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How to buy a tank: a BRDM-2 story
- smoyer 12y agoFor those wondering ... the (current) value of those 100M Belarus Rubles is $9492.16 US.
- sergers 12y agoThanks i was wondering too. As I clicked the comments link was just thinking I could convert this myself. Pleasantly surprised one of the first comments answered my question in thus saving me the time to write this comment instead of first relooking up the belarusian amount in the article and then quick conversion.
- vsviridov 12y agoxe.com is your friend
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- lwan 12y agohttps://www.google.com/search?q=100000000+belarus+rubles+in+usd&oq=100000000+belarus+rubles+in+usd&aqs=chrome..69i57.6953j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=100000000+belarus+rubles+in+...
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- sssilver 12y agoI guess the Russians enjoy a different kind of freedom that we don't experience in highly regulated countries.
- 6t6t6 12y agoYes, well, I guess that allowing people buying military vehicles, and driving them on public roads is all what you need for a successful society, isn't it?
- sssilver 12y agoDid I mention anything about my needs, or even about what society I consider successful? I've just stated an observation.
- tencor 12y agoNo. Allowing psychos to buy guns, kill random people on streets and schools is all what you need for a successful society.
- byEngineer 12y agoNo. You need to have the right to bear arms on the one hand and be disallowed to paint YOUR house any color you want. No wonder you are frustrated!
- aidenn0 12y agoTo be fair, very few municipalities will restrict the color you pain the house, it's primarily private organizations that do that.
- UrMomReadsHN 12y agoHistorical neighborhoods too, think brownstones.
- krschultz 12y agoI've seen bigger armored vehicles in the US owned by private citizens. For a cool $495k you can have a perfect condition WW2 Sherman Tank. http://www.armyjeeps.net/armor1.htm http://www.armyjeeps.net/armor1.htm
- justintocci 12y agothe horror! don't empty the tires on a seven ton vehicle!!
- Gracana 12y agoThat sounded alarming to me as well, but looking at the photos I don't think it's actually sitting on its rims. It is probably supported by solid run-flat wheels, like the magnesium ones used on HMMWVs.
- vonmoltke 12y agoIt's sitting on its belly wheels, normally used in these vehicles for trench crossing.
- Gracana 12y agoAre you sure? It doesn't look that way to me, particularly in this picture: http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/ntv/14201556/1204378/1204378_original.jpg http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/ntv/14201556/1204378/1204378_...
- iguana 12y agoWould it be possible to import into the US?
- hydrogen18 12y agoFrom the perspective of the US it would be incredibly easy. The US is very lax about what you can import in terms of military hardware. Once something is actually inside the border it can be difficult if not to remove from the country. There have been cases where non-functional mockups have been held after military trade shows. The problem you are likely to encounter are: where the country of origin will allow it to go and what countries will allow it to transit their borders. For older military hardware like this unless you declare you are planning to import into some war-torn region of Africa there is unlikely to be any problems exiting the country with it. You might have to pay someone a small bribe if you're in a corrupt country. As far as transiting other countries, it is basically a nightmare. You can't just carry military hardware across other countries. The only reason the US can move its hardware through other countries is because of defense agreements, etc. It'd be far easier but financially impractical to just airlift the thing out. If you could get it to a port and cram it into a shipping container that'd be ideal, but then you have to find a carrier that will carry military hardware. I can't imagine many carriers would be happy about that fact. If you could find one, you'd basically wait 2-6 months and then pick up your stuff at a port somewhere in the US.
- driverdan 12y agoIt might be easy to get it into the US but being able to drive it on the road is a completely different story. It is not easy to import vehicles legally register them.
- letstryagain 12y agoI think you can own a howitzer in the USA if you want
- rtkwe 12y agoYou can own basically anything given enough forms and legal wrangling.
- JacobEdelman 12y agoOne part of me was thinking who has the time and money to go and buy a tank but another part just kept thinking about how the US supposedly has a huge amount of tanks they are not using...
- blhack 12y ago40 liters per 100 KM = 10gal/60mi. It's about 6mpg. Not great, not as bad as I would have guessed.
- foobarian 12y agoSurprising that a 5.5 liter engine has only 140 horsepower. Goes to show just how far modern engine design has come.
- justin66 12y agoThe 6.2 liter, normally aspirated diesel engine that powered old Suburbans as well as the military HMMWV made about that, even with its greater displacement. Even the modern turbo diesel HMMWV doesn't break 200hp, according to Wikipedia. Torque, reliability, serviceability and maximizing defense contractor profits probably rank as much higher priorities for the military than pure horsepower.
- bigdubs 12y agoIt's not 140 horsepower because it is designed poorly; that's a trade-off to make it react well to bullets and explosions and still run, also field serviceability.
- scottlocklin 12y agoIt's actually a fairly poor design; probably a 1950s era Chrysler design.
