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Woman burned filling gas can August 28, 2009 SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP A 27-year-old Joliet woman suffered second-degree burns after using a cigarette lighter to see how much gas was in the can she was filling. Police reports say it was about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when the woman drove to the 7-Eleven at 1609 E. Cass St. in Joliet in a yellow 1970 Chevrolet. "(The woman) was filling up a gas can, which was sitting on the passenger seat of the car. (She) then used a lighter to use as a light to observe how full the can was," police said....

WTF?

MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of tanks belonging to the Russian armed forces will be cut to 2,000, a Russian Defense Ministry source told Interfax on Wednesday. "As part of the armed forces reform, the General Staff endorsed the organizational structure of the Armor Forces within ground brigades and the Navy's coast forces. The Armor Forces will include two independent tank brigades and over 20 tank battalions within permanent alert brigades," the source said. The independent tank brigades will be stationed in the Siberian and Moscow Military Districts, he said. "The overall number of tanks of various versions,...

at first which are various quotes from a book, concerning tanks; that part not copied-and-pasted to hereOkay, a whole lot of questions, from a professional civilian. (a) What were the significant differences between a Sherman tank and a Soviet T-34; one has the impression they were very much alike? (b) A by-then-antique British Centurion tank has been the only tank I myself have ever seen up close, and operating (although not in combat, of course); how did that tank compare with the Shermans and T-34s? (c) One gets the impression the Allies did in fact have some heavy tanks, comparable...

The Defence Research and Development Organisation handed sixteen tanks (cumulative 45 Arjun tanks) to Lt. Gen. D. Bhardwaj, Director General Mechanised Force (DGMF), for formation of the first Arjun regiment at a function in Avadi today. "The regiment of 45 tanks will be subjected to a conversion training and field practice for a period of three months. Thereafter, the Army is planning to conduct a comparative trial with T 90 tanks in October or November 2009 to assess the operational deployment role of the tanks. The present batch of 124 tanks will be delivered by March 2010," a Defence Ministry...

NEWPORT, Rhode Island (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department will take a "hard look" at whether it needs a projected $13.2 billion General Dynamics Corp program designed to hurl combat-ready Marines from ship to shore, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday. Widening a drive to reshape the U.S. military for what he sees as its most likely future fights, Gates raised questions about the "expeditionary fighting vehicle," or EFV, an amphibious tank being developed by General Dynamics for the Marine Corps.

Video on siteThe M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. It is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for modern armored ground warfare. Notable features of the M1 Abrams include the use of a powerful gas turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. It is one of the heaviest tanks in service, weighing in...

A Saginaw man stuck his finger where he shouldn't have. Lucky for him, help wasn't far away. Victor Harris, 25, was pouring a fuel additive into his Lincoln Navigator at 7-Eleven, 614 S. Washington, about 5 a.m. Thursday when a paper lid from the additive fell into the gasoline tank. Harris tried to fish the paper out but his index finger became stuck in the tank. ''My hand started getting numb about 7 or 8,'' he said. ''I started getting nervous.''

World just not into U.S. battle tanks anymore WASHINGTON — The end of U.S. dominance over the main battle tank market has been projected. A leading U.S. consultant asserted that non-U.S. MBTs were expected to dominate the global market over the next decade. In a report, Forecast International asserted that MBTs from China, Pakistan and Russia would account for most of the market through 2018. "In terms of sheer numbers, Forecast Internat ional expects Pakistan's Al Khalid, the Type 98 of the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation's T-90 — including India's licensed T-90S production program — to...

BAGHDAD — Program managers from the United States and Iraq, along with representatives from the General Dynamics Contract Logistics Support (CLS) group, met to discuss the fielding of M1A1SA Abrams tanks for the Iraqi Army, March 4. The tanks are scheduled to arrive over an 18-month period in groups of 35, according to Mark Bangsboll of Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq’s (MNSTC-I) Joint Headquarters Army Advisory Training Team Planning Office. Charles Campbell, JHAATT M1A1SA program coordinator, said, “This meeting is meant to initiate dialog on the support and sustainment required for the M1A1SA program, as well as setting-up delivery,...

At about 45 seconds, the sniper ceases to exist.

