Russian style …
Just fill up the fuel tanks, mount a fresh battery and drive it away,
or something …
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That only works if the engines and transmissions haven’t been sold on the black market.
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um-hum …
Why do you think the engine decks are open on many of them?
The optimistic view is that it’s to be able to tell that some engines have been stolen.
The other view is, of course, that they’re in the process of stealing them …
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A third option is that they need to ventilate the engine bays to get rid of fuel fumes and prevent fire hazards …
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The Germans had something similar but they weren’t being stored they were awaiting scrapping. It’s a very old article but some really interesting pictures of Marders, Leopards and at least one Gepard turret.
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Or maybe there just playing a large scale Where’s Waldo? or should I say Where’s Ivan? He’s in this tank…no. Maybe that one…
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I remember seeing old pictures of the Kharkiv Tank Automotive Plant, with the tanks stacked on top of each other and I was like “Ah… Just some WD-40, a new battery and full tank fo gas and they’ll be ready in no time”…
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I bet someone wishes they had those now …
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Very cool , when I first saw something like this I thought they were stacked directly on top of one another but your photo shows that the upper layer of tanks are supported by posts over the bottom layer.
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I guess there’s a big ass crane just out of view.
I live less than 5 minutes from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. It used to include all sorts of neat stuff including aircraft carriers, a battleship, and the Glomar Explorer. Water pollution from the aging ships was really bad so over the last 20 years, almost everything was moved and scrapped.
I have long wondered why so little effort is put into preserving expensive military machines. It seems so wasteful.
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Doug, I remember some of those ships also. Always wanted to go aboard those ships when I was a kid. Sad they are all gone now. 
Thats why RuZZia are using T54 and T55 in Ukraine, oh and artillery charges made in 1937, and assault tactics first used in Crimea, circa 1853.
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Technology develops, a ship may be viable for 10 - 15 years but after that the systems need to be replaced.
It might be possible to preserve an analog ballistics calculator for 30-40 years (it’s all a matter of cost) but what would it be used for. The modern computers from the 60’s - 70’s outclassed the 1940’s technology.
The command/control systems from today totally outclass the systems from the 80’s.
Ship hulls can be reusable, hydrodynamics doesn’t change much, water is water …
but the requirements on the hulls may have changed.
Similar arguments can be applied to tanks. Aromour technology has changed a lot since the T-54/T-55 were designed. Who wants to enter a fight in a T-55 when the opponent is an M1A2?
Armour, sights, ammunition, tactical control. Pitch an M48 (original, not heavily upgraded) against a T-90?
Would I like to drive around in my dads Mercedes (190 Diesel) from 1965? No effing way! No seatbelts, old fashioned seats, no neck protection, no crush zones designed to absorb impact, 1.2 tons, 60 hp (new motor), no steering servo, no outside rear view mirrors, forget airconditioning and other modern amenities …
We sold it when dad died, now it lives with a car enthusiast.
83 mph top speed on a nice day and no headwind
Sshhhhh, keep it quiet - with advertising like that, i’m amazed there aren’t RuZZians queueing up at your door right now carrying COPE cages.
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The Glomar Explorer was there ? What a coincidence as I was just telling somebody over the weekend the history of that project and how my grandfather had worked on the ship itself at Sun shipyard in Chester PA in addition to working with a guy who had helped build the grappling crane at Reading Crane in Reading PA. Speaking of the passage of time changing things, the Sun Ship facility is now a casino with a horse racing track built on top of the slip ways on the bank of the Delaware River.