- VLM 12y agoYou and OP are not necessarily disagreeing. A pressurized cooling system is a liability on a battlefield unless its REALLY worth it. (I don't remember if a 50s chevvy has a pressurized cooling system... I'm guessing not)
- jschwartzi 12y ago
- markvdb 12y agoQuote from the article: "The driver had a nice sense of humour and at the first three police stops he was like: - What's this? - That's for our guys on the South-East." ...
- rpenm 12y agoYes, most Russians support military intervention in Ukraine. This would probably be less surprising if ordinary Americans and Russians engaged in political dialogue.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- redwood 12y agoI thought all you needed was to be a school district and they came free
- galago 12y agoFor $9k one could do a lot of amazing things...travel the world, not just tourist crap but visit amazing places...you could seed some kind of business...you could just help someone in need...or you could buy obsolete military equipment. I'm not sure I get it. ???
- readerrrr 12y agoYou obviously didn't read the article. And the main thing. Right now I'm in the active process of polishing it up, getting my license and documents. This will take some time, but after it's all done, I will start the gnarliest road trip livejournal has ever seen...
- galago 12y agoI'll take my down votes I guess, but the road trip I would love to take wouldn't be in an antique military vehicle.
- redacted 12y agoIt is strange you are forced to purchase obsolete Russian military vehicles before you could take a road trip! I don't think we have to in Australia, nor in many EU countries.
- galago 12y agoProbably the coolest antique military vehicle available for $9k USD, depending upon where you live, would be one or more horses.
- eps 12y agoTo each his own.
- srcmap 12y agoHow does one get a license to drive an armored vehicle?
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- jsonmez 12y agoTanks a lot for this article.
- ejain 12y agoHow to not buy a tank: http://www.geekwire.com/2014/paul-allen-paid-2-5m-historic-german-tank-says-seller-refuses-deliver/ http://www.geekwire.com/2014/paul-allen-paid-2-5m-historic-g...
- chiph 12y agoThe Littlefield collection is/was probably the finest in US private hands. My understanding is the original owner died recently, and the heirs have no interest in running the museum, so they've split it up and auctioned it off. Nicholas Moran, who is the armor history expert for the World of Tanks video game, has made several videos about interesting vehicles in the collection on his YouTube channel (TheChieftainWoT). The amusing part is watching him trying to shoehorn his height into some of them. Especially the Soviet designs, since crew comfort was far down on their list of design priorities.
- yaakov34 12y agoHere's a story from someone who actually did buy some military vehicles for the guys in the South-East: http://vk.com/juchkovsky?w=wall151630709_7596%2Fall http://vk.com/juchkovsky?w=wall151630709_7596%2Fall He says he bought two BRDMs (like the one in the article) for ~$40,000 each, and a BTR-80 (a relatively new fighting vehicle) for ~80,000. The difference is that the vehicles are fresh (new from old stock/conservation) and they "come with all the accessories, if you know what I mean" (wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more). Maybe the guys from the South-East really did buy their stuff at the surplus store, like Putin said. According to the same source, a tank (with all accessories included?) would cost ~$200,000.
- trhway 12y ago>Maybe the guys from the South-East really did buy their stuff at the surplus store, like Putin said. it is surplus store not available for others :) The guy in the original article bought a vehicle which just a step from "a 7-ton piece of junk" - at least it was playing that role for many years at the military base what it was bought from. The hardware in your post's link came from a kind of "limited access surplus store" which was used at the beginning. Currently a lot of the rebels' hardware, including armored vehicles and tanks, are in very good condition and of pretty good "model year" :) - for example among the rebels' main battle tanks are pretty modern, latest version of T-72 (still, in addition to the newest T-90, used by Russia (and only by Russia, ie. it hasn't been exported) ) with all the bells and whistles (navigation/targeting hardware, reactive armor, active protection system, etc...) Note: of course not all the hardware is that good and new. Two other main sources of the hardware are captured (and in many cases i suspect actually bought while reported as captured as many people in Ukrainian army and government are reluctant, to say the least, to fight the rebels or are just corrupt - also check out the stories about "lost" and "prepared for sale to unknown buyer" tanks at Kharkov tank factory (cool photos just to get a scale of possibilities http://thehiat.blogspot.com/2012/06/kharkov-armoured-repair-factory.html http://thehiat.blogspot.com/2012/06/kharkov-armoured-repair-... ) :) hardware of Ukrainian army in Donetsk/Lugansk region and the hardware the Ukraine left in Crimea which was trafficked into Donetsk/Lugansk.
- PerfectDlite 12y ago
- rurounijones 12y ago> Thankfully, a nearby construction site loaned us their crane. Hahahaaaaa, brilliant! The kind of things you would never be able to do in a western country "Think of the insurance liabilities!"
- flurp 12y agoMore like you can't do that in the USA because of insurance/liabilities. In most of Europe, assuming you found a friendly soul, they'd give you a hand. Liability is mostly an "american" thing. (I'm from Europe)
- yardie 12y agoMore like West coast/East coast USA thing. You'd get the same kind of help in the midwest. People love to have a story to tell.
