Nigerian army has captured T-55 tank and ERC-90 Sagaie 4x4 armoured from Boko Haram militants 041014
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Boko Haram combat vehicles |
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| Saturday, October 4, 2014 11:59 AM | |||
| Nigerian army has captured T-55 tank and ERC-90 Sagaie 4x4 armoured from Boko Haram militants. | |||
The
Nigerian army has announced that it captured from Boko Haram Islamist
militants a a Soviet-made T-55
main battle tank (MBT) and a French-made 4x4 reconnaissance
armored vehicle ERC-90
Sagaie during a battle near the town of Konduga in Borno
state. |
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 Armoured reconnaissance vehicle ERC-90 Sagaie seized by Nigerian army from Boko Haram fighters in Konduga (Credit photo Sahara Reporters Media) |
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This
indicates that Boko Haram has tanks and armored personnel carriers and
is growing in military strength. The tank and reconnaissance vehicle were seized from the insurgents after a fierce battle in which soldiers killed more than 100 Boko Haram terrorists. Some 15 Nigerian soldiers were also killed during the firefight that lasted several hours. The Nigerian army said the seizure of the tank was a major blow to the insurgents. "The sheer power of the tank surprised us. And the tank has camouflage painting that made it blend with the area in a way that it could not have easily been detected by Nigerian jets flying over the area," said a military officer. We can suppose that these vehicles were stolen from barracks of Nigerian. Acoording to our sources, a total of 46 ERC-90 Sagaie and 129 T-55 MBT are currently in service witth Nigerian armed forces. Main armament of the T-55 is a 100 mm D-10T-TS2 gun. The weapon has a maximum range in the indirect fire role of 14,600 m and can fire high-explosive, armour piercing and shaped-charge ammunitions. A 7.62mm SGMT coaxial machine gun is mounted to the right side of the main armament and a similar weapon fixed in the centre of the glacis plate fires forward and is operated by the driver by pressing a button on the right steering lever. Latest variants are equipped with a 12.7mm machine DShKM, mounted at the loader's position to be used against attacks of helicopter or aircraft. The ERC-90 Sagaie is a 6x6 light armoured vehicle designed, developed and maunfactured from 1975 by the French Company Panhard, now a subdivision of Renault Trucks Defense. The ERC-90 Sagaie is fitted with a two-man turret armed with 90 mm F4 gun and one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. The normal engagement distance is 1,100 m. |
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