Russia Re-Uses Museum Tanks - When Militaries Bring Antiques Back Into Service
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- It has emerged that Russia is quickly reconditioning hundreds of old T-62 tanks to serve in Ukraine - a tank design 60 years old! Some are being taken from museums! But Russia is not the only country to plunder museums for vehicles and spare parts, as this videos shows.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.o...
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NOTE - I made a typo calling the Avro Vulcan a 'Vulvan'. Repeat - TYPO! I used the correct name verbally. Doesn't require pointing out in every third comment! Thanks for your patience.
I suggest pinning this comment.
@@AtheistOrphan vulva
I feel your pain. I never can understand why people make the same comment as dozens of others in the same comment thread.
@@user-rv8wb1nl1b Vulva
Well, if these run out they've probably got some Churchill 3 and Valentine 2 tanks knocking about somewhere as a last resort! 😁😁
In the 1990s while I was in the US Air Force, we had to occasionally use parts from museum aircraft. Most people don’t realize that all those display aircraft at bases across the country are still part of the inventory and can be used for parts.
Except F-14s, because their parts were being smuggled into Iran.
There is an interview with Putin stating we are not a threat to the USA. Russia has 10% of the budget the USA has for their military. He has openly stated this on TV. The logical way they are fighting is by numbers. He is taking a tank that is useless. The javelin missiles costs 400k So for a tank that costs nothing the USA use 400k missile to destroy it. Even more crazy 70% of the arms sent to Ukraine is not getting to the front line. So that 400k is costing far more in real terms.
I remember the Air Force needing parts from a B-2 in a Colorado Museum.
@@Ironpancakemoose There are F-14s in private ownership in the US, non airworthy, stripped shells.
They hardened DRMO proceedures since then. Now any part of fixture that might be reused is purposely damaged to prevent 3rd party use when they offer an airframe to museums. Thanks Iran.
Night at the museum, but this time at the frontline.
the russians usually don't last till nightfall
@@dictatoribenevolo8394 hahaha true!
😂😂😂
War stories with Mark felton will never run out of content as long as we have politicians.
Fight at the Museum
It was right there...😂
An old Soviet army officer I knew in the Netherlands, told me they never threw anything military away. They still had artillery from WWII, rifles, transports, tyres, engines, spare parts, maintenance & communication equipment, all types of gear. They were stored all over the Soviet Union, in his district there was an open area full of stored troop carriers, he said it may have been old, but it all still worked & quantity has a quality all of itself.
“Quantity has quality all in itself”, is a neat thought provoking quote. Cool story!
@@ClipsofFury And, it is particularly relevant to Soviet/Russian army doctrine and performance on the battlefield. If you look back in history they have always liked to have the numbers and throw them at the enemy.
Thing is, if you have a battery of ten anti tank missiles, and twenty antique tanks coming at you, quantity really does have a quality all of its own.
@Infostudy not true. Eastern Front was 1:1.1 German/Soviet losses. It was essentially equal in terms of military losses.
Russian/Soviet doctrine was to focus on artillery and fortifications
@@AndRei-yc3tithis is true and still used in ukraine right now, russia have tons of stored artillery ammo
I used to work in a ship-yard in New Orleans. We hired a man who could hardly speak English, and he was
from Cuba. One of the hardest working men I've ever met, and Very meticulous about his work. Detail oriented.
We gave him a Carbon-Arc Searchlight to overhaul that had been taken from a sunken tug-boat, and it had a lot
of parts of it that were made out of brass. It was green and heavily corroded. By the end of the week, he came
back with it so shiny and bright, it looked like it was brand-new! I asked him how he learned to do that, and in
his very broken English, he told me how in Cuba, Nothing is thrown away. All of their equipment is either
Russian military surplus, or U.S. military surplus. They could take the most corroded, rusted out equipment,
put some elbow-grease and motivation into it, and turn it around to be usable again.
The phrase "They just don't make them like they used to" really is true.
Using old equipment is nothing new. (Pun intended.)
Something similar happened during the civil war in Yugoslavia.
Lots of relics had been kept active for filming movies about WW2.
They were taken off the studio lots and pressed into service.
Thats true a saw in Yogoslavia T 34 85,in service at 90- is
Quite a few M-18 and M-90 tank destroyers saw use in that conflict too
I have wondered whatever happened to the Shermans used in Kelly's Heroes as that was shot in Yugoslavia.
@@bigblue6917 Shermans where scraped or used in shooting ranges, M36 widely survive to 90s and where scraped during NATO, OSN demilitarization
There was no civil war in Yugoslavia. Serbian terrorist attacked internationally recognized countries of Slovenia and Croatia
When USN brought Iowa class BB back to service in 1980s, the Navy salvaged parts from battleship museums like former North Carolina-class and South Dakota class battleships.
Was gonna comment this, surposed he left this example out. Beat me to it!
@@ArenBerberian In fairness, it is so common to raid "museums" for arms in wartime that expecting any one example to be on the list is statistically improbable to say the least!
Those old tanks on memorial plinths starting up brings a tear to the eye, like bringing an old soldier back from the dead to fight again.
Nah its mean money well spend on something that can still start after decades unused and not mothballed
kook
It's kinda painful to watch, when you know what happens to pistons and cylinders of unmantained engine. Those monuments can maybe reach 50% of original power, but probably not. Best example of that was in the ludicrous Russian movie 'White Tiger'. They did a fight scene with several T-34s. Those engines were smoking as if the oil rings were totally destroyed, no rings on valves. At least one probably had blown head gasket. There was maybe one tank on the set who's engine wasn't broken.
@@piotrmalewski8178 the engine power isn’t the primary concern.
I always have a place in my heart for the USS Missouri, the famous WW2 ship that the US Navy reactivated for the Gulf War. The old girl still had it.
Didn't hurt at all that they installed Tomahawks aboard the Iowas into the bargain. CIWS too. The 1980s Iowas (BB-61-64) were , well, smoother than in the 1940s to get the same job done.
