Here’s a fun one.
Nato should examine how it can power tanks and jets with alternative energy, such as solar panels, to reduce its carbon emissions, the alliance’s secretary general said.
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels would also make troops less vulnerable to attack because they would not have to rely on long supply lines getting fuel to the front line, Jens Stoltenberg said.
The Nato chief suggested that militaries should advance research into low-emitting vehicles because of the advantages they bring, at an online seminar titled New Ideas for Nato 2030.
“Nato should do its part to look into how we can reduce emissions from military operations,” he told the Chatham House event. “We know that heavy battle tanks or fighter jets and naval ships consume a lot of fossil fuel and emit greenhouse gases and therefore we have to look into how we can reduce those emissions by alternative fuels, solar panels or other ways of running our missions.”
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/nato-chief-suggests-battle-tanks-with-solar-panels-as-militaries-go-green-1.1160313
Best line in the story.
He told the seminar that his background as a UN envoy on climate change helped with the proposals.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/nato-chief-suggests-battle-tanks-with-solar-panels-as-militaries-go-green-1.1160313
Willis commented about this news story on social media thusly
The stupid, it burns … an M1 tank gets 0.6 mpg. A gallon of diesel contains ~ 40 kWh of energy. A solar panel puts out ~ 1 kWh per day. A solar panel is about 17 sq. ft. You MIGHT fit four of them on an M1 tank without impairing the weapons and sensors. Then you’d need four Tesla Powerwall batteries, weight half a ton.With that setup, every ten days you could move your tank 0.6 miles …w.
The GWPF also covered this story with this excellent cartoon by Josh.
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Methinks the good general is working for the enemy….
He is “secretary general”. Don’t know if he is a military general but I sure hope not.
Jens Stoltenberg served in the army only for the minimum required by the Norwegian draft before entering university. His degree is in economics. He must never have taken a physics class.
…or an economics class.
Battle Tanks with Solar Panels…
War stops at night or on cloudy days
Just because you can put Solar Panels on a bicycle with a small electric motor and drive it across Australia doesn’t mean the technology works with something as massive as a Tank, in the world of EVs weight is primary Heavier isn’t better
But n the world of Tanks, heavier is demanded
Just watched the movie T34 a Russian WWII film with tank warfare. Solar panels better be made of thick molybdenum steel!
The generals are also considering equipping all the Main Battle Tanks with My Pillow Launchers because depleted uranium shells can hurt people.
My Pillow is out. Micheal Lindell is a Trump supporter and has been cancelled by the leftards.
Acquitted
They can buy them from David Hogg, if he ever figures out how to make and sell pillows. Government contracts are the only way he could survive, anyway.
Pillows are for resting, not wokeness.
He is the very model of a modern secretary general.
A brilliant analogy by someone who is either old or was not educated in government schools. Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream.
If you’re not especially good at physics or economics, you become a Norwegian politician. Wasn’t he also a special UN envoy for climate change? He is probably obligated to say a great many dumb things in the name of the UN or at least ask for research money.
Uff da!
Stoltenberg is a pencil pusher and spends his time attending finger food parties with the in crowd so he can be noticed. He would have difficulty operating a .22 calibre rifle!
Sailing ships supplemented with rowing truly circumnavigated the earth. So we know NATO will be much better at sea than on land or in the air.
If I remember correctly, in Nelson’s day, the battleships were non-metallic and used no fossil fuels. Gunpowder excepted!
Dudley, they were built of what some fossil fuels came from and given the right conditions burned very well.
Most of Norway has NO or very little sun during winter. Just maintaining the tank warm enough for the crew would be impossible.
So if I would be the enemy when do you think I’d plan my attack ?
Nothing says “woke” like flaming pink camo.
Actually pink camouflage was used in North Africa during WW2. The SAS more recently used Pink Panther Land Rovers in desert climates.
The Pink Camo is only “Flaming” because your Tank ran out of juice so the enemy was able to hit you with an incendiary device
Willis let the ignoramus Stoltenberg off easy.
On a US Army “flat road”, Abrams MBT mileage is 1.85 gallons per mile. On a standard “cross-country” course, it’s 3.50 gallons per mile.
Solar-powered high performance combat aircraft are even more idiotic.
