Siberian Tanks
The German tendency to assume that any new Soviet reinforcements in 1941 came from Siberia is well known, but turns out that along with mythical Siberian riflemen there were mythical Siberian tanks as...
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World of Tanks History Section: Panfilov's Last Step Back
The front line passed near Kryukovo in late November of 1941: a settlement and a railway station. The Red Army and the Wehrmacht pushed against it like two boxers. One, more vicious and more...
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Light Tank M2: Two-Headed Light
In January of 1935, the Light Tank T2E1 arrived at Fort Benning for military trials. This vehicle was the result of nine years of trial and error, which began with the design of the Light Tank T1. Over...
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Pak 40 Penetration Tables
The graphics refer to several types of shells:Blue: standard armour piercing shellsRed: HEAT shellsGreen: subcaliber armour piercing shellsYellow: high explosive shellsThe areas of the tank are marked...
View ArticleLaunch of the IS-6
"Order of the People's Commissar of Tank Production of the USSRMoscowJune 8th, 1944Factory #100 (comrades Kotin, Yermolayev) jointly with TsNII-48 (comrades Zavyanov, Kapyrin) developed a draft project...
View ArticleTrophies into Battle
"Report on the fighting condition of captured tanks (German)In Zamoshye: 1 medium tank without a turret, functional. At the battalion's repair yard: 3 medium tanks.No machineguns, optics, or radio,...
View ArticleWe Lost a Track!
"On the losses of materiel...For the T-34, a characteristic loss is the destruction of tracks, drive wheels, and idlers. Out of 24 losses, 20 tanks were lost for these reasons. During our attacks, the...
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Combat Car T4: Christie Style
On March 25th, 1931, the US Wheel Track Layer Corporