Posted on 02/15/2016 5:16:09 AM PST by Strategy
Saudi Arabia has commenced a massive military drill in which 20 nations are participating. The move comes amid ongoing deadly conflicts in the Middle East.
More than 2,500 warplanes, 20,000 tanks and 450 helicopters will be part of the exercise. Riyadh has billed the manoeuvre as "the largest and most important" drill ever staged in the region.
Up to 350,000 troops from various Gulf nations, and other allies such as Pakistan, Jordan, Chad and Sudan will take part in the drill, the Saudi Press Agency said. The exercises would involve ground, naval and air forces personnel.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.co.uk ...
They also hate Shiites. And they can use an attack on ISIS as cover for offensive action.
Utter BS. The Russians are the only ones that could come up with 20,000 MBT, and then if they pulled all the old mothballed ones out of storage and re-conditioned them.
Try to combine countries and see how you could even get close to that number. It isn’t like they have access to the Iranian tanks.
http://www.globalfirepower.com/armor-tanks-total.asp
I doubt Saudi Arabia has 20,000 Septic Tanks.
Most of which aren't currently in service.
Exactly!
All the tanks and warplanes and soldiers in the world won’t matter if, when the shooting and dying commence, your men turn tail and run!
Mideast men have proven they can shoot a handcuffed man, rape a woman, blow up an airliner 30,000 feet in the air, stone a woman, beat their wife, cut off heads of men who’s hands are tied behind their back and machine gun to death unarmed civilians in a conference room. But, lined up against another man they have proven throughout the centuries to run like the rabbits they are.
And who knows, it could all be a faint for an attack on Israel. Not looking good. Israel will be on a high state of alert as those armored vehicles start rolling.
The media contains various names for this op: Northern Storm, Northern Wind, etc. (Probably different translations). Also, Operation Shamal, which means north wind.
Neither the US nor any Western nation is part of the event.
I am not sure this is true. There are media reports of UK troops heading to Jordan in support of this op. I also found a CENTCOM report of the French carrier Charles de Galle heading to the ME in support of operation Shamal, but the report is undated.
I read The Haj about 20 years ago and that line stuck with me then. It remains an amazingly accurate distillation of the Arab/Muslim mindset.
What’s odds in Vegas over a middle Eastern nukular exchange(s) by spring?
Time to send Juan Clod sKerry in on camelback with Moochele and take a nice Long vacay..
Russia and other powers certainly keep a lot of older tanks in reserve condition, but the number of main battle tanks is huge. Here are just the countries that have more than 1,000:
China has 9150
USA has 8848
India has 6464
Egypt has 4624
Syria had 4500
North Korea 4200
Israel 4170
Turkey3778
Pakistan 2924
Ukraine had 2809
South Korea 2381
Taiwan 2000
Belarus 1665
Iran 1658
Greece 1556
Vietnam 1470
Yemen had 1260
Jordan 1250
Morocco 1215
Saudi Arabia 1210
Poland 1009
French navy supporting anti-ISIL operations in Middle East
U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS - A little over a month after leaving Toulon, the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group is now participating in maintaining security operations with allied forces, including Saudi Arabia. The Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group is officially engaged in Operation Shamal in Iraq.
The purpose of the deployment is to position a strike group in the areas of strategic interest for France, such as the Arabian Gulf. Sailors understood the mission when the ship departed its homeport of Toulon. They are trained to respond to the crisis in the Middle East and the needs of the coalition fighting against the terrorist group Daesh, the term commonly used to refer to the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL. Recently, the French carrier strike group received the order to strengthen French components already deployed to the area to support Operation Shamal.
Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, spoke to sailors of Task Force 473 during a visit aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
"You join in the Shamal operation, nearly a thousand French soldiers. It is a delicate task that awaits you. It is essential. It is also exciting. I know I can count on your experience to operate in a complex environment with a rate of sustained air operations."
He also stated that the strike group would integrate with Combined Task Force 50, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, providing a unique opportunity for the French strike group to participate in Operation Inherent Resolve led by the United States.
This operational commitment in Iraq marks the determination of France to contribute to the fight against Daesh. France is the only other country to integrate a carrier strike group alongside the United States in the operation against Daesh.
The minister of defense emphasized: "Deploying the French carrier strike group is never trivial. This is a strong military effort that reinforces the determination of France to overcome the barbarism Daesh represents."
Past operations, such as the 2011 Operation Harmattan in Libya, prepared France well for this kind of mission, the defense minister added. The crew of Charles de Gaulle, its air wing, the air defense frigate Chevalier Paul, the tanker Meuse and the anti-submarine frigate HMS Kent of the UK, have operated alongside their American counterparts consistently over the past few weeks in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
(Translated by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Danielle Brandt)
Not according to this: http://www.globalfirepower.com/armor-tanks-total.asp.
Im reading approximately 80,000 (+- 5000) MBTs in the world. If you include light tanks or other lightly armored vehicles in the Saudi count, it would be very doable.
And on that list, Jordan is the only one in a position to make a sizable contribution to a Saudi effort. Saudi might have dibs on some of the Yemeni tanks, but they frankly have their hands full down there and probably can’t spare any assets from that theater. Paks would have logistic issues, and aren’t in a position to strip the border with India of any assets. They might make a nominal contribution. Turks would love to play ball, but if anything, their logistical problems are bigger than those of the Paks, and they would also be foolish to pull any front-line units at this point unless they were concerned that those units might engage in independent thought.
Likely number of MBTs for such an exercise would probably be 10% of the number that the propagandists are saying.
For the Saudis to send tanks into Syria, they would likely have to either drive a thousand miles through Jordan (to enter Southern Syria on their own), or be lifted by sea or air to Turkey. Either way, it would be a whole new kind of effort for the Saudis - likely to encounter embarrassing delays and failures.
For the Saudis to send fighters to Incirlik, Incirlik would have to be able to support them - and they are already busy.
My guess is that the Saudis get a half dozen fighters up there by the first of the month. They could provide replacements and reinforcements later to a ground force, only if they hurry and throw a (wasteful) lot of money at it.
Turkey are really the ones who could significantly attack into Syria. Russia does not have a large force deployed there - a few dozen aircraft. Initially, Turkey could blast through anyone on the ground, with a large force of tanks and heavy artillery - they would have to risk wider war with Russia if they did though, and their early momentum could not be maintained for long in that case.
My original post concurred that 20k was a fantasy number. I was just disputing the statement that there weren’t 20k MBTs in the entire world.
Miles of tanks to fight those amateur head choppers. ISIS has no idea what will happen when the professional head choppers arrive !
Who trained their pilots and tank crews?
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