BAZAR-E PANJWAII, Afghanistan - After more than a year of rumbling across the bomb-scarred roads and dusty plains of southern Afghanistan, positive reviews are coming in on the 62-tonne Leopard 2 tanks used by the Canadian Forces. The Canadian army borrowed 20 Leopard A6Ms from the Germans in the summer of 2007 to quickly replace its own nearly 30-year-old Leopard tanks which were not suited for use in Afghanistan. ... The military has since completed a deal to buy an additional 100 surplus tanks from the Dutch, and will return the loaners once the newer tanks are delivered. The Leopard...

In this Oct. 31, 2008 file photo, Iraqi Soldiers are introduced to the tanks their Army will use in the future. Photo by Spc. Chase Kincaid, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq. TAJI — The Iraqi Army Armor School here hosted an M1A1 tank orientation for the first group of 28 Iraqi Army M1A1 tank crewmen, Dec. 21. The crewmen, selected from the cadre of current Iraqi Army Armor School instructors and Iraqi Army 9th Mechanized Infantry Division, will continue their orientation through Jan. 2.  Final selectees will then participate in a three month train-the-trainer course with U.S. Army instructors at...

The current two day drop of the DJIA figure is the largest post election crash in U.S. History. The DJIA figure was off 915.92 a few minutes ago, that's 9.5% since Obama became President elect. Pundits who just days ago were saying that U.S. Citizens had more faith in Obama when it related to the economy are now having to hurriedly work up stories reassuring the public that this drop isn't related to public fear that Obama is not up to the task of managing the current economic problems.

Click here for video. This terrifying slow motion video shows the destructive power of a tank canister shot, blazing across an entire battlefield. It's so spectacularly crystal-clear that you can easily understand why it is one of the most feared weapons by infantry soldiers. The canister shot is not new, however. This simple and incredibly effective technology has been wreaking havoc in ground fronts since the Napoleonic Wars. Designed to create a destructive cloud to do major damage on a large group of soft bodies, the canister shot has played a central role in ground battles since the 18th century....

Russian aggression is the worst it has been in 40 years, Georgian civilians are dying in the streets, Poland is threatened with nuclear annihilation, and Ukraine looks to be in the crosshairs. McCain is hammering the Russians every day while Condoleeza Rice goes to Georgia to demand Russia's immediate withdrawal. And here is Obama, in a picture worth a thousand (wrong) words.

An American tank that formed part of the 1944 D-Day invasion force was discovered buried under a street in northern France. French bomb disposal experts were brought in to ensure the military vehicle posed no danger before it was dug out from its muddy grave in near perfect condition. Council workers came across the M5 tank as they carried out routine repairs to the road in Chartres, 55 miles south-west of Paris. It is thought the tank from the 31st Tank Battalion formed part of the invasion force that liberated France from the Nazis more than six decades ago. Residents...

A cloud-to-ground ligtning strike from a severe thunderstom hit a large gasoline storage tank at the Magellan Petroleum tank farm in Kansas City, igniting 2 million plus gallons of unleaded gasoline, rapidly growing into a huge inferno of flame belching over 200 feet in the air. Local authorities have elected to let the fire burn itself out, which is anticipated to take a day or more. The fire is presently contained to the burning tank. Authorites and company officials feel confident the fire poses no danger to other large storage tanks nearby. Video from local news helicopters shows tank walls...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – An M1A2 Abrams tank crew fired a 120 mm round at two attackers on a rooftop, killing both, during fighting in northeastern Baghdad today, military officials reported. A nearby U.S. patrol had struck a roadside bomb, and two men on a nearby rooftop then engaged the Americans with small-arms fire. No U.S. soldiers were injured in the attack. “When attacked or when we observe an imminent attack, we will respond with appropriate force,” said Army Col. Allen Batschelet, Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division chief of staff. In yesterday’s operations in Iraq: -- U.S....

FLINT, Michigan -- Will Foster never has too much trouble getting a parking spot for his second vehicle. After all, who's going to argue with a guy driving a half-scale Panzer tank complete with a working air cannon? -snip Roughly the size of a small car, Foster's tank can reach speeds of around 20 mph with its three-cylinder diesel engine. Just like the real thing, the tank runs on treads and has a 360-degree cannon powered by compressed air from a scuba tank. Its camouflaged plywood exterior has become a curious fixture at Foster's Theta Xi fraternity house, where it...