The Iowas were brought back into service for sentimental/nostalgic reasons. The main battery of those ships don't have a practical place in today's warfare, or in the gulf war era. The night shore bombardment during the gulf war was a media stunt and little more. Impressive yes, but effective for the cost of refit and operation....not at all.
In the movie "Battleship," one of those ships was pressed into service to defeat an alien invasion. Of course, in the movie, it took all of ten minutes to start the engines, re-arm and sail into combat with a crew of about ten sailors.
@@davidsigalow7349 in practice, it will be beyond economic repair to bring the engine back to the operational. Over the years, many parts of the steam system were replaced with non-critical components, which means once the steam system is back on, it will leak and explode. The museum does not systematically track those repairs.
@Peter Shen Thanks for the information. I was under the impression that it would have taken about a full year of work and a few thousand mechanics and sailors to make a mothballed warship seaworthy and ready to go into action. I suppose that's why one has to employ "suspension of disbelief" when watching movies like "Battleship." I mean, it's one thing to grease/ power up a dormant internal combustion engine and quite another thing to bring a massive battleship back to life.
That IS-3 starting up again was pretty insane... Unless it hadn't actually been parked up there too long.
Those crazy poured vodka down js3 carburettor
Older tanks and even planes still work, nothing impressive there about an IS-3 imo
Did it actually start up? Wasn't sure if that's what it was LOL didn't sound good
@@kbanghart Maybe if it was named after Lennin it would perform better 🙂( since there's sentence " Lennin permanently alive" )?
@@utrock5067 cool
I used to give my friend, a board member at the Patton Museum, a bad time because they had more M60 tanks than a lot of countries around the word.
i see them all over the country at entrances to national guard bases. sure like to have one 😃
@@utpharmboy2006 Nearly every VFW and small town park has one they are all over the US.
The M60, the last of the steel beasts, as my DivCSM dad always says.
@@utpharmboy2006 I didn't know they were all over the country. There's a National guard Armory right up the street from me. There's a Tank sitting at the enterance. Now I'm curious. 😂 I'm gonna have to check it out. See if it's an M60. I'm sure it says what type it is. I think there's a bronze plaque in front of it. Looks like a Vietnam era tank.
@@Thundarr995 yep that's what they would have been using during vietnam. it had a lot of variants and many many were produced
Wow, I truly appreciate the fact that your content is well-balanced, thoughtfully crafted, and respectful. Your ability to present both sides of an argument is commendable. Well done! 💯
Imagine you are Russian and you visit the museum every month to see your favourite tank, the T-62, only to stand in shock as the exhibit it once stood remain empty.
Not shock. Pride. You Americans don't understand ANYTHING about people or other countries.
And you get handed your papers to serve in that tank.
And see the little tag put in by the curator: " exhibit has been removed to be used as land fill in Ukraine ".
@@Mishn0 Or used by farmers to pull trailers lol.
there are thousands of T-62 in storage, no need to pull one from a museum
This is similar to the situation with the SR-71 start cart. It used two Buick big block V-8s to turn the aircraft engines over to get them to start. For some reason, no other engines could do it. They had to run them at max RPMs to generate enough power to start the aircraft's engines. They would blow up on a regular basis (the Buicks, not the SR-71s). Since Buick stopped making that engine the USAF had to scour junkyards across the country to find replacements. It's not known if the Air Force contacted Jay Leno to see if he had any laying around in his garage.
Only a Buick motor could start it? Lmfao dude stop lying
@@noway57 Converting to Chevy probably required a lot of paperwork 🤣
I watched an interview of one of the engineers talking about the carts and it sounded like as gear heads they just really like the way the Buicks ran and sounded. they ended up swapping to 454 big block Chevy's and continuing on in the later years of the program.
@@noway57 This guy explains the situation with the SR-71 start cart. watch?v=KoD6kFb85co
@@noway57 Did you bother to research this in any way shape or form before you started tossing insults around? Of course not. Do your homework. You'll be surprised at what you find.
Very unbiased reporting. Journalists could take a lesson from Dr Felton. Facts pure and simple. Hard to find that nowadays. Thank you for presenting historical facts about repurposing equipment, Mark.
He should turn his powers to policing and become a detective.
He’s a RUclips treasure, I would love to see a Dr. Felton series on Netflix or Prime, I can’t imagine what he could do with more support staff and a bigger budget!
@@chettmannley7949
Please no! It would be turned in a real production company. And we possibly end up with the same Discovery bullshit of which we have already more than enough! 😮
That's why he is an historian not a journalist. Gives a story with all (or most of) the facts from both sides. Gets rid of the jingoism, political spin, self-interest, propaganda, operational security and embarrasment! Sometimes that takes until years or decades after the conflict.
Obsequious
Mark, Felton is amazing! Never really considered myself a history buff until I get done with Marc Felton, and listen to his channel! The man is a true scholar! Please, Mr. Felton, sir, keep it up I’m amazing, amazing work, much respect
Let's not forget, at the onset of the Falklands War, parts for the Vulcan refuelling system were re-tasked from an RAF aircrew lounge where the main part in question was doing duty as an ashtray, and had been for ten years. Recovering, cleaning, and refitting that meant the Black Buck raids were a go.
that is an epic story
You're pumping these videos out like a machine, Mark!
Zuckerberg
The Machine,Mark Felton.
It's Dr. Mark ;)
@@scratchy996 _Not Marky Mark?_
its obviously an ai voice, the annunciation is a dead giveaway
I never would have imagined that there was an engine in any static display of a military vehicle.
Honestly it cheaper to leave a broken engine in vehicle then taking it out, russia have thousands of armor vehicles of all type liter across the country side with gun barrels and engine still semi or potentially operational
Yes, at least sometimes. There is an M-60A1 MBT on display near a park in a town fairly close to mine in the western United States, and some years back they started it up and drove it to be repainted and restored, then drove it back to the display area once the work had been completed.
@@classicgalactica5879 MY FAVORITE TANK!....well, USMC M60 w/ERA, as in 1991 Gulf War 1.... WHAT TOWN? WHERE?....Any photos?.... I build models, that's why....
