Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/31/mystery-military-tank-blocking-texas-highway-video.html
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It’s not a tank, it’s a self-propelled howitzer.
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$10 on “World’s Worst Gender Reveal Party Idea” as the explanation.
(sorry, meant to reply to the parent)
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Elon needs to figure how to put a battery in that thing, that would be a TechBro’s wet dream.
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Given that we’re talking about Texas, it’s not a given that it’s military equipment either. The 2nd amendment guarantees unfettered civilian ownership of anything that goes boom, right?
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The average person is going to call a tracked armored vehicle with or without a large gun on it a tank. That being said:
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The Texas open carry laws are getting out of hand.
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Excuse me, you seem to have dropped something.
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“The tank was not being transported as part of a military convoy and no uniformed military personnel were spotted at the scene.”
Are they sure some light-fingered person didn’t just walk off with it. Grand Theft Self-Propelled Gun?
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Well there went 20 minutes reading about the differences between main battle tanks and a self propelled gun vehicle.
The short version for those who are not militarily versed:
-Tanks fire directly at their target, line of sight.
-Tanks are heavily armored on multiple side to deal with anti-tank weaponry.
-SPGs fire in an arc, typically from further away and not inside enemy territory.
-SPGs do not have to be tracked vehicles and are much less armored than a tank.
This also explains why the thing only weighs 16k pounds. 8 tons isn’t that much to haul on a lowboy trailer. If that weight is correct a decently setup F-350 could have hauled it.
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And to round off the M109 experience, it pairs excellent with the
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The paint scheme is very old (pre 1995) so not in active service. This may be a museum piece, or like you said a private citizen may own this outright.
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Obviously modern ones are carrying more and more armour to protect against drones and (wait for it) anti tank missiles. As pointed out above this may be a museum piece. While upgraded ones are currently active in the US they were meant to have been replaced ages ago. And what kind of museum might you see this in? Well a tank museum for example, like the one that I saw it in.
There are other uses of the word tank that don’t only mean main battle tank as used in a military situation.
It’s tracked, it’s armoured, it’s turreted, it has a big main gun. Feel free to call it a tank because that’s what it is in the common usage of the term.
They’ve been using non howitzer tanks for non line of sight artillery in Ukraine. Do those tanks suddenly become non-tanks when that happens?
Hit me up when assault rifle comes up too while you are at it. Ammosexuals don’t get to tell everyone else what language means. That’s not how it works.
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Which is why all of this goes to show that talk about Texas seceding from the US is a fantasy. Not only is there the US military installation in San Antonio as mentioned, but we also have:
Fort Bliss, El Paso - Home of the 10th Mountain Division (the largest US Army tank corps).
Fort Cavazos (aka Fort Hood), Killeen - the largest US-based Army infantry installation.
And here’s the rest: List of military installations in Texas - Wikipedia
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Clearly didn’t check the ratchet straps, slap it, and say, “that ain’t going nowhere.”
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I think we should help make their secession talk even more fantastical by moving federal military assets out of their state. I think it should be the FAFO result of all their saber rattling about secession, interfering with federal officers at the border, and claiming they can create human rights violations by booby trapping the Rio Grande. Would they try to “capture” those military assets on their way out, and could they be successful? Eh, who knows. But a reduction in military presence is also a financial incentive to behave, and for TX to vote in leadership that are in favor of less sadism and sedition.
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Indeed. The map of the United States of 1861 is vastly different than that of 2024.
And I think it was a Texas Monthly article that poked holes in the myth of Texas being its own country. I can’t find it now, but the Republic of Texas was pretty much in near collapse when the US Civil War broke out.
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10th Mountain are still shivering up at Fort Drum, and as a light-infantry division have no armor whatsoever. I’m sure you meant the 1st Armored division.
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Don’t forget the Pantex Plant, final assembly point for all of the nuclear weapons in the United States.
waves from “Bomb City”
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