Wiesel & Scimitar: Why Ukraine Vets want Light Tanks

You can follow the combat engineer here: twitter.com/ButtjerFreimann Some additional comments / corrections: The combat scenario at the beginning refers strictly to the attack on position in the woodlines. The Russian 30/40 mm don't have HEAT warheads. The DShK/Dschka on the Russian(!) side is very rare, the Russian use mainly other machine guns with the 12.7mm caliber and Tobias was basically speaking about that caliber.

The old British CVRT family such as the Scimitar produce less ground pressure than a human so may not even set off some anti personnel mines, there was an instance in the Falklands War where the commander of a Scorpion ( think Scimitar but with a 75mm low velocity gun rather than the 30mm Rardan cannon ) jumped off the vehicle and sank up to his waist in a swamp the vehicle didn't sink in.

I think Germany should expand on the Wiesel concept and keep it. Small, nimble and even silent. Transport is easy. And it gives the infantry so much flexibility and firepower. Bait and switch tactics. Night ops. That thing is so damn cool

That legal disclosure at the beginning is more amusing than usual . . .

The Scorpion was unfortunately discontinued in the 90s due to a problem with the gun; It vented toxic fumes back into the crew compartment and was deemed unsuitable for use almost immediately. I doubt these would get given to Ukraine due to this, they're not just obsolete, they're dangerous to the crew. The Scimitar on the other hand, is all the amazing things about the scorpion, but without the fumes problem. Driving it is an absolute piece of cake and was easier for me than driving a car. It has less ground pressure than an average person and much less than a fully equipped soldier, meaning it can accompany the troops into most places off the road. This thing is also slightly better armoured than the wiesel, so less of those fragments and 50.cals are going to take it out of action - though it's still not something you want to be in when 155mms land nearby. The UK took all 600+ Scimitars out of service this April, and my first thought was 'Ukraine could really do with them now we don't want them'. I'm not sure anyone's actually interested in buying these off us, so I don't know why they haven't been handed over. I've heard from multiple sources that assault units desperately want these support vehicles with them, and Ukraine have a very limited amount of Bradleys and BMPs. Seems like a simple solution to help plug that growing gap, but I'm not privy to that kind of decision making process, so maybe there's another reason why this hasn't happened.

The Weasel could be used as a self propelled auto-cannon. It has the firepower to take out a BMP while being more mobile and easier to hide.

They just described the WW2 Univeral Carrier. Actually I think that in the muddy conditions of Ukraine, the Universal carrier would have been really useful.

Once you think of Wiesel or CVRT as more a mobility added gun truck than a lightly armored tank or IFV their employment makes perfect sense.

Not in anyway an expert, but I remember from somewhere the design brief for the CVRT was to have a very low ground pressure of 8-10psi. According to rumours in testing it actually had a lower pressure on the ground than even that (turned out to be 5 psi - about 34.5Kpa, a human on one foot while walking is about 8psi). Though add on equip over the years probably increased the weight and ground pressure Also there is that story from the Falkland's war of a CVRT Scorpion crewman climbing off his stopped vehicle onto what he thought was solid ground the CRVT had parked on, only to sink in up to his knees...

The 3rd Assault Brigade bought some demilitarized Wiesels recently

Scimitar was just retired this year from service so should be available. Wiesel should also have some availability.

I was told by men of the Royal Armoured Corps that a cold war era ambush tactic of the Scimitar was to lurk on a reverse slope, preferably in a wooded area, where heavier armour was restricted to using tracks or paths. When heavier armour passed they would charge over the slope and down the other side in extended line, passing between the enemy armour and shoot at the rear of vehicles as they passed, gaining mobility kills at least. Continuing up the far side of the path, preferably another slope that they could crest and get behind. With a top speed of around 50mph (80 Km/h) it would be very hard for the heavy armour to defend such an ambush. Especially if they were battened down.

I would be wary to say that the Wiesel can be used to clear a path of Anti-personel mines because its "armored". The Wiesel has, for all intents and purposes, no mine protection in its design at all. Its lower hull plate is 8-10mm RHA. A russian MON-50(claymore clone) AP mine contains 700g of TNT. Mines like the PMN-1 contain 240g of TNT. These are entirely capable of destroying a Wiesel that drives directly over them. Hell, they crack BTRs because of equally poor armor but BTRs at least have a lot of ground clearance and a little bit of V-shape from the amphibious requirement. Mines like the PMN-2 and PMN-4 would be kind of "safe" to drive over because they contain 100g and 50g of TNT respectively. But consider that a german DM51 hand grenade contains 60g of filler. So the crew will certainly feel that AP mine going off. It might also be contra-productive to the tracks health. The tracks of the Wiesel are little cute thing when compared to a "grown up" AFV, I dont see them lasting long if you intend to drive over a series of AP mines to clear a path.

The small unit tactical movement being employed by the Ukrainians in the south would probably benefit from light tanks; being able to bring a heavy machinegun or light cannon to an infantry fight would be great, and of course a second-class ride beats a fist-class walk any day. But once the fighting goes back open terrain these need to clear out and let the bigger stuff take over.

I think the big foam hand would be a big game changer. You can point at a UAV and everyone will know where it is.

Another thing a Weasel or Scimitar could also bring a more powerful set of modern optics for target identification and engagement.

The weisel is one one of my favorite military vehicles. Small, light, mobile, versatile, good firepower, and doesnt have to play by the same rules as all the other vehicles.

All 3, wiesel,scimitar & scorpion are fantastic armed recce, also as infantry close support in specific environments/scenarios. They should have a lot offer the Ukrainian forces if/when used correctly.

Im assigned to a Wiesel company and we Train with them quite regularly and let me Tell you it is such a pain in the Ass to fight against. They just dissapear into the woods and attack you from the flank 5 Minutes later, especially the ATGM variant is an absolute nightmare for MBTs due to its tiny silhouette and sheer killing power.

Wiesels in Ukraine and the woodlines but be quite sth. I also remeber an interview fairly recently were they praised the Leo 1's easy maintenance. A trait the the Wiesel is infamous for and Ukraine benefits a lot from especially when considering other more high tech gear in lesser numbers and more maintenance to it.