages and the word counter says 3850. This will be a long read.

0/124 (yes, really) Image Marder 2;

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Oct 12, 2023 50 tweets 13 min read
A thread on the Dutch-German scout car. From the unusual development processes to its variants and single export customer.

1/50 Image The Fennek unlike many other vehicles found its origin in the private sector. The Dutch DAF Special Products Aerospace & Vehicle Systems (referred to as DAF going forward) developed the vehicle on their own initiative and resources.

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Oct 5, 2023 69 tweets 18 min read
So here is the Marder 1 thread.

So remember when I said 55-65 tweets yesterday.... it ended up being 75🙃but I hope you will enjoy it non the less.

1/75 Image As Germany starts rebuilding its military to allow it to protect itself in case of a Soviet invasion they tell NATO that they will look to get 12 divisions ready by 1960. Such a massive force would obviously need equipping.

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Sep 25, 2023 64 tweets 19 min read
Time for a thread on the PzH2000, NATO’s self-propelled monster which I affectionately call the PanzerHouse 2000 (Get it, because it is big enough to live in).

1/59 Image Our story begins in the early 1970’s. During this time the Bundeswehr fielded the US build M109G and M107 self-propelled guns. These 2 SPG had maximum engagement ranges of 18 and 32km respectively.

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Sep 24, 2023 45 tweets 13 min read
Inspired by threads from @CalamineW and @Trotes936897 I will be trying my hand a a thread on the Leopard 1.

1/44 Image @CalamineW @Trotes936897 Work on the Leopard started in 1956 in West-Germany. At the time West Germany had only just re-established a military after its defeat in WW2 and was equipping it’s tank arm with US-built M47 and M48 tanks but the desire for a German-built tank was very much there.

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Aug 28, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
Should address this tweet as it has both wrong numbers and wrongful attribution of donations.

A thread 🧵
We start of with the actual numbers per disclosed pledges;

-DE/NL/DK 100 Leopard 1A5/1A5DK
-DE 30 Leopard 1A5
-DE 25 Leopard 1A5BE
-DE 52 Gepard 1A2
-DE/US 30 Cheetah PRTL
-DE 42 Wisent-1
-DE 21 BergePanzer 2
-DE 29 Biber
-NO 3 NM189
-NO 1 BergePanzer 2

Total 333
Jul 7, 2023 8 tweets 2 min read
The budget committee of the Bundestag has approved a 783,3 million € budget for the acquisition of ammunition of which 203,1 million is earmarked for Ukraine.

Small arms, 30mm, 120mm and 155mm ammunition will be purchased with this budget.

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esut.de/2023/07/meldun… 155mm:

322,2 million € will be used for 155mm artillery ammunition. Germany will receive 50.000 shells by 2026 and Ukraine will receive 25.000 shells by 2025.

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Jun 26, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
The USA has chosen GDLS and RHM as the 2
contenders for the XM30 Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle.

Both are to submit at least 7 prototypes with 4 optional units for field testing in fiscal year 2025.

1/5 🧵

defensenews.com/industry/techw… For this both where awarded a 1,6 billion USD contract, the whole project is valued at 45 billion USD.

BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense and Point Blank Enterprises failed to meet US army requirements during the preliminary design evaluation phase.

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