In the specific example of towed artillery, you're absolutely correct, a lot of the Finnish towed artillery is based off the 1960s Soviet D-30 piece. The one that's still in service with 30% of the world's countries. The rest of it isn't as modern as the US, for instance, but it's not that old, and they've got quite a stockpile of non-Soviet stuff.
You're protesting just a little too hard, I think...
Yup, without wanting to belabour things, the guy's correct, in the specific example of towed artillery ... even their self-propelled stuff is considerably newer.
While I'm sure there are newer, better towed guns out there, I'm unsure what makes a piece with decades of real-life reliability testing a bad gun?
Might also be worth noting with regard to the 240mm howitzer M1 that nobody makes howitzers that big any more. Most nations top out at 155mm these days - that packs plenty of punch and is considerably more mobile than the monster WWII howitzers, the WWII-era 155mm howitzer being just under half the weight of the 240mm. It's just that Taiwan, with purpose-built bunkers for those M1s, simply doesn't need that mobility.
I thought that was odd. Seems the Finnish military currently runs Leopard 2s, which, whatever you may think about their obsolescence, are not Soviet
In the specific example of towed artillery, you're absolutely correct, a lot of the Finnish towed artillery is based off the 1960s Soviet D-30 piece. The one that's still in service with 30% of the world's countries. The rest of it isn't as modern as the US, for instance, but it's not that old, and they've got quite a stockpile of non-Soviet stuff.
You're protesting just a little too hard, I think...
Does artillery really need updating?
Taiwan still has M1 howitzers from WWII pointed at China. Old doesn't mean bad.
The M1 Abrams was designed in 1972 and is still one of the most advanced tanks currently manufactured.
Yup, without wanting to belabour things, the guy's correct, in the specific example of towed artillery ... even their self-propelled stuff is considerably newer.
While I'm sure there are newer, better towed guns out there, I'm unsure what makes a piece with decades of real-life reliability testing a bad gun?
Might also be worth noting with regard to the 240mm howitzer M1 that nobody makes howitzers that big any more. Most nations top out at 155mm these days - that packs plenty of punch and is considerably more mobile than the monster WWII howitzers, the WWII-era 155mm howitzer being just under half the weight of the 240mm. It's just that Taiwan, with purpose-built bunkers for those M1s, simply doesn't need that mobility.