Engines are not kept in static exhibitions as are rule. Title of this video is click-bait, Russians are reactivating some of T-62s they have in storage and that is about it.
There is a M4A3E8 Sherman in a local park that still has its engine in it. There was an army maintenance crew doing restoration work on it a few years back. They removed all of the welds that were holding the hatches shut and opened the tank up. I was walking in the park with my Son when they were working on it and asked if we could take a look inside. They said that we could and we were amazed to see just how much stuff was left inside. Instruments, ammo racks, levers, pedals etc. It looked like hardly anything was removed. The engine access doors were all opened up and I saw the engine and asked one of the soldiers if he felt it could be made to run again and his opinion was that yes it could. Its actually kind of cool to walk by it now all nicely repainted and know that, with some work, it could possibly be an operational (at least driving wise) Sherman again.
I was a maintainer in the US Air Force. On more than one occasion I know of people taking parts out of static display airplanes, training engines and even “borrowed” parts from a museum. Some of these acquisitions were sanctioned, some were not.
This isn't uncommon. Museums are instructed to leave aviation hardware untouched because they can be used for parts later at the request of the government who is still the owner.
aviation museums usually get the planes on leases from Navy/Air Force, so it is normal for the armed forces to take parts from planes in the museum.
Riiight.
lol peak copium
It's a shame how this channel degenerated to this level of sewer propaganda
@@silvernoob1603 How is stating something true coping? I might support Ukraine but people like you are the ones that give all Ukrainian supporters the reputation of being dumb
There is a landlocked submarine in Holbrook, New South Wales, Australia, HMAS OTWAY, an old Oberon class sub.
It’s propeller shaft was scavenged to keep the still in service Oberon’s going until new submarines were built, and launched.
Keep up the great work Mark 🇦🇺
I think we Canadians also raided the RAN's surplus subs for parts to keep our Oberons operational.
I read " to keep the still in service" and wondered how they would make whisky from a prop shaft.
@@rjmun580 it's a big still
@@scootypuffjr. It is Australia after all. 😁
@@rjmun580
I shall edit it to say, the still in service Oberon’s “going”.
I’m sure one of the RAF Vulcans used on the Black Buck raids during the Falklands War was missing a part of the aerial refuelling system. A spare couldn’t be sourced however one of the bits had been converted into an ashtray and was sat in a crew room or mess somewhere! It was hastily retrieved and put back on an aircraft.
I read that story too. I'm sure that it is also mentioned by one of the Vulcan pilots in a Black Buck video I've seen here on RUclips.
The Black Buck missions were more psy-ops and RAF flag waving for future budget bidding than military necessity but I for one was pleased for the Vulcan to get a look in before bowing out of service.
I'm sure I read somewhere that the forces even took bren guns out of stores to take down there.
Brens were rebarrelled from .303 to 7.62 nato, in the late 50's. They were still in use in the 80's, so some were still being issued at the time of the Falklands War.
@@davefloyd9443 I carried a 7.62 L4 Bren on Op Granby and a few were still being used in Northern Ireland in the early ‘90’s.
@@domsphotography hat off to you sir! Was this an acknowledgement of SA80 system shortcomings (mechanical or 5.56 rounds v 7.62) or was it a case of just using up existing stocks?
I have heard mention about the army moving back to 7.62mm SLRs updated with rail systems & 30 round magazines. What are your thoughts?
@@DraigBlackCat the L4 had been on issue to Royal Artillery units like the one I was in, amongst other regiments, since the 1960’s instead of GPMGs and were phased out with the introduction of the SA80 system.
As to a larger calibre round like the American’s have recently adopted with body armour becoming more prevalent one will be needed to penetrate body armour.
Bringing old vehicles back into service from museums is so awesome to me, it’s always been a fantasy of mine to fire up old museum vehicles
Become a volunteer at a heritage engineering museum. We do it all the time!
In the late 70s early 80s I was serving with the RAF regiment in Germany. We were given some old Saracen and Saladin armoured vehicles to develop tactics prior to getting CVRT scorpions series vehicles and witnessed our mechanics taking parts off firing range "hard targets" for spares as they were younger vehicles than what we had.
This happened in Australia when one of the last working Oberon class subarines damaged a drive shaft and the naval went to a park where a decommissioned Oberon was now set up as a memorial. The navy politely asked the local council if they could take out the drive shaft, which they did and then used part of it fashion a new part to keep that last sub working. (something a long those lines).
I remember that before the gulf war, Bovington Tank museum was selling Centurion bits in the shop, and was then asked to stop as they were needed as recovery vehicle spares.
They completely forgot to mention when they restored the entire Battlestar Galactica back into service, along with its entire fleet of museum show pieces to save the civilian fleet. They made two full lengthy, multi part documentaries so detailed they had to break them up over several seasons. I can't believe that wasn't worth a mention.
Truly one of the greatest shows of human ingenuity ever. We all owe them a great debt...or will, someday.
Obligatory 🤓
So say us all
Underrated comment!
I had heard about the T-62 tanks being brought back into service but was not aware of the upgrades being installed into tanks that had never had them. Thank you very much for this information.
They were mostly given to the DPR
T-62 has a smooth bore gun, quite high power & innovative for its time (maybe even the very first worldwide on a tank). Even if the armor may not be a match for a Javelin (but then again, which tank's is?) its gun still makes it a fansastic mobile artillery piece, and the Russians have millions of rounds stored away for it.
@@AlexKarasev The T-62 is arguably the first "modern" tank, with its smoothbore 115mm main gun it can be given guided ammunition. It's easy to understand why the T-62 is an appealing foundation for refurbishment and reintroduction into service. It's relatively trivial to develop modern ammunition for the gun and fit modern thermal imaging and fire control systems into these things and then throw them back into the field.
T62 is mostly in Ukraine invertory. Russia having it as well but not as main battle tank but used for policing for LPR forces
@@altergreenhornyou're mixing up T-64 and T-62
The Castle Air Museum is a hidden gem. In the middle of nowhere, California, they have some rare and interesting planes! They have the Vulcan mentioned here and one of the few B-36 still in existence. It's worth the trip to see.
Merced, California near Fresno. They also have an SR-71 on display.
@@MusicOperaBroadway Close. The museum is in Atwater CA.
Castle Air Museum is fantastic. They have a huge collection from WWII to modern aircraft.
Here in Omaha, NE we have an SR-71, B-36 and a Vulcan just to mention a few at the SAC Museum. They are currently restoring an F-117
Been there, pretty cool would recommend
F.E. Warren Air Force Base is in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I have visited that museum. The Air Force museum in Ohio is at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. It is a great museum. If I ever visit California again I will have to find the Castle Air Force Base museum that you mention. Some notes about F.E. Warren AFB. It is an air force base without a runway. Also, it was, at one time, one of the largest cavalry posts in the United States. Much of the flavor of the old frontier fort is still there.
Watching these guys starting up the IS-3 is the funniest thing I've seen in weeks.
This document is a striking example of how knowledge of history allows us to put the present in perspective.
Not really. Russia was supposed to have 11,000+ tanks. Where are they?
The point isn't that they are turning to old tanks. They were supposed to have many more modern tanks than they actually do.
The point being they are not as formidable as they were made out to be.
@@RussiasSufferingInUkraine I think everyone understands that by now. The point ia just that isn’t always a “bad” move.
You what?
Russia has tank factories, and the industrial ability to excelerate production. I don't think they are as desparate as the media make out.
The thing about the T-62 a lot of people underestimate is how deadly that 115 can be. There were multiple reports of it frontally penetrating Chieftan tanks in Iraq through the turret and the upper glacier . Sure it may be an old tank but its still extremely deadly
True, but Orc use is obviously a factor....look at their more modern tanks ending up as scrap.
@@paulhargreaves1497 If any modern tank face javelins, NLAWs or artillery they would face a similar fate . Especially those without an APS, proper infantry support or logistics
Not when most of them have been sitting untouched in the siberian wilderness for the past 3 to 4 decades. Most of their components are probably rust, if not sold off 20 years ago.
@@paulhargreaves1497who are the orcs?
@@paulhargreaves1497people seem to be forgetting that these are manually loaded, which all other Russian tanks haven’t been since the T-64. Considering the state of Russian training we’ve been seeing from videos published by conscripts, being forced to learn how to load on the fly is gonna be quite tje clusterfuck.
I like how Mark doesn't bash and trash one nation, but lecturers us how things really work. Amazing content
A buddy of mine was a torpedoman stationed at Charleston in the 80's. We were touring a museum ship and he spotted a small widget he needed for his launcher. He borrowed my leatherman multi took and proceeded to remove it for his ship.I was the lookout. He had been trying to get a replacement for ever. The Wainwright's launchers were all on line for its next deployment.
Ah, tactically acquired 🫵🤟🇨🇦🫡🇺🇸🫵🤟
I was a total thief in the army. Mechanics will pocket everything not tied down. Tell me I have to order a nut and bolt then you find out the supply clerks have a drawer full. Won’t touch them so they don’t have to inventory. Don’t turn you back I’ll have my pockets full. When stealing is more effective than simply asking for the part then “mission first!”
My bro did this also, except with gyro bearings that timed out and put six of his 12 …H53s on the side line.
When asked by the chief, how he got the back order parts so quickly. He responded , “from the company that made them in our home town.”
Because he didn’t go through military chain. He was severely reprimanded, and lost a rank. Go Navy!
@@jerryhablitzel3333 that's how the world is
@@losebjughashvili8465 He should have been promoted!
I had forgotten about a few of these stories, but it confirms that a good idea never goes to waste in dire circumstances!
Thanks for the reminder and, another first rate production.
Be well & stay safe.
Probably a trend. With the price of fuel the way it is, the royal navy will have the sails back on the HMS Victory before long.
From what I recall, some of her muzzle loading cannons are made of GRP !
Marks calm presentation of facts and basic tank history puts the biased press (on either side) to shame.
Mark, another note would be the US Navy using the Iowa class battleships in the 1980’s “600 ship navy” plan. Many parts were taken from museum shops (and kept as spares).
I think all of the museum battleships "donated" parts for the 16" guns and turrets as well as 5" mounts, main and auxiliary machinery rooms and so on in order to bring the four Iowa class back with as little delay and expense as possible. Other ships still in "mothballs" were also "raided" for bits and pieces like pumps, parts for generators and so on.
The three Des Moines heavy cruisers provided some equipment, especially the Newport News. She was the only one of the three to serve through the 1960s and until around 1975, receiving updates and (more or less) regular maintenance to her engineering plant. When I last saw her in 1986 she had what appeared to me to be a "cofferdam" type patch over her starboard adjacent to her aft main spaces. Wisconsin was in the first stage of being reactivated there at Philly at the time before being towed to the Gulf coast yard.
Watch the Battleship New Jersey RUclips channel. They have some videos on how and which of the Iowas could be returned into service.
I've always said the Navy should kill two birds with one stone by using 'mothball' and museum vessels as barracks and classroom halls for recruit training. Train as you fight, as the saying goes.
The idea that most sailors receive their initial training in a building always baffled me, and they could take over much of the upkeep done by higher paid specialists, and ditch some on-land facility maint costs.
@@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing For the longest time the Navy would bring an old troop transport (usually a converted liner never returned to civilian use) from the James River "Ghost Fleet" as a "berthing ship" for carriers undergoing overhaul of their berthing spaces while at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for other work. The Navy eventually brought in enough dedicated "berthing barges" for that purpose because the old transports eventually were condemned as unlivable or unusable. They would be returned to the "ghost fleet" or "mothball fleet" and were eventually scrapped long past their "use by date."
It should be noted that the Iowa Class battleship was designed in 1939.
I served in the Army National guard for 8 years in Texas from 93 to 01 and we still had WW2 era grease gun sub machine guns in our armory.
I saw on forgotten weapons say a grease gun go for 10,000 dollars in auction
Where were you? I remember seeing some in the early 80's, it was either in Huntsville or Bryan (163rd ACR). Never got to fire them, though, did you?
