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>>/42996/ Peruvian interest in Soviet technology began in the 70s, after seeing it in action during earthquake relief. At the time it was under a left-wing military dictatorship. They bought the T-55 in 1972 and at the time it was the most powerful tank on the continent. Since then they've kept buying all sorts of Eastern Bloc armament. Chile bought Leopard 2s in 2007 and sold its Leopard 1s to Equador the next year; in response, Peru bought Kornet ATGMs. Chile&Ecuador vs. Peru must maintain the balance of power and continually respond to each other's arms purchases. >>/43035/ > traditional historical names for units It's not just that but also keeping separate cavalry officers and cavalry doctrine as well as extending cavalry terminology to where it didn't exist before - tank battalions becoming tank regiments, mechanized recon becoming mechanized cavalry. > Especially in relatively poor South American countries that often don't even have reason to have proper tank units. They probably think they'll use them in full-on classical tank combat with neighboring countries which also organize such units. Doctrine might also be outdated, I've seen a few mentions describing Brazilian cavalry as primarily fighting embarked, which as you've said wouldn't hold ground in real combat.