rust

Yes rust occurs in desert regions, but quite sparingly on AFVs. Tracks are scoured clean of rust as soon as the vehicle moves. Exhaust pipes are the area most likely to have rust. Spare track shoes usually have a protective coating on the metal areas when new, but those do get dinged up and will rust. Certain modem AFVs have aluminum alloy armor, and will show no rust at all.

Rust would not be impossible in the desert. It does rain in both Iraq and Afghan, I have spent a winter in each and believe me it can get damn wet and damn damn cold. Camp Bastion was a bugger for flooding in the winter. And Basra airport turn into a quagmire. Also, these vehicles would have come from Europe or the US, and in many cases were not repainted before deployment, at least the British ones anyway.

That all said and done, I am not a big fan of rust on armour. the areas were the paint would wear away and so liable to rust are also the areas that get heavily worn, which would of course wear away the rust.

Ahhh rust, one of my most favorite

                           4 - letter words.