Hubble servicing mission's launch date threatened BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: March 21, 2008 With the shuttle Endeavour's mission entering the home stretch, shuttle Discovery remains on track for blastoff May 25 to ferry a huge Japanese laboratory module to the international space station. But subsequent near-term flights, including a high-profile mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, could be delayed, sources say, because of ongoing external tank production issues. The tank used by Endeavour for its current mission was the last in the inventory of tanks built before the...

It happens from time to time, a man driving a tank lets his vim and vigor get the best of him. In this case, which took place in Russia where both tanks and vodka are plentiful, an allegedly drunk tank driver smashed into a cinderblock house while on a vodka-and-snack run. "A drunk tank driver destroyed my house," said the victim, who went on to point out a more tragic coincidence: that the army never helped him buy a house when he was in the service, and now army dudes have destroyed the house he managed to build on his...

A museum that for the past eight years has displayed a tank driven by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was a member of the Austrian army has returned the vehicle to Schwarzenegger at his request. "I'm not upset a bit," Warren Motts, founder and director of Motts Military Museum, said Tuesday. "I'm pleased we had the opportunity to have it and let people see it. It was neat to have a Hollywood connection." Motts said Schwarzenegger acquired the M47 American-made tank from the Austrian government and had it shipped to Florida. He transported it to a Columbus shopping mall in...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2008 – The missile fired from a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific Ocean that hit a malfunctioning U.S. reconnaissance satellite late yesterday likely accomplished its goal of destroying the satellite’s toxic fuel tank, a senior U.S. military officer said here today. Preliminary reports indicate the SM-3 missile struck its primary target, which was a tank full of toxic hydrazine rocket fuel carried aboard the 5,000-pound satellite, Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. “The intercept occurred. … We’re very confident that we hit...

Tanks sent to deice storm-affected highways (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-02-03 19:30 CHAOHU, Anhui -- The Chinese army has sent out tanks to clean the icy expressways in eastern Anhui Province. Tanks roll on the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway to deice the snow- and ice-covered road surface as soldiers shovel snow in Chenzhou, Central China's Hunan Province, February 3, 2008. [Xinhua] Two tanks have finished their work Sunday, deicing 110-km surface of two expressways in the province, said military sources here Sunday. Traffic on the Hefei-Anqing and Hefei-Wuhu expressways had suffered heavy snow in the past week with thousands of vehicles stranded. The tanks...

Battle with heaven - therein lies endless joy Armored car crushes down ice covered the road at Lujiang section of He'an Highway in Lujiang, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 1, 2008. An armonred car was ordered to deice thick ice covered the road due to continuous icy weather in recent days. (Xinhua Photo) Armored car crushes down ice covered road at Lujiang section of He'an Highway in Lujiang, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 1, 2008. An armonred car was ordered to deice thick ice

Indian Army seeks next generation battle tank New Delhi, Nov 13 - The Indian Army has sought a new generation main battle tank (MBT) even as it reluctantly prepares to receive the homegrown Arjun tank that has been over three decades in the making. 'What we have today is mid-level technology. What we need is a tank of international quality,' Indian Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor said Tuesday. 'I have no doubt that the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) will be able to develop indigenous capabilities for coming up with a better answer and more versatile armoured fighting vehicle...

'200 suicide bombers await the Merkava' By JPOST.COM STAFF 200 female suicide bombers are awaiting the Merkava tanks, Hamas senior Dr. Nizar Rian told the Kuweiti Al Jareeda Friday. Hamas says Israel will pay a heavy price Rian also said his organization had more than 50,000 armed fighters, who were endowed with "courage and are able to fight in the relevant territory." Reportedly, Rian was appointed commander of Hamas's military units whose mission is to beat back an expected Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. "They sleep and walk about armed with explosives, ready to attack Israeli tanks and...

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- There was no vow to become "Man of the Year" this time. Tank Johnson simply said Wednesday he is looking forward to resuming his career with the Dallas Cowboys. "I know that I'm not a risk," he said. "I'm a highly intelligent person and I take pride in a lot of things I do in life. Just like any other human being, I'm going to make mistakes and I've made mistakes. As far as the risk goes, I'm coming to Dallas to be a productive defensive lineman and to solidify what (team owner) Jerry Jones thinks...