- tracker1 12y agoNot just the midwest, I've seen similar help happen here in Arizona.
- DanBC 12y agoIn England many people would say "can't do that; health amd safety." This culture became so strong that the Health and Safety Executive started issuing rebuttals in an effort to protect the brand. http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/ http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/ Here's one example: http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/myth-busting/2014/case317-store-not-provide-plastic-knives-for-take-out-food.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/myth/myth-busting/2014/case317-store-n...
- ibisum 12y agoPop quiz - what is the most litigious (i.e. liabilities issues) country in the western world? Hint: they speak German.
- cLeEOGPw 12y ago
- ojbyrne 12y agoNot actually a tank. No tracks, no turret, no armor piercing gun. EDIT: it does have a turret. Still not a tank. EDIT2: the main armament is a machine gun. Totally not a tank.
- idlewords 12y agoStory is not titled "how I bought a tank" but "how to buy a tank". Rolling +20 pedantic, you are defeated.
- jokoon 12y ago:/ the title is still misleading. when you read the title you really think the guy actually bought a tank. most people, even military amateurs, don't know what a BRDM2 is. it could have been a 70s tank.
- aidenn0 12y agoI know what it is because it was the throwaway target in the M1-Abrams Battletank game; not heavily armed, one shot to kill.
- ajuc 12y agoIt's not pedantic to critique misleading titles. Imagine article "How to build website in assembler" to learn author meant writing it in javascript but it's close enough.
- willvarfar 12y agoAh you mean asm.js? :D
- ajuc 12y agoLike you could write website in it :) At some point you need strings.
- Erwin 12y agoThis would have made a great episode of "Top Gear: Russia". I imagined an excited Clarkson narrating this.
- squozzer 12y agoThey were once taped rummaging through a jet graveyard somewhere in Eastern Europe - a bunch of old (and totally cool) MiGs.
- bipin-nag 12y agoIt's like the APC in GTA 4. Corvette certainly is no match for the BRDM-2.
- _mulder_ 12y agoFor those in the UK and Europe, check out http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/for-sale.php?headers=land http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/for-sale.php?headers=land. You can buy similar vehicles, fully working, for a similar price infact
- arethuza 12y agoYou can get all kinds of surplus UK kit - here is just the thing for getting a space in the school car park in the morning: http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/related/45842/Saxon.htm http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/related/45842/Saxon.... Edit: One of these "Combat Engineer Tractors" would be ideal for tasks around the garden: http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,37,/35549/CET.htm http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,37,/35549/CET.htm Edit 2: Why is the MOD selling Corvettes??? http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicles/,109,/American_Cars.htm http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicles/,109,/American_Cars...
- ibisum 12y agoI think Corvettes were used for some sort of on-runway operations involving planes and whatnot - maybe as a chase vehicle for some planes with landing-gear issues, or something like that.. I can't remember the details, but I do remember that there are Corvettes at some American bases for things like this.
- arethuza 12y agoGood point - I believe U2 pilots need to be talked down the last few feet by someone in a chase car: http://jalopnik.com/5537629/the-140-mph-chase-cars-of-the-us-air-force http://jalopnik.com/5537629/the-140-mph-chase-cars-of-the-us... Maybe U2s were operating from RAF bases and they thought it was polite to use US cars?
- walshemj 12y agoThe US RAF bases where little piece of America in the UK vehicles drove on the right.
- alexyes 12y agoYou can also buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/JL421-Badonkadonk-Land-Cruiser-Tank/dp/B00067F1CE http://www.amazon.com/JL421-Badonkadonk-Land-Cruiser-Tank/dp...
- alexyes 12y agoOK, sorry, it was a bad joke..
- viggity 12y agothere was a guy that drove a similar looking vehicle in my college town. His license plate said "HUM THIS"
- edem 12y agoThis is actually not a tank. It is an Armoured Fighting Vehicle, but not a tank. It looks like an Armoured Car/Security Vehicle instead.
- _RPM 12y agoWhat is the motive for buying a tank? I just don't see how it could be useful.
- philbarr 12y agoThat's what I like about this story! Pick a stupid idea and just follow it through to it's conclusion for no reason. You'll create all your best stories doing that. For example - on holiday myself and a friend decided to paddle "as far round the coast as we can" in an inflatable dingy and a crate of beer. We met some naked hermits round the coast, and things just went weirder from there. We still laugh about it 15 years later. Life is about creating experiences for yourself that you'll remember. Often those experiences aren't going to happen by making sensible choices...
- _RPM 12y ago> paddle "as far round the coast as we can" in an inflatable dingy and a crate of beer. That seems incredibly dangerous to do. It is good to hear you survived.
- JackuB 12y agoWell, in EU, it doesn't seem like big issue to buy tank: http://www.armytechnika.cz/nabidka/pasova-technika/tanky/tank-t-72-m http://www.armytechnika.cz/nabidka/pasova-technika/tanky/tan...