Posted on 01/20/2005 5:12:41 PM PST by Eurotwit
Russia is to sell thousands of Second World War tanks, machineguns and cannons in an attempt to raise funds and remind the world of its pivotal role in defeating Hitler.
The Kremlin hopes that they will be bought by museums and enthusiasts as interest in vintage weaponry peaks during the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, a landmark that will be celebrated with great fanfare in Russia.
The Russian state arms dealer, Rosoboronexport, has sold a few vintage weapons piecemeal since the late 1990s but now it has launched a serious sales campaign.
The hardware has been stored in warehouses even though most of it was decommissioned decades ago.
The company is tempting collectors with a selection of weapons that includes Maksim machineguns, 76mm ZiS-3 field guns, PPSH sub-machineguns and T-34 tanks, the backbone of the armoured columns that drove the German army out the Soviet Union in 1944.
For the more ambitious there are T-54 tanks, built in the immediate post-war period and used to defeat the Hungarian uprising in 1956, and even Soviet-era submarines.
Rosoboronexport said it took the decision to market the weapons because of growing interest abroad.
"In many battles during the Second World War, home weapons won a victory many times over those of the fascist Wehrmacht, surpassing them in quality and reliability, combat effectiveness and simplicity in use," the company boasts.
"After 60 years, demand for them is still growing among foreign museums, military-technical associations, state and private collections."
While it has not yet published a price list, it is likely to sell rifles and pistols for a few hundred pounds each. Tanks in good working order are expected to cost upwards of £10,000. Alexander Ouzhanov, a Rosoboronexport spokesman, said: "There are two main aspects to this trade. One has to do with the country's image. The second is commercial."
Marat Kenzhetayev, a researcher with the Centre for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies, said: "The move is probably more to do with PR than making serious money. Russia's arms exports in 2004 came to $5.6 billion (£2.98 billion). Sales of the vintage arms sales might make, at best, a few million dollars. No collector will buy tanks by the hundreds or thousands.
"As regards prices, they will be much cheaper than their modern equivalents.
"Unfortunately, it's not like the market in antique furniture."
The company is also selling German and Allied equipment captured during the war or received as part of the Lend Lease programme.
I could use a T-54 tank. Can I get a flame thrower with that?
I love those things. Got to play with them in Bosnia.
Cool. A WWII tank for $15,000. Does that include shipping?
They're not, however, they throw a lot of lead downrange. Also, Russian doctrine called for volume of fire rather than precision fire, so if you could hit the general area of your target, that was okay.
Remember, everything the Russians had (in terms of infantry and armor) was designed to be used by barely literate conscripts with a couple month's training. It worked; led by General Winter, they kicked the Germans out of the Rodina.
But at what cost!
Has a big magazine, though. Depends on your style of play. I like to get close and then unload, while some like to snipe from afar. Do you play online?
I think their wartime casualties were something like twenty million.
One thing about the Russians: their techniques are never pretty, but they work.
The Warthog of WWII
The communist mindset doesn't care about lots of peasant troops killed in battle. Fewer mouths to feed.
Well, Stalin sent a lot of Russian soldiers to their death - canon fodder. Some weren't even given weapons and were told that they have to get them in the battle. Also, shtraff battalions were formed by emptying out Russia's prisons. They were used in suicide operations (ie, clearing mine fields, infantry vs tanks with no artillery support, etc). Not pretty at all.
My grandfather flew one of those. He was 15-16 when the war started and had snuck off with a friend to get to the front, but were caught on the train and sent to an aviation school.
No, I got COD: Finest Hour for the PS2 for Christmas and just started playing a few days ago (although I shouldn't because I'm currently playing two other games I haven't beaten...)
A bit of propaganda there. I seriously doubt that a T-34 would stand much of a chance in a one on one encounter with a Panzer, much less a tiger king.
I've been playing COD for the past year (PC).. That game rocks - I play multi play all the time. Single player is great, but multiplayer is sooooooooooo good. I bought half life 2 when it just came out and spent a total of 30 mins on it cause of COD.
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