UK Invokes Fear of 'Russian Threat' to Create New Strike Brigades
10:23 27.12.2016(updated 11:20 27.12.2016)
Britain plans to form two Strike Brigades equipped with Ajax armored fighting vehicles to grapple with the alleged "Russian threat", according to the newspaper Izvestia.
The British Army has plans to establish two Strike Brigades, which will be equipped with Ajax armored fighting vehicles. The units will be tasked with containing the so-called "Russian threat", the newspaper Izvestia quoted UK military sources as saying on Monday.
Each such brigade will include two reconnaissance regiments equipped with Ajax armored fighting vehicles. These are being developed by Virginia-based General Dynamics, the world's fifth-largest defense contractor, which also produces the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank.
The Strike Brigades, due to be formed by 2020, can be deployed to any part of Europe within a matter of hours "to stop a possible invasion of Russian troops." These would, in turn, allegedly be equipped with state-of-the-art Armata tanks and Kurganets infantry fighting vehicles.
The Ajax, which weighs 38 tons and has a 40-mm automatic cannon, is often called a light tank, Izvestia reports, adding that for comparison's sake, the Armata T-14 tank weighs in at 48 tons and is armed with 125-mm smoothbore gun.
In an interview with Sputnik, Russian military expert Viktor Murakhovsky specifically pointed to the British top brass's drive to capitalize on the mythical Russian threat.
"The Russian threat-related fears are fueled by Britain's military-industrial complex and the UK military and in order to get more money for Britain's defense budget. Despite Brexit, which entails the UK's withdrawal from the economic system of the EU, Britain remains a reliable NATO member and the main US ally in the European theater of operations, " he said.
According to him, the British military's plans can be described as a pipe dream because the Ajax tank cannot be on a par with the Armata in terms of characteristics.
"All this can be described as a pipe dream. In particular, calling the Ajax a light tank is irrelevant because this fighting vehicle's characteristics cannot be compared to those of a light tank, let alone the Armata's," Murakhovsky said.
Recalling that the Ajax tank weighs 38 tons and isn't suited for use as an amphibious vehicle, Murakhovsky remained skeptical about the British army's plans to quickly deploy these tanks to any part of Europe.
"This is nothing but an application of funds, and they rely on this tank because they have no better alternative," he noted.
"Secondly, they need to promote a contract for the supply of 600 Ajax tanks to the British army, which is already in the pipeline. That's why they try to wage couch wars, alleging that the Ajax tank is the best armored vehicle," he said.
In this vein, Murakhovsky referred to the Sprut-SD 2S25, a self-propelled amphibious tank which weighs 18 tons and which he said is a light tank in the full sense of the term.
© Sputnik
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