@@dougearnest7590 I served with the 3/141 Mechanized Infantry based in the Rio Grand Valley. We had them but never used them, only our M16A2 and M249 SAWS.
A 105 mm shell from a 60 year old tank can still ruin your day....
and the armour will still protect you from bullets and shell fragments, ATGM's not so much but even the latest tanks are not ATGM proof
Depends on if they still have 60 year old optics.
@@Mishn0 u can still shoot someone up to 3 km with 60s optics, and if the tank is supported by infantry and drones as his eyes its even more dangerous
@@sokolsokolowski3411Russia couldn’t have infantry support it’s most modern T-90s and T-80s during the invasion. They definitely aren’t gonna be supporting the T-62s.
During the war in the former Yugoslavia, in which I was a journalist, Bosnian irregulars seized one of Tito's hunting lodges. The luxurious lodge had a gun collection that included combat weapons from WW2. I saw fighters carry off Fallschirmgewehrs, K98 Mausers, Russian sniper rifles. There were some very nice Austrian hunting rifles also. And the wine cellar was thoroughly emptied.
You forgot the best part, all the ammo was still usable.
genuine FG42s are worth an absolute fortune
@@-yeme- I agree. You see Muslims with guns are coming to your village. You know that they had just burned Christian village a week ago. They had Crucified a 7 year old child at doors of a church they had burned.
(True story from Bosnia)
It is worth a fortune.
@@maxmagnus777 Well, there's the engineering and historical interest, the Luftwaffe's list of requirements were extremely demanding but somehow Rheinmetall came up with a design that pretty much fulfilled them all, it represented a big step forward in battle rifle design. Then there's the rarity, as it was strictly a Luftwaffe project they didn't make many to begin with (obviously there aren't as many paratroopers to equip as there are infantry soldiers, but also the Luftwaffe could not demand the same allocations of funding and manufacturing resources as the Army). On top of all that, both variants are just really cool looking and very distinctive guns.
A WW1 British tank - you know, the ones that have tracks all around and guns in sponsons - was taken from display, refurbished, and used to patrol around Portsmouth Docks in WW2. Old, slow, noisy - but a Tank, and better than no tank at all!
In ukraine the russians call that a scrap metal target.
im pretty sure that hulk is worse than a man with no arms
likely used more as a mobile gun platform than a tank. Could be useful for harassing landing craft potentially. Though a 7.62 could likely penetrate it's armor at sufficient range.
@@yesyes-om1pothey were proof against small arms
Passerby: "I'm sorry--which world war is this?"
During the Falklands War there was a shortage of maritime reconnaissance aircraft which caused Avro Shackletons to be retained longer than planned. An RAF working party removed the engines from a Shackleton at the Manchester Industrial Museum when it was realised that the engines had fewer hours on them than those in squadron service. And the Vulcans' bomb racks had been recovered from scrapyards in Lincolnshire.
During the Falklands War the British Army was interested in buying pistols from civilian gun owners (back when handguns were still legal).
Vulcan refueliing probes had to be sauced from scrap, for the Falklands campaign one part was found being used as an ashtray at an officers mess.
We used T-34 and T-55 tanks in the BiH war. They don't lack anything, it's important that it's mobile, the right cannon and enough shells, it doesn't even have to move, then only the cannon is used.
I believe that HMS Belfast (for many years a museum piece moored on the River Thames) was visited by MoD to see if any of her anti-aircraft weapons could serve in the Falklands in 1982 as there was a perceived shortage of point defence weapons in the task force. None was taken
This is why I never throw away old toasters
Saw an SR-71 while on a tour at an aviation museum as a kid, and they claimed that if needed, it could be brought back into service at any time. Curious if that's still true all these years later.
SR-71 is perhaps the most special of all unicorns and would need an enormous amount of highly skilled and resource intensive maintenance to fly even when in regular operation. The people who know how to maintain, fabricate parts for and operate and sr-71 are probably mostly dead at this point.
@@dfpguitar But I'd assume the documentation lives on, and the SR-71, being such a notible aircraft, is bound to have some extremely knowledgeable experts on the matter. So I think that if it was really needed there would be a way to bring it back to service.
I have no aviation knowledge at all to preface before I say my two cents/pence
From watching documentaries on the sr71 it had so many operational issues even when in peak operational maintenance that being sat still for decades (even whilst being very keenly kept clean and prevented from rusting) will render it borderline useless and beyond repair. Because it was built to go so fast you build it for peak flying conditions, like an F1 Car. So it leaked loads of fuel before it got up to speed if I am correct along with many other issues. I’m sure it’s a dead rock at this point. Hope I’m wrong and ignorant
@@Aaron19987 Being made of mainly Titanium the SR-71 can't actually rust. Titanium can oxidise but it won't deteriorate the same as say a car would. And the leaking isn't a fault, it was intentionally designed to leak to deal with the thermal expansion of the panels when they got hot going over mach 3. Not saying it wasn't a maintenance hog, but most of the maintenance issues were simply due to the extreme conditions it operated in sitting round it doesn't have to endure that and therefore theoretically would be able to be made operational again.
@@__-fm5qv You might be surprised. A lot of that stuff gets filed away and lost, never to be seen again. Not just documentation but actual equipment seems to have a way of disappearing over time for a number of reasons. When the Iowas were decommissioned the last time, on New Jersey anyway, the crew stored a ton of stuff that was pretty much irreplaceable in a locked room so it would be with the ship if it even needed reactivation. Re-activation takes forethought and a plan needs to exist or most of it ends up lost or forgotten.
WHAT A GIFT, bestowed upon us: Professor Felton makes us all realize that WE are living through history.
LOL, that IS-3 starting up on the memorial plinth! I bet those engineers had a big grin on their faces!!
As many have noted, using old but viable military tech isn't rare but for a war that wasn't supposed to even last a month, it's pretty noteworthy that it has come to this.
Putin never said it would only take a month. The media said it but I can’t find anything showing Putin saying only a month.
@@matt2244 ya you are right 3 day operation now it’s fixed
@@matt2244putin indeed said it would take "weeks" he also called it a "special military operation". This was only last year. How is your memory so bad
😂
@@spammerscammer Thank Boris Johnson he is the one who told Zelensky not to get into peace talks with Putin. Day's before Putin and Zelensky agreed to sit down and talk it out.
Boris got in the way and told Zelensky not to and Nato would support him. If this would have happened it would have been a few weeks. Now we are on a knife edge of nukes flying.
The Vulcan was a beautiful plane. I just loved to see it fly.
I remember watching them fly down the Exe valley when Exeter Airport was a military base. There used to be an air display in the 1970s, and other planes flew, but the Vulcan was memorable because of it's distinctive shape and it was *so* loud.
Fact is these ‘old’ tanks and other weapons are in real action for the first time since they were built, they are fifty years old but still serviceable, is testimony to the robust design, some new tech and parts and they are a lethal machine.
It still has 50 year old flaws and weaknesses. Can they really be refitted to be able to face a modern tank?
@@pierreo33 Modern tanks? no. Under-equipped infantry/light motorized? yes. Even then, I don't see them being very successful.
@@yosutzuhruoj Turn them into mini BMPT Terminators like the Algerians did.
You may wish to note that the F.E. Warren Air Force Base is located in Cheyenne, in the state of Wyoming, not Ohio. Your videos are excellent and much appreciated!
It’s ok, we here in Wyoming are often forgotten about, it’s ok we like it that way 😂
@@jcprov9481 Hard for me to forget, I was stationed there in 1983, and the facility I worked at is now a museum, lol. Also, my mom was born in Laramie.
I was just about to point this out.
Putin should contact the Cairo Museum, see if he can borrow King Tut’s chariot or Khufu’s ship!
I volunteer at a military museum and it is known that the equipment (for the most part) still belongs to the government and can be recalled for service.
On a similar note, the US Army (maybe Nat Guard) routinely gives various state agencies 105mm arty to trigger avalanches before they become too much of a hazard, when the US went into Afghanistan, it had to pull them back because of a shortage off that calibre piece.
Excellent overview of the subject. Mr. Felton never disappoints.
I'm happy to see the ability of museums to preserving history in a working order from all countries. I'm sad to see these historic relics being parted out or even put back into service.
I used to do maintenance in the USAF and it's baffling that some parts aren't still made and sometimes there's only one part available out of the whole AF wide. This means that we have to find a way to find a solution without using said part. Why there aren't companies that keep producing parts while a machine is still in service is just flat out irresponsible.
probably very expensive to keep production
@@ronmka8931 from the insane prices I've seen even simple parts go for, they definitely make their money back from the DoD.
The manufacturers are often out of business because the equipment in question was last ordered a half century ago.
No one expected the B-52,for example, to be in service 70 years after it was built - because it first flew 50 years after aircraft were invented. They ordered 20 years of spares and thought that was overkill.
BTW - the oldest aircraft that you can still buy a full set of new parts for is the 90 year old Piper Cub but you will need to source a slightly more modern engine as the original 40HP version went out of production in the mid 1930’s…
The last flying Vulcan had to be grounded as was no longer anyone licenced to train and licence new maintenance staff on that aircraft. Not always lack of parts that prevents old equipment from operating.
This reminds me of how South Africa got around sanctions by recovering old Centurion hulls from scrapyards around the world and rebuilt them into modernized and functional tanks.
I was once told by a veteran that when the RAF wanted to crater the Port Stanley runway, at that time under Argentine occupation, to prevent Argentinian aircraft taking off from there to bomb British ships, they planned to send a '50s-era Vulcan bomber. However, part of the Vulcan's refueling system was missing; a replacement was found being used as a cigarette ash tray in an RAF engineer's mess, and after a quick clean up, it was put back into active service ... with success! From a review of the book "Vulcan 607": "Missing parts were scavenged from Vulcans previously donated to museums (refuelling valves) or reclaimed from scrapyards (the bomb-racks). A seal for a new radar-jamming device was improvised from corks from a home-brew beer kit and one crucial component discovered in the engineers' mess, serving as an ashtray."
Someone wrote a similar comment about Vulcan
Lots of news outlets blast the Russian forces for bringing equipment out of museums to use on the front. While it is an indicator of how badly Russia was prepared for this war, it's not a unique case. Thanks for bringing us back to reality with this sobering video.
Starting up the IS-3 took me back to Woody Allen's film "Sleeper" where a 200 yr old WV Beetle started up on the first try!! Hahahaha!!! Thanks for all the excellent videos Dr. Felton !!
During the 1980’s as part of Reagan’s 600 ship Navy plan, the 4 Iowa class battleships were reactivated, and the Navy had to “Strategically Transport Equipment to Alternate Locations” (translation, acquire) other battleship parts from other museum ships. I think they even took one of the screws (propeller) from the USS Massachusetts.
Watch some of the videos from the New Jersey's channel. It's SOP to strip any useful equipment from ships as they are put in reserve. The museum ships' curators only get a chance to go through looking for parts for their charges after the Navy takes everything useful for the upkeep of active ships.
@@Mishn0 it really depends how the contracts between Navy and Museum were worded. Per Ryan, the Museum owns the battleship, not the Navy, so it is unlikely the Navy can take parts from the museum ship without consent of the museum.
@@petershen6924 I'd expect that contract was only finalized after the Navy was pretty sure they wouldn't ever need anything off of the ship ever again. But, if the Navy said they needed something, would the New Jersey's staff say no?
I was more talking about the videos of Ryan visiting decommissioned ships looking for things to put ON the New Jersey. He'd said that the museum ships were last on the list of organizations let on board.
They also called WWII veterans back to active duty to train everyone on how to safely shoot those guns.
@@ThomasAnderson And to train the young guys in operating the old steam turbines and boilers in the Engineering section.
No to scare anyone, but remember that Russia still has the only completed example of the Panzerkampfwagen VIII 'Maus' in a museum in Kubinka. If they get that monster refurbished and started, we could all be in trouble!
Temper44 I don't think we have much to worry about with the surviving "Maus" knowing the state of Russian roads it won't get far!
I am a 54-year-old Italian, and I follow this channel with great interest, as I consider it up-to-date and competent on the subjects it deals with. This reflection of yours leads me to think of our defense which, like yours, has undergone enormous cuts over the years, as well as being considerably smaller. I think it would be time to think in terms of European defence, both to have a leaner war industry and for procurement times. So having a single MBT, instead of too many different tanks, same goes for the Navy and Air Force
You probably know - many WW2 and shortly-after that period Soviet tanks had the turrets removed, which were then placed on concrete foundations and mounted to defend Austrian valleys - they work on a grid system so that spotters can call out what firing grid pattern to use so that even in heavy mist/fog, even at night or in smoke, they can work with pinpoint accuracy and are durable and easily defended.
I was at Bovington and the engineers still used Chieftan chassis for the AVLB and AVRE. Many parts no longer existed so at night we were told to rob reconditioned Chieftans that had a load cash spent on them onky to be designated as targets for the the Challenger II's. These would be low loaded at to Lulworth range. The tank targets had everything inside like new, never been used - all perfect parts just sitting there and we were forbidden to go near them. Yet, our tanks struggled for parts or spares. They were kept running by obsolete targets
The fact they started that IS-3 is just amazing
Apparently you've never seen the videos of old WW2 tanks recovered from bogs in Eastern Europe. They looked like they could be washed off, dried out and started again. In fact I believe some were after a few days of referb.. there were so many videos that, for a while, it looked like practically every bog and lake in Eastern Europe had a WW2 vehicle in it. lol
@@richardcutts196 no, i haven't seen those. Will go video hunting
When i was on a refresher course at RAF Manston Central Training School , there was a VC-10 Fuselage and cockpit used for training on the fire ground . It was never set alight but we used it for rescues . Anyway on this particular refresher we was told we couldn't use it as there were techies removing gauges to put on the operational VC-10's at RAF Brize Norton . Sadly RAF Manston and the CTE no longer exist ( Immigration centre ) , just a long distant memory .
I feel so lucky to have been stationed at Ascension during the 80s watching Vulcans, Nimrods F4s pulling non stop sorties!
The castle air force air museum has some amazing examples of vintage military aircraft including a SR 71 they have open cockpit days you can go into the planes ! Miss the air shows
The San Diego Air museum has an SR-71 as the shade over the main entrance walk, and Seattle has one inside the Boeing museum of flight with its mini-me piggy back drone!
@@KevinSmith-ys3mh Can you stand on it and get in it ? The one at castle you can several times a year
@@patricktheplumber5482 Nope to both examples, the San Diego SR is (I dimly recall) a pre-production / training mockup with no obvious way to access the topside, and Seattle's is in the middle of the main display building surrounded by other aircraft at several levels. I believe there's a training simulator cockpit for it nearby that allows us to look in through the usual plexiglas viewing windows. 😏
@@KevinSmith-ys3mh Actually sad castle Air Force base closed down the air museum is still there and cool but it was way better when I was a kid ! They had huge air shows saw the blue angels etc great memories really wish it hadn’t been shut down .
This is gonna be a helluva show folks
Ivan: hey Nikolai my grandfather drove one of these things back in the day
Nikolai: your grandfather DID drive this
A bit of correction: the missile in 04:00 is actually Titan II. The Minuteman is smaller
Good catch. I live near the Titan II museum.
The last Titan 2 missile was deactivated in 1987.
@Chevy Chase They still used the missles to launch satellites after their military mission ended.
F.E Warren is also in Wyoming not Ohio, but I understood what he meant
@@chevychase3103 which is why you can see some frame above the silo
Clever move. Useful to use in defence locations leaving more modern tanks free for attack purposes.
To bad the modern tanks they have do not preform much better.
They have modern tanks? They better get them out soon.
The main problem is that Russia is running out of "modern" tanks, that's why they are pressing 60 year old tanks into service.
They don't have enough modern tanks because it were destroyed and can not be replace.
@@opoxious1592 says who?
Never thought I would see my hometown featured in a mark Felton video! Mark come visit the Yorktown in Charleston! Great historical city!
I think many of us saw the title and were ready to have a laugh at the expense of the Russian army, but then Mark says, "Hold on, it's not just the Russians." :-) Great video, thank you.
During ww2 British went hard on emptying museums because so much equipment was lost in Dunkirk and they feared Germans would invade the home islands.
@@tmdwu5360 When I joined the British Army in 1978, the 2 inch mortar we were trained on dated from WWII. Course, it was only used for flares, smoke, that sort of thing. The pick and shovels we were given for trench work all dated to WWI. They all managed to do the job they were designed for perfectly.
@@limedickandrew6016 sure but im talking about instances where even some medieval weapons had to be used :D when guarding the homefront
Other armies hasn’t had to use museum pieces as their main battle tanks, APC & artillery guns as Russia does, it was a part here and there not an entire army.
@Patrick Bridgeman imagine framing the war as “russia maintaining its stance” lmao
You are talking about the 2-3rd biggest military in the world like it’s the Taliban against the US.
This war is simply embarrassing for russia.
"Kustrobot" in Swedish literally translates as "coast missile". I was contacted by 'a museum' a few years ago who were buying in Swedish ex-military cabling and electrical/data connectors etc. - almost certainly to revamp such missiles and systems.
The Black Buck One Vulcan XM607, on display next to the A15 at RAF Waddington, was raided for parts to make XH558 fit to fly as part of the "Vulcan to the sky" project.
I think using parts from museum equipment makes sense. Museum pieces basically just need to be kept in good cosmetic condition.
Wow! I've actually been up inside the cockpit of the Vulcan at Castle Air Museum! The interior of that bird is almost completely intact!
Cool story
Excellent work Mark! Also do more current war-relevent docs please!
Reminds me of the WW1 gate guardian MKIV tank that was re-commissioned for airfield defence in WW2. It might’ve seen off a few Fallschirmjäger.
Repurposing military vehicles is honestly pretty smart; fun to think though you visit a museum and all your doing is visiting an army's storage unit.
