Political cartoons and memes

[eish]

catholicheaven.png (521.49 KiB) Viewed 223 times

[eish]

You can pry my stick from my cold, dead fingers. All 88 of them.

manualtransmissionmasterrace.png (401.62 KiB) Viewed 178 times

[eish]

adulting.jpg (40.64 KiB) Viewed 58 times

[eish]

Too soon?

toyotathon.jpg (386.88 KiB) Viewed 42 times

[SavaBeljovic]

Too soon?

toyotathon.jpg

Ah yes, the "technical", truly a masterpiece of motorized warfare.

Traditionally a Toyota Helix with a Soviet HMG or AA gun on the back (usually 12.7mm or 23mm) that has firepower, mobility and limited troop carrying capacity.

Libya and Chad fought a war in the 1980s, Chad was losing and the French and United States governments wished to give Chad a helping hand. Chad was not allied with either government so they had to be subtle about what support they could give.

The CIA decided donating Toyota Helixes was that way.

Not as a direct result, but definitely a factor in the Chadian victory was the usage of the technicals. It wasn't the first use of such a vehicle in modern warfare but definitely it's most defining.

Ever since that war has been called "the Toyota War". Even the United States Armed Forces employed technicals in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially early on when the Humvees were deathtraps.

Have a lot of nostalgia for these.

[Barbara]

I'm going to be asking more about these.

I had never heard of a Toyota Helix. Was or is that model produced for the Asian market maybe ? And made their way to Africa ?

I have never heard of that Soviet anti=aircraft gun either.
Oh, never mind, I see you wrote 12.7mm - I know that one. The HMG designation is what i hadn't heard of. That's the one the Afghans called a Dashika for DShK <- I can't look this up to check.
There was also 14.5mm

These 2 posts are very interesting, thank you !

PS What do you mean by "technicals" ??

[SavaBeljovic]

I'm going to be asking more about these.

I had never heard of a Toyota Helix. Was or is that model produced for the Asian market maybe ? And made their way to Africa ?

I have never heard of that Soviet anti=aircraft gun either.
Oh, never mind, I see you wrote 12.7mm - I know that one. The HMG designation is what i hadn't heard of. That's the one the Afghans called a Dashika for DShK <- I can't look this up to check.
There was also 14.5mm

These 2 posts are very interesting, thank you !

PS What do you mean by "technicals" ??

The Toyota Helix was a model made for the European market from what I recall -- they either didn't sell them in the US or they didn't sell well -- but I have seen some in the US.

The most common of the 12.7mm HMGs (Heavy Machine Gun) is undoubtedly the DShK (ДШК) with it's 12.7mm Soviet cartridge. It can penetrate most light armored vehicles and even shoot down low flying aircraft.

Some of the technicals also have lighter machine guns like the PK or FN MAG or even the American M2 Browning .50 BMG but the Soviets sold a lot of "Dishkas".

The 14.5mm gun was the KPV (КПВ) and those are pretty common too. I know those were used a lot in Syria but I don't know about elsewhere. The KPV was a lightened version of the ZPU AA guns.

The 23mm are the ZU-23. They're quite heavy but they will fit on the back of some trucks -- not sure about the Helix, as it's rather light -- and are quite popular among African insurgent groups.