Baby Yoda took the internet by storm last year thanks to the Disney Plus show called, “The Mandalorian,” and now a tank with the same name is headed to Europe with the U.S. Army.
You might not think that the tiny, cuddly-looking Baby Yoda from the Star Wars spin-off series has much in common with an M1A2 Abrams main battle tank… and to be honest, you’d be right. Just about the only thing I can figure these two have in common is that they’re both pretty handy in a fight.
Baby Yoda (the tank, not the fictional character) is just one of countless American tanks that have had their nicknames painted across their M256 120-millimeter main guns over the years. Like painting portraits on the side of bombers or writing messages on bombs and missiles, painting the name of your tank on the barrel is a time honored tradition in the U.S. military that not only offers troops an opportunity to express a semblance of team pride and individualism, but also helps new generations of war fighters connect to the culture and practices of those who came before them.
Baby Yoda hails from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, and is joined by other tanks with notable names like, “Django,” “Body Count,” and “Stallion,” according to Popular Mechanics.
The 3rd Infantry Division is preparing to head to Europe to participate in a number of international military exercises with NATO allies called Defender Europe 2020, which is aimed at improving the way disparate services can work in unison in the event of a large scale conflict on the European continent.
Another Abrams main battle tank made headlines early last year when the Army’s 1st Armored Division took to Twitter with their M1A2 Abrams tank named, “Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson.”
The wrestler turned movie star responded to their post with a bit of gratitude toward America’s armed forces–something Dwayne Johnson has done repeatedly over the years, encouraged in part by his respect and admiration for his cousin, who serves as a U.S. Navy SEAL.
Thus far, Baby Yoda has not addressed having a tank named after him on social media, but seeing as Baby Yoda doesn’t speak and spends most of his time in a floating metal baby carriage, we can give him a pass on this one.