If you were to told me that in 2023 that they were using T62s T34 and IS2 tanks in modern war, We are in the weirdest timeline.
Russia under the Putin dictatorship has become as poor as a Third World country, in spite of its enormous riches of oil, gas, and cereals.
Sounds like a match of war thunder
Hombres in a strange time
its seems that quantity matters even if that means fielding older vehicles a tank gun can do the job specially if they are not gonna be used for massive tank on tank battles.
Didn't know about the is2
in may 1940 when the Germans invaded The Netherlands, the then Dutch army also pulled old weapons from museums. My late grandfather who fought near The Hague with (Dutch) 17 Regiment Infantry spoke of this and when he did anger came in his eyes as he found it shameful it had to occur.
Good morning! I know you are a big fan of millitary mesuems... As a disabled US Army Veteran, I did my basic training at Ft Knox Kentucky. If you are ever on "the other side of the pond" you should take the time to see the Gen Patton and armor meuseums and the gold depository building here in the US. They are quite impressive! Thanks Dr Felton!😃
The tank museum is no longer at Fort Knox. It’s been moved to Fort Benning. And the new museum is only very occasionally open to the public. It’s technically a training facility now.
I too did my training at FT Knox, sadly that museum is no longer there.
@@jasonpeacock9735 Interesting. I thought the family of GEN Patton had stipulated that the Armor Museum was supposed to always remain at Knox. Shows how much I know.
@@jasonpeacock9735 I still can't figure out why they moved it. Obviously it made sense to somebody even if it didn't make sense to me.
@@morgan97475 the Patton Museum is still there. It’s just the Patton Museum of Leadership now, or something similar.
I worked on a very specific and uncommon type of H60, the HH-60H. I got caught and subsequently chased out of the hangar where a bunch of civilians were preparing one to be turned into a static display. All I needed was a pitot static line. Nobody would have known. We ended up making the line ourselves out of brake line from Autozone.
Oh boy, do we get to see the Maus back in action?!
It was never in action, so it wouldn’t be “back.” That would be its combat debut.
I'm no fan of Russia these days, but it would be cool to see them roll that Maus out of Kubinka Museum and into combat ;)
It would take about 3 years to get there just in time to be captured by a farmer.
Quick note: when mentioning the Minuteman II, the photo on screen is of a Titan II. Specifically the one in the Titan Missile Museum in Arizona. Interesting video as always!
Glad I looked through the comments before I wrote the same as you.
Yep, looks just as I remember seeing it about 30 years ago! And a nice cool afternoon tour down from the Arizona summer heat 😊.
So sad that the Vulcan flies no more. That and Concorde where my favourite aircraft. Also probably the loudest.
@Mark First of all, a big thank you for your amazing work! You are, in internet terms, a gigachad! That said, I would love to see you doing a video about the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-agression treaty. How it played out in terms of consequenses for the Polish nation and people is, as far as I can tell, not widely covered out there (apart from the horrific events in the Katyn forest). Keep up the good work, I'm always waiting in anticipation for any new videos that you put out!
The polish prelude to WW2 not widely covered? Its covered incredibly well. Instead of Molotov-Robbentrop, how about the Franco-German declaration, signed in 1938, or the pacts between nazi germany and latvia/estonia/denmark? Those are much less talked about.
@@tHaH4x0r I think you misunderstood. I agree that the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty has been widely covered, nothing new there. What I'm after is an in-depth report on how the Soviet occupation played out, how it impacted the polish nation, and how the occupation itself panned out in the occupied areas up until Barbarossa.
To this day, books and documentaries still falsely state that there were NO BATTLES between the Soviets and Poles in that campaign. Actually, there were thousands of battle casualties!
@@user-nu1vn3yy9s Oh, that's really interesting! I didn't know that. Do you have a link to a transcript of the speech? Big thank you in advance!
@@user-nu1vn3yy9s I'm not a historian, merely a history buff, so it's for my personal interest (i think a great many other people would be curious too, though).
One of the Vulcan bombers in 1982 lacked a part for it's landing gear. Search as they might, the part could not be located, until one officer noted the ashtray in the officer's lounge looked familiar. Sure enough, it was the exact part they needed for the plane!
In 1983-86 while I was the Weapons Department Head in USS Iowa (BB 61), we scavenged parts from the turret projectile decks and the plotting room computers from USS Alabama, a museum battleship in Mobile, AL. We also scavenged MK 37 five inch gun director and MK 25 radar parts from various museum destroyers as well as one about to be sunk as a target by the Columbian Navy.
yeah, AMAZING! as I recall, my father served on the USS Iowa! and I was on the USS Alabama.
@@samuelmoulds1016 Which Alabama, SSBN or BB
So, let's take it in order.
1) Tanks are not museum, but from storage bases.
2) T-62 tanks are the same M60 that is in service with the United States and many NATO countries also upgraded.
3) This tank is old, it's silly to argue with this, but its gun can still show the heat on the battlefield.
And let me remind you that tanks were created and exist now to fight infantry. Tank duels are rare.
Once again Dr. Felton, you amaze me with the excellent content you provide. That was a very interesting video. Thank you.
One thing I'm wondering about is the T62, doesn't use an automatic loader. So that means they ll have to train an additional crewman to man all the T62s
Well, no. They can modify it to have an autoloader.
That or they’re likely being used _as training vehicles._ They’re being fitted with modern equipment so as to train tank crews with the modern tech while also giving them driving experience in a combat vehicle of a similar design to more modern T-72s and T-90s.
@matthewchenault2795 ok. I was wondering about that. Though I imagine it ll come down to a parts issue, so we ll probably see both manual and auto loaders out there. At this point, anything is game.
@@MatthewChenault It is meant for the Donetsk People's Militia before they have the required training and experience to equip T-72/T-90s.
@@petershen6924 DNR/LNR has had T-72s since like 2014, there’s even a DNR army recruiting ad that shows one
@@petershen6924
Nope,they are used by frontline russian units bc russia cannot supply the soldiers with more modern gear.