They want a Tesla MBT. All aluminium body!
Just let them have the Cybertrucks, they have bulletproof glass No?
Bring back the Sheridan! With Tesla batteries, so once it’s on fire it can’t be extinguished.
Would then brand him Doltenberg
Well, the image is of a Soviet T-55, MBT of NATO’s Cold War opponent.
As well as being the cheap tank of choice for than a few allied countries as well – it travels.
Looks like it’s got some upgrades, on the turret. Maybe some reactive armor?
Yeah there’s a fairly standard upgrade kit to add various armour packages either composite spaced or some form of reactive blocks. The electronics are usually upgraded with thermal sights and better optics but it’s still a T55 after all.
Are we talking about armor-plated solar panels. That doesn’t sound too practical.
I would love to see the education credentials on crackpot that believes this cr*p.
yes your right did you know how long it takes to dig out the cobalt for batteries to be made and machinery they have to use
It shows you how bad it has got that someone can actually say, write and publish this sort of stuff.
Have these people got no sense of scale?
I saw a recent article about a startup commuter airline in Florida using airplanes with “36 electric jets”, and have seen others. Of course they mean electric motors, but I have never seen anyone refer to actual engines as jets, only the generic “Oh look at that jet way up there” when it’s a generic term for a large airplane.
That just shows the education level intelligence level of the author of that article.
The best part is, they have regenerative braking. So when it’s falling from the sky, it will generate just enough electricity to power the black box for a few more seconds.
It’s the lack of shame which bothers me.
They have no sense – period.
Atom bomb strength stupidity.
brian.jackson10@talktalk.net
I just looked at my calendar.
It’s not April 1st yet is it??
Is this Stoltenberg?
He always came across as quite sensible to me. Must’ve had a brain seizure.
The brain of anyone who buys into the IPCC’s wealth redistribution scam must have seized up. Otherwise, I can’t see how anyone can accept the crazy BS the IPCC pushes as the ‘settled’ science in support of their agenda to strangle the developed world so that China can replace America as the dominate economic superpower.
It isn’t actually quite as stupid as Willis makes it out to be. Military vehicles, especially those powered by gas turbines like the M-1, can wind up burning quite a bit of fuel even when sitting still, because they need to keep their batteries charged up to power the onboard electronics. In theory, slapping a couple of solar panels onto the roof of the vehicle might help with this. Of course, in practice, military vehicles are usually covered in dust and dirt, and a vehicle that is sitting still is probably going to be either under a camo net or under vegetation, all of which affect the efficiency of solar panels rather severely, so it probably wouldn’t help much at all, but I’m not an engineer to say for sure.
Yes, it is as stupid as Willis makes it and it’s even worse, in reality.
Camo nets, not so much, vegetation more likely.
They also fail to realize that soldiers and Marines put a lot of stuff on the outside of their vehicles, because there’s not a lot of room inside.
Having spent a lot of time in and around M113s, there is no place on top that a solar panel of any appreciable size will fit, except perhaps on the top cargo hatch.
I know the US Army probably doesn’t use M113s any more, except in support variants, but the point remains. I can’t imagine it’s any different with modern vehicles. There isn’t much un-used space where a solar panel would fit, and you can bet that space will be filled with something else after the fact.
Not used as APCs, but still a lot in support roles. Totally replaced as personnel carriers by tracked Bradley IFVs and 8-wheeled Stryker APCs.
The Bradleys came into service a couple years after I got out. M1s were just finishing testing. I saw a few at Ft Knox during Basic.
Military vehicles do not need to be run at night or when there is inclimate weather. Good to know.
“If you can’t find the enemy, look for the solar panels. They’ll be out in the sunlight.”
Chinese training manual, 2024.
So what you are saying is that, after a few minutes in the field, the solar panels will be worthless dead weight, and they’ll have to keep the engines running to charge the batteries…but you don’t think that’s stupid. Ok.
Apart from the fact the second it was hit with another tank round or even machine gun fire in combat the solar panels , no matter where they are mounted would turn into very expensive confetti in a millisecond . Ludicrous ! The embarrassment coefficient in this idiotic idea is off the charts .
Yeah – this is the sort of idea I would WANT an enemy to implement.
The power requirement goes beyond electronics. During training exercises and in combat situations the tank will remain powered constantly. Turret traverse and main gun elevation are controlled hydraulically, and this system has an accumulator that slowly bleeds off pressure. When the pressure drops to a certain point a pump kicks on to bring it back up, and that pump draws a lot of power. So much in fact that every few hours or so a “Stand to” is called wherein all of the vehicles in the unit will simultaneously start their engines to recharge batteries making solar panels completely useless and unnecessary.
Who needs an atom bomb?
Just back with compressed CO2, enough to equal 1.000.000 Hiroshima Bombs!
Make the “magic molecule” our best defense!!!
(Yeah, that ougta’ scare ’em.)
(I hit “edit” but it doesn’t show anything to edit. Anybody else experience that?)
Should be “1,000,000 Hiroshima Bombs”, not 1.
That “1,000,000” is in your comment. Now, the question is, how did it get there? 🙂
I have never had an instance where the edit page has no text. I’ve had a few other glitches but not that particular one.
That’s even dumber than Don Lemon asking if the missing Malaysian airline could have flown into a black hole.
Or Guam capsizing.
“That’s even dumber than Don Lemon”
Let’s just leave it at that.
No. Just no. I am so glad I have no relatives in the military now.
Let’s blow up the world, but do it environmentally.
Iran’s reconnaissance is confused by all the solar panels moving about the desert.
Epic. No-one would trust this fool to babysit their pet bunny-rabbit, yet here he is in charge of Military Security for The Whole Western World.
just wow
No matter:
Tattoo those words onto to his forehead and make him Permanent (as in: Forever and Ever) NATO General of the Secretary General of the NATO Chief General General Secretary General General. Chief.
When he ‘passes away’, him him give one of those Lovely Green Burials we saw earlier around here.
Thus:
Tosscarefully place his corpse into derelict, unwanted and bone-dry scrub with no casketRepeat with this guy.
Do not, do not ever simply just sack them so as they return after a few days in the wilderness even more emboldened than before.
Boris and his mistress next….
In this world/universe, There Has To Be: Consequences
Peta of Newark sound like Joan of Arc, but on our side this time. Is Peta the maid of Burton on Trent or the Maid of New Jersey. And the former is not far from Sherwood Forest. I have a stout English longbow for you
She’s not too far away from me, actually. Worryingly close, in fact.
Are these people really this stupid?
They may not be that stupid. However, the alternative is that he isn’t being honest and is hoping that everyone else is that stupid.
He told the seminar that his background as a UN envoy on climate change helped with the proposals.
It is a Gretenism, not a mere stupidity. The time is out of joint.
Yes these people are really that stupid
Think about it they also found people that would peer review it and accept it. So there is more than one of them that stupid
Stephen Vizinczey, An Innocent Millionaire
“Yes these people are really that stupid
Think about it they also found people that would peer review it and accept it. So there is more than one of them that stupid”
Good point.
I think this suggestion to run battle tanks on solar panels is just a political statement. I imagine the NATO head figures he will leave the implementation up to the generals, so he can make this statement without suffering any backlash, other than on forums like ours here.
And of course, the generals will laugh at the idea and will not implement it. The generals may start some pilot program just to satisfy the alarmists in the administration, but that’s all it will amount to because the idea of powering a battle tank with solar panels is absurd.
The NATO chief liked Trump very much. Trump got him a lot of money to spend on European defense by making the Europeans pay their fair share of the defense obligation.
No not stupid. Yes, emotional (past family issues) & manifest entitlement (his father a big man) & ignorant supporters.
I can’t understand that he isn’t ridiculed and laughed out of any room he is in. I can’t understand that his supporters aren’t ridiculed and laughed out of any room they are in. There must be a massive bubble around these types of ‘leaders’.
How many wars has Norway been in? Maybe he just needs some experience.
Get a career in the Corps of Electrical Extension Leads!
Latrine will now be known as latrina.
Latrinx
Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
Willis, 1 Gallon is 4 kWh, not 40. In addition, the ICE conversion to output power is 25% to 40% (depending on engine and transmission), so the output is not much over 1 kWh usable propulsion. Electric storage and propulsion is near unity in output. Even with this near 40 times difference, your basic point is still valid.
Willis, My mistake. The source I looked at slipped a decimal. I checked other sources, and the net usable with ICE conversion, results in the Gallon giving about 9 kWh usable output.
Double check your calculation. I get41.3 kwh/gal.
You left out the 25% ICE efficiency, which is the output I described.
To be more specific, the fuel energy is 42MJ/kg=37kWh/Gallon (look at the density of the fuel). With a 25% ICE engine and transmission for a tank, this comes to 9kWh/Gallon for propulsion.
So you think that electric motors and batteries utilize 100% of the theoretically available energy?
No but it is much closer.
40.7 per gallon.
https://www.convertunits.com/from/gallon+%5BU.S.%5D+of+diesel+oil/to/kilowatt-hour
Diesel engines are around 40% efficient. Gasoline engines are catching up to that.
At 0.06 miles per day, maybe they should consider camouflage-pattern sails. It would be a lot cheaper.
On the serious side why would any of our young folks volunteer to fight and possibly die on the orders and whims of clowns like this. If enough military people see what is happening then maybe a military coup would redress a balance of sanity.
That’s all we’ve ever fought and died for, but when young, such things aren’t obvious.
In most western democracies, the military serve the people and answer to the heads of state. Most are proud to serve, although the stupidity of the elected leaders is somewhere between a source of amusement and anger. What they do not and will not do, is step over that line and take the law into their own hands; that is not what a disciplined, proud and capable military does. If you want a military that will start coups, you will need to find one that is poorly maintained, ill disciplined and poorly trained, coupled with endemic corruption throughout the society.
It was worse when the officers were from the aristocracy.
If they think of invading Irak, Syria, Gulf Saudi and N. Afrika or Mexico it might be OK. If they think that never rains in Russia or China or Capitol think again.
No.
Not even in the sunniest place in the world would this work.
Duh.
The drawback to getting our partners more involved. Maybe Prince Charles can be the Supreme Commander.
HRH wasted many years talking to trees that ended as bio-mass.
PRINCE Charles shakes hands with every tree he plants
Prince Charles shakes hands with trees he plants to ‘wish them well’, and royal fans call it most ‘British thing ever’
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/10296125/prince-charles-shakes-hands-trees-plants/
“Royal” fans are like Kardashian fans. Need I say more?
I hears he only talks to burnt trees now.
Because black leaves matter.
Putin’s advice to the West Europeans on how they can reduce carbon emissions during their military operations is that they should conduct no military operations.
Being woke and being rational seem to be in conflict with each other. Maybe that’s why objective thinking is now demonized as “white supremacy”. Anything true is a threat to the woke house of cards.
Wow, imagine some of the greatest mobile weapons ever created, could defeated at the hands of a graffiti artist!
<<bugle over PA>>
Paging Sergeant Oddball !
He’ll know what to do.
Oddball was actually effective, though. Except for that one time his loader loaded a paint round instead of AP when shooting a Tiger I in the butt at 50 feet.
Best movie EVER!!!
agreed!
I hadn’t noticed that the true story had been updated ….
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/06/the-true-story-of-kellys-heroes/
He was before his time! A round of paint hitting the top of a solar powered tank would be very effective. Just think, bomb carrying fighter planes could be replaced by crop dusters spraying paint.
Is today Valentine’s Day or April Fool’s Day?
Is there a real difference?
It’s a climate modeled April Fool’s Day!
Common sense is obviously not a prerogative for persuing a career in international organisations. Still how did het get there?
If you get too smart, you get pitched down a stairwell.
As long as the enemy deploys equally ineffective equipment, so they play on a level battlefield. Cheating will be frowned upon.
When the enemy sees those things coming, they’ll die laughing. Win-win!
So Stollencake is really Ernest Scribbler – manufacturer of jokes.
This is certainly weapons-grade something…
The General is an idiot.
Secretary General is a politcal position, not military rank. Stoltenberg might have been a 2LT, tops!
There’s nothing more dangerous than a 2nd LT with a clipboard.
Jens Stoltenberg was never more than a private soldier. And not a very remarkable one.!
Actually, this is a special ops campaign to cause a Putin heart attack—from laughter.