Diggers fired up as new tanks roll Andrew McGarry | September 12, 2007 THERE was no red carpet, just a thick layer of dust coating the gibber plain at Cultana Training Area yesterday. But there was a big, excited crowd of soldiers in the hills outside Port Augusta to look on and take a few pictures of an action premiere: the first big hit-out for the Abrams tanks that have recently arrived to bolster Australia's military armoury. For the next few weeks, the crews of 30 Abrams will be part of a huge influx of personnel at Cultana, on the...

Ajai Shukla: The desert duel that wasn`t BROADSWORD Ajai Shukla / New Delhi September 11, 2007 The Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (MFFR), near Suratgarh, in Rajasthan, a hive of army activity between September and March, transforms into desolation during the summer months. During that interregnum, the emptiness, the blazing 50-degree-plus heat, the absence of water, and the unrelenting sandstorms make MFFR an ideal testing ground for equipment that the army proposes to buy. Here, over the last 33 years, the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) has carried out scores of often-unsuccessful trials on India’s Arjun tank. It is here, during this...

Tank Limo for Wedding

GILBERT, Ariz. -- Blood tests show former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson's blood alcohol level was below the legal limit when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving June 22, police said Monday. Johnson's blood alcohol level was .072, under the presumptive limit in Arizona of .08 percent, Gilbert police Sgt. Andrew Duncan said. Under Arizona law, Johnson could still face a charge for "impairment to the slightest degree." The state has separate charges for blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher and .15 or higher. The "slightest degree" charge usually accompanies the other charges, but the state...

The Army is developing the most expensive and complex weapons system in its history, but it's based on some very questionable concepts. The Army bought what has become one of the Pentagon's most costly and problem-plagued weapons programs during a post-Cold War identity crisis. Locked in a political battle for taxpayer dollars with the Air Force and Navy in the late 1990s, when the military embraced a questionable vision of warfare fought from a distance with sensors and precision munitions, which obviated the need for ground troops that could result in politically costly deaths, the Army turned to industry to...

Read the list of 147 names on the Cook County Jail visitor records for Tank Johnson, and the big ones stand out. Jesse Jackson. Michael McCaskey. Brian Urlacher. Lovie Smith. But with due respect to the marquee value of those men, celebrity was not the most impressive aspect of the visitor log since March 16 obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Freedom Fighter: The suave Mikhail Gorbachev, making a fine living today giving speeches around the world, was not Russia's great hero of the late 20th century. Its real hero was the uncouth Boris Yeltsin. If your local Rotary has $100,000 to spare, the London Speaker Bureau will arrange to have what it describes as "Soviet statesman" Gorbachev drop by and reminisce about how his catchphrases — glasnost and perestroika — ended Soviet communism. But the magical powers of his "openness" and "restructuring" campaigns were little help against the hard-line Communists who nearly succeeded in a coup against Gorby. Yeltsin, who...

A Challenger 2 tank - the [British] army's heaviest weapon - has been penetrated by a roadside bomb in Iraq, leaving the driver with serious injuries, the Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday. It is the first time a Challenger has been damaged by an improvised explosive device in this way. The driver of the tank, who has not been named, is understood to be recovering in a British hospital after both his legs were amputated. Another soldier in the four-man crew suffered minor injuries. The incident, which has serious implications for the safety of British soldiers, happened on April 6...

A Challenger 2 tank has been penetrated by a roadside bomb in Iraq leaving the driver with serious injuries, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. A spokesman said the tank had been on routine duties in a western district of Basra when it was hit on 6 April. It is believed to be the first incident where a Challenger tank has been breached by such an attack. The driver of the Challenger has now been sent back to the UK for further medical treatment. An MoD spokesman said the Challenger tank was "well armoured but in an operational theatre it's...

Germany, S. Korea compete for $1 bln tank project Monday, March 26 2007 @ 06:45 AM Central Standard Time Turkey is expected to select a local company later this month for the production of 250 main battle tanks (MBTs) as German Kraus Maffei Wegman and South Korea's Rotem have been competing. Turkey is expected to select a local company later this month for the production of 250 main battle tanks (MBTs) based on local design as German Kraus Maffei Wegman and South Korea's Rotem have been competing as sub contractors to extend support to the manufacture of the tanks, said...

