The AMX-30 is a main battle tank designed by GIAT, first delivered to
the French Army in 1966. The production version of the AMX-30 weighed
36 metric tons (40 short tons), and sacrificed protection for increased
mobility. The French believed that it would have required too much
armour to protect against the latest anti-tank threats, thereby
reducing the tank's maneuverability. The tank's firepower was
manifested through its 105 mm (4.1 inch) cannon, firing an advanced
high explosive anti-tank warhead known as the Obus G. Speed was
provided by the 720 horsepower (540 kW) HS-110 diesel engine, although
the troublesome transmission adversely affected the tank's performance.
As the French Army began to modernize its fleet of tanks, a new
transmission, a new fin-stabilized kinetic energy penetrator, and other
improvements were later introduced. As early as 1969, the AMX-30 and
variants were ordered by Greece, soon followed by Spain. In the coming
years, the AMX-30 would be exported to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Chile. By the end of production, 3,571
units of AMX-30s and its variants had been manufactured. In the 1991
Gulf War, AMX-30s were deployed by both the French and Qatari armies,
and Qatari AMX-30s saw action against Iraqi forces at the Battle of
Khafji.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMX-30>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
William the Conqueror and his fleet of around 600 ships landed at
Pevensey, Sussex, beginning the Norman conquest of England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England>
1542:
Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the first European to
travel along the coast of California, landed on what is now the City of
San Diego.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Cabrillo>
1928:
Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming noticed a
bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what
became known as penicillin.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/penicillin>
1978:
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an
apparent myocardial infarction, an event that has spawned a variety of
murder conspiracy theories.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I>
1995:
Over 30 mercenaries led by Bob Denard landed on the Comoros in an
attempted coup, his fourth one on the African island nation since 1975.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Denard>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
junket (n):
1. A type of cream cheese, made of sweetened curds or rennet.
2. A feast or banquet.
3. A pleasure-trip; especially a trip
ostensibly made for business but which entails merrymaking or
entertainment
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/junket>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The way which the superior man pursues, reaches wide and far, and yet
is secret. Common men and women, however ignorant, may intermeddle with
the knowledge of it; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which
even the sage does not know. Common men and women, however much below
the ordinary standard of character, can carry it into practice; yet in
its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage is not able to
carry into practice. Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some
things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the
superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the
world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in
its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it.
--Confucius
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Confucius>