A Belarusian military parade will have one less tank after this snafu. One 40-ton tank lost control during a practice run, sending it drifting into a light pole as if it was driven by That Guy leaving Cars and Coffee.
The practice session ran right through Belarus’ capital city of Minsk. You can see the rest of the military vehicles on display come down the road at slower speeds than the original tank.
In addition to hitting a lamp post and a tree, a power line came loose in the crash and hit the tank driver’s head. Ouch!
The 40-ton steel tank was damaged by the hit, believe it or not. Belarusian Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Makarov credited the driver’s mad drift skill—er, um, abilities from sparing the tank from further damage after it started to slide, per Russian state-funded media network RT. The tank was still operational after the crash, but sustained heavy damage to its side armor.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry also blamed wet conditions for the tank’s crash, however, we all get told over and over again to drive to the conditions on the road. Shouldn’t that also apply to tanks? I’m just saying. Tanks should be crashed into things intentionally, not fall victim to a moist road.
[H/T Crazy Leo!]