I just saw part of this video on NBC. Disgusting. How an insurgent is able to sneak up to this Bradley TWICE and was not detected is beyond me. Has anyone seen this before? Thoughts, Comments...?

Korea Unveils Amphibious Tank (Source: Korea Overseas Information Service; issued Mar. 2, 2007) Korea's first domestically-made amphibious tank, featuring an auto-loaded 120mm cannon, rolled off the assembly line in Changwon, Friday (March 2). The next-generation tank, code named "XK2" and nicknamed "Black Panther," will replace the older K1 and American M47/48 tanks starting in 2011, defense officials said. The new model features an auto-loaded 120 mm cannon, can reach speeds of up to 70 km per hour, and can cross rivers as deep as 4.1 meters using a snorkel, according to its developer, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). At...

US Tests New Missile against Russian Tank The U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin have conducted a successful flight test of the Compact Kinetic Energy Missile against a T-72 tank, the Spacewar news agency reported Wednesday. The missile successfully struck the T-72 equipped with enhanced reactive armor at a range of 3,400 meters. The report does not specify whether the tank was hit in the front which has a multi-layer armor or in the side which is less protected. The CKEM is a next generation anti-tank weapon which can be integrated on both current and future combat platforms. The system is...

Bears lineman pleads not guilty to weapons charges By Andrew L. Wang Tribune staff reporter Published January 9, 2007, 9:53 AM CST Bears lineman Terry "Tank" Johnson pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor gun charges at a brief hearing in a Lake County courtroom this morning. Johnson was arrested Dec. 14 after a raid on his Gurnee home, where police found six guns and some 500 rounds of ammunition. Less than two days later, Johnson was present at a Chicago nightclub when a gunman killed his bodyguard and housemate.

They're used to war around here. In 1485, Henry VII snatched the Crown just 20 miles away at the Battle of Bosworth. A century and a half later, Oliver Cromwell's troops destroyed the royalists four miles from here at Naseby. During World War II, this very field was an RAF bombing range. But even the hedgerows and all-seeing steeples of this ancient Northamptonshire hunting country cannot have witnessed anything quite as bizarre as this... --SNIP-- ...Invented in the U.S. in 1981, paintball arrived in Britain soon afterwards and has grown into an industry where anyone can play a grown-up game...

Anti-government protesters in Hungary seized a World War Two tank as commemorations for the 50th anniversary of the country's uprising against Soviet rule turned sour.Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at demonstrators as they blocked a crowd of around 1,000 trying to march on a square outside the country's parliament. The government had earlier closed the square, which had been due to host a public event celebrating the uprising, over fears of clashes.Over 20 people are thought to have been injured, although no one was seriously hurt. One policeman was stabbed in the hand. Protesters took control of the T-34...

Driver Stephen Ellison keeps bringing traffic grinding to a halt - by going to town in a 7.5 tonne tank. The father of one has left other motorists stunned after shelling out £14,000 on a 1974 Sabre light reconnaissance tank. Now 42-year old Stephen uses the military vehicle instead of a car for shopping trips - zooming round at up to 40mph near his home in Winsford, Cheshire, drawing astonished looks from fellow motorists and passers-by. "Young and old alike are fascinated with it," said Stephen, a former Territorial Army soldier. "It really unites people. "The tank's 30mm gun is...

Merkava tank production to stop within four years. Leaders of the project decided that the benefits do not justify the cost of the product. Amnon Barzilai 28 Sep 06 16:21 The IDF has decided that the Merkava tank production line will be shut down within four years. "Globes" reports that the decision to stop production of the tank, one of the most expensive projects in the history of Israel's military industries and the pride of the army, was made shortly before the outbreak of the war in Lebanon. Leaders of the project decided that the benefits do not justify the...

A tank missile defense system, developed by the Rafael Armament Development Authority will be ready for installation on IDF tanks in "several months" if the Treasury decides to fund the purchase of the system, The Jerusalem Post has learned. In addition, Rafael is currently hoping to gain from a Senate decision ordering US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to bring outside experts to assess the need for and use of tank defense systems for the US Army. The order from the Senate came following an NBC in-depth investigation into why the US Army had decided to purchase Raytheon's active protection...

(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which terrorists have destroyed IDF tanks. At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets. About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks.