U.S. to supply Lebanon with tanks in 09

[GoldComet6]

Here we go again, at least they're not M1A2s!! It's amazing how the Super Shermans are still in service around the world.


U.S. to Supply Tanks to Lebanon in Spring 2009


BEIRUT, Dec 19, 2008 - The United States plans to deliver M-50 tanks to Lebanon in spring next year as part of a commitment to help the country's army, a senior US state department official said in Beirut on Friday.


David Hale, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, denied the U.S. is in competition with Russia, which announced on Wednesday that it would give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets.

"Support for the Lebanese Armed Forces remains a pillar of our Lebanon policy," he told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, without saying how many tanks the U.S. will supply.

"We are working to provide the training and equipment the LAF needs... to maintain internal security and to fight terrorism in Lebanon," Hale added.
In addition to supplying the tanks, the U.S. is "preparing a new package of assistance including close air support capabilities with precision weapons and urban combat gear much of which will also be provided in the spring of 2009."
The United States has given 410 million dollars in military aid to the Lebanese army since 2006 but this has been limited to light weapons and vehicles.
Hale said Russia's announcement on Wednesday was "a signal of strong international support for Lebanon, for its institutions, for the Lebanese Armed Forces."

"There is no competition," Hale added.

The 15-week battle the army fought against Islamists in the northern
Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in 2007 left over 160 soldiers dead and highlighted the need for improved military equipment and capabilities.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3871558&c=AME&s=TOP

 

[littlebob]

I thought the M50 was a tank destroyer? When I look at history I see a lot of thngs we export and then see them used against us in a time of war because so many other nations
are unstable and a few years down the road they are used against us. I hope all of the things we tried to do in Iraq to give the people the will to get more involved and keep the peace when we leave. If. when we finally get out, I hope there is the understanding that every man woman and child knows that all our efforts in vain ther will be repurcutions,
We gave them a chance an oppertunity and if they fail to utilize it they will be destroyed
to make an example. If they let it go to crap after we have spent so much in lives and money I will be the first one to sign up. I have a great respect for our military men and women that do thier best to make this a better world and If I hope all can look back on history and be able to say they were part of an event that changed history and helped the people over all over the world realize there is a better way.

littlebob

 

[BobM]

I wonder WHERE they have these stored? And I wonder if they have an extra? That would make a GREAT yard ornament!

 

[GoldComet6]

I figured they were just sitting in the desert in Israel, just waiting for a new owner.

 

[maddawg308]

They must mean M-60 series tanks.

 

[DDoyle]

They must mean M-60 series tanks.

Agreed. Since the army museum system has been buying Shermans from collectors over the past few years - you can pretty well be assured there is no "Indiana Jones" style warehouse full of them anywhere.

And, in the mideast they'd last only a few moments before being destroyed.

 

[hedelta]

Well on the bright side if they do use them against us, they have no chace against an M1 or a apache.

 

[GoldComet6]

I found other articles that mention M60s...not M50s.

Jerusalem worried US will sell tanks to Lebanon

By YAAKOV KATZ


Israel is concerned with reports that the US plans to sell dozens of M60 main battle tanks to the Lebanese army, senior defense officials said over the weekend.

"There is a possibility these tanks will fall into Hizbullah's hands," one official warned. "At the moment, Hizbullah does not yet have heavy armor in its arsenal."

On Friday, the An-Nahar daily reported the US was planning to deliver dozens of M60 tanks to Lebanon in several batches starting early next year. A specific number was not reported.
The M60 tank is an all-purpose tank made in the US with advanced firepower and mobility. Though superseded by the M1 Abrams, the M60 series remains in service throughout the world. Egypt has the most, with 1,700, Turkey is second with more than 900 and Israel is third with over 700.
The decision to send tanks to Lebanon is part of a $410 million military aid program the US approved following the 2006 Second Lebanon War, to bolster the Lebanese army against Syria and local militia groups such as Hizbullah. The US has already provided the Lebanese army with weapons, ammunition, communication devices and vehicles such as Hummer jeeps.
Hizbullah members march during a rally marking Hizbullah Martyr's Day in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon.
Photo: AP



Israel's concern, officials said, was that Hizbullah could gain control of the weaponry. "Already a large percentage of the LAF [the Lebanese Armed Forces] is Shi'ite," one official said. "It is definitely possible that in a future Hizbullah-Israeli conflict these tanks will be used against us."


Another official said that while Israel was concerned with the overall supply of weaponry to hostile regimes in the region, the IDF - and specifically the air force - was capable of destroying tanks within minutes.
"Hizbullah's strength is that it is a guerrilla force that does not operate in a conventional manner," the official noted. "Tanks are easy targets from the air and from the ground."
Meanwhile Saturday, the Al-Arabiya television station reported that Hizbullah was conducting military exercises in southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River, despite UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which bans Hizbullah activity in the area.
According to the report, the maneuvers were conducted without the use of live weapons, and were meant to mimic a secret deployment of operatives in the mountains in the south of the country, near Israel.
Former head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense subcommittee MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said the exercise demonstrated Kadima leader Tzipi Livni's failure as foreign minister during the war. "Hizbullah's exercises in southern Lebanon show UN Resolution 1701, which was lauded at the time by Tzipi Livni, for what it is," Steinitz said. "Today it is clear that the decisions and failures of [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert] and Livni only led to the strengthening of Hizbullah and the increase of the missile and terror threat to Israel."

Other articles....
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=2F50F0F5-63F0-4EAC-A705-5227DFE93A65

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&9AD9A82F178B3604C225751300268210

 

[dittle]

Well on the bright side if they do use them against us, they have no chace against an M1 or a apache.

This being said the M60 is no slouch of a tank; especially if it is the A3 variant. It won't take the hits of an M1A2 will, but if the crew is good and uses good tactics it will still put up one hell of a fight. Just ask Turkey, the M60 is their main tank. No tank will stand up against an Apache, even the M1A2.