Old Soldiers Never Die... Apparently the same is true of weapons!
A long time ago I used to be a fan of a publication called 'Soldier of Fortune' (it's still going today at sofmag.com) which contained some - frankly - wacky articles for the wannabe mercenary! But I found some of their content - particularly about the more obscure 'small wars' that wasn't covered by the mainstream news - fascinating.
Among some of their articles I remember one from the late 70s/early 80s about the Lebanese Civil War (1975 to 1990) which documented some of the intriguing 'obsolete' firearms that were spotted in the hands of the various militia groups.
Largely World War 2 in vintage, of Allied and Axis origin, there were some interesting use of such guns as MP40s, StG-44s and MG42s and Thompson submachineguns and M1 Garands, among may others [see this Wikipedia entry on the subject]. But even more remarkable were the occasional appearance of even older firearms, such as the Broomhandled C96 (1896) and even the eccentric looking Bergmann of 1897... Where the Lebanese owner of the Bergmann found the required ammunition [7.8mm Bergmann] is something of a mystery!
 |
| Above: The very steampunk looking Bergmann 1897. |
Fast Forward to the Ukraine
Anyway, to the point of this post. As it happens a couple of very interesting videos turned up on Mark Felton's YouTube channel (@MarkFeltonProductions) regarding vintage military weapons being in use in modern conflicts.
The first video that piqued my interest was this one regarding old Soviet weaponry seen in action during the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict...
Bring Out the BIG Guns...
Obsolete weapon technology turning up on modem battlefields is not restricted to infantry weapons. Once again, Mark Felton brought us an interesting video highlighting some of the oddball throwbacks that can turn up when you least expect them. This time it was the surprises that awaited the coalition allies during the Iraq wars...
Of course, I look forward to a similar video illustrating some of the obsolete armour being deployed by the Russians in the current war in the Ukraine!
I hope Mark eventually follows up such videos with some about the vintage military aircraft that have proven still useful despite their age (for example, the use of North American F-86 Sabres during the Indo-Pakistani conflict of the 1970s, to name but one example).
Post a Comment