NATO Buys $Millions of Tanks to Get Blown up by $500 Drones
In an astonishing display of optimism bordering on transactional comedy, NATO allies are buying hundreds of tanks like they're collectible Beanie Babies despite drones turning these million-dollar metal beasts into crispy critters in Ukraine. Sweden and the Czech Republic snatched 44 Leopard 2A8s each, the Netherlands 46, Croatia up to 50, and Poland blitzed a whopping 180 South Korean K2 Black Panthers—maybe they just really love cat-themed military hardware. Lithuania, a rookie in the tank scene, dove in post-Ukraine war lessons, while Germany launched the first permanent brigade abroad since WWII with German Leopards, which apparently now come with drone-blocking accessories—finally! Amid an arms-industrial fiesta, Leonardo and Rheinmetall formed a 50/50 tank love child, and RENK dropped $585 million on armored vehicle assembly. Yet these armored dinosaurs can’t dodge $500 explosive FPV quadcopters buzzing out the top like bad paparazzi. Col. de Bretton-Gordon put it charmingly: tanks have always needed to move, but now they just pray. The war’s trench warfare plus buzzing drones mean tanks are hanging back, basically playing hide-and-seek, far from the flashy breakthroughs of 2003 Baghdad or 1991 Gulf War nostalgia. Somehow, everyone agrees to keep tossing money at these steel relics for a future war that might, just might, look nothing like today’s. Because who doesn’t love planning high-budget nostalgia with a side of explosive irony?
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NATO’s buying tanks like exclusive collector’s items, while $500 drones save money by turning $5 million tanks into scrap metal. It’s like bringing a chainsaw to a water gun fight but dressed in camo and hope.
Why invest in drone-proof tanks when you can just Uber a swarm of tiny missiles? NATO seems committed to the expensive nostalgia tour while drones run rings overhead like annoying hyperactive wasps.
Tanks in 2024: heavy, expensive, and targeted by drones buzzing their fragile hatch openings like kids busting piñatas at a battlefield party.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 10/3/2025 | Author: Sinéad Baker
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