Which, last I checked, many people were also upset about. They should never have received EITHER of those.
the US has no ability to operate this machine in fighting capacity. We do not produce, or buy, the 125mm round for the 2A46M cannon. We do not produce the parts to repair, nor do we purchase the parts to repair these vehicles. We do not have the Drozd systems to replace them when used. We have not outfit them with 120s. We have not added the M2HB to the tank. Simply put; we can’t use it to fight a war, therefore, we should not get it in game. Look at the Leo 2AV- it didn’t go to the US even though it was designed for the US. It went to Germany. So much in the same way the Leo 2AV went to Germany, the 478BEM1 will go to either an Eastern Europe tree or Russia- not the US.
Just for inputs, we can and have done this before. We’ll source rounds and parts from Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia to keep these vehicles functioning and firing. It also extends to helicopters like the Mi-17. They keep the vehicles in fighting conditions for testing purposes at Aberdeen.
Since ““we can’t use it to fight a war, therefore, we should not get it in game”” is a really giant concern for you, why won’t you ask to remove all these high tier vehicles, and probably hundreds more from every tech tree in game?
And i agree with @Yontzee that if it would be absolutely necessary, all of it could be done through different countries or a few crazy engineers with some booze and adult equipment. Only things that could be an issue in this case is the engine since no country other than Ukraine produces these engines, and Drozd APS since nobody at all produces those now, but still with technical documentation production of both can be started anywhere if needed.
I don’t believe the US operated any Sukhoi aircraft outside the privately owned Su-27s—Ditto with the MiG-25. As for the other MiGs, those would be neat additions as premiums or event vehicles I suppose
Ah, yes, that one. That’s the one that was captured without wings and was never operational, so there’s less of a chance of that being added. The HAVE series, on the other hand, is a definite possibility. Ditto with the privately operated Soviet warbirds in the US if the Netz Premium is anything to go by
In 2020, to maintain the operability of these T-80UDs, the United States purchased 6TD-2E engines from Ukrspetsexport. Also purchased were 49 Kombat ATGM and GD-1 aerosol grenades.
Updated the post to include new information as to the reason of the “T-80UD” designation by the U.S. being, the BM Oplot/T-84 designation was a brand new designation by the Ukrainian military at the time of sale to the U.S. and the U.S. did not adopt this new name to the vehicle. This vehicle retained ALL major capabilities of the Object 478DU9/BM Oplot zr. 2000 with the exception of having an older version of Nozh ERA, no Varta (Shtora) APS, and different smoke grenade configuration, but makes up with Drozd APS and Kombat GL-ATGM, which therefore makes this a VERY close Oplot-derivative.