Talk:M-56 Howitzer

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Future Artillery Systems: 2016 Market Report

@AzfarShams: When evaluating the reliability of a source, examine the author, the publisher, and the work.

Future Artillery Systems: 2016 Market Report is self-published. The author and publisher are the same, Defence IQ. It is neither an academic publisher, nor a respected publishing house, nor mainstream media. It is a combination of trade press and event organizer. The report, and similar ones for other weapons types, is issued in conjunction with one of their industry events. Speakers at Defence IQ's events are sometimes quoted, and items it publishes, particularly interviews, are sometimes cited by reliable sources, but their market reports rarely are.

Based on my examination of the report, the holdings portion is copied, without attribution, from the 2015 edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies' The Military Balance (cf. Defence IQ's Armoured Vehicles: Global Inventories 2016-17 market report, which openly credits Military Balance, IISS, and IHS Jane's as sources for its holdings). Because it is a copy, it is as accurate as The Military Balance, but Defence IQ has no reputation for fact checking the inventory, it has simply copied it. For weapon systems quantities, one will always be able to cite a better source than Defence IQ, one with a reputation for accuracy and fact checking, such as The Military Balance or any publication of IHS Jane's.

Even if you still think Defence IQ's report is a reliable source, I hope you will agree that their 2016 report is 5 years out of date. The Military Balance (2015) says this about 105mm guns held by Bangladesh:

"105mm 170: 56 Model 56A1; 114 Model 56/L 10A1 pack howitzer".

Future Artillery Systems: 2016 Market Report says the same:

"56 M-56A1 105MM; 114 M-56 /L10A1 105MM".

The next year, The Military Balance (2017) prints only:

"105mm 170 Model 56 pack howitzer".

The M-56 Howitzer is no longer listed.

I believe this is a correction (one of the signs of a reliable source), something supported by the SIPRI Trade Registers, which show no receipts of M-56, only of Model-56, from Italy and second hand from India. The alternative, that in that year Bangladesh disposed of 56 M-56 Howitzers and coincidentally acquired 56 OTO Melara Mod 56 pack howitzers, is too improbable to take seriously. In any case, up-to-date reliable sources show Bangladesh has zero M-56 Howitzers.

For these reasons, I'm reverting your additions, which use an out-of-date source of questionable reliability, of Bangladesh as a user of the M-56 Howitzer here, and of the M-56 Howitzer in List of equipment of the Bangladesh Army. --Worldbruce (talk) 22:57, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

@Worldbruce: I agree with your reason for removal from List of equipment of the Bangladesh Army, but this is not the topic to discuss on this talk page. You're right, the citation is too old to rely on and recent reports from The Military Balance, do not mention M-56 Howitzer since 2017. So, one can assume that in 2017 Bangladesh disposed of 56 M-56 Howitzers and coincidentally acquired 56 OTO Melara Mod 56 pack howitzers or something like that. But we can't be sure about that. I think it is safe to put Bangladesh as a user in the M-56 Howitzer. (Also, would you kindly, look at the citations of the other countries? They are also way too old). If you are certain that Bangladesh did dispose of the M-56 howitzer then mention it as a former operator with a citation supporting that claim.

Also, I'm not confused M-56 Howitzer with OTO Melara Mod 56. Most documents from the Bangladeshi military and in public displays describe M-56 Howitzer as The Yugoslavian Howitzer or something similar. Such a description is too vague to be cited here. I know, personal knowledge doesn't work here. But I think it is important to mention. I'm again restoring my old edit with a slight change. I'm using The Military Balance (2016) as a citation this time. Thank you. -AzfarShams (talk) 14:35, 2 March 2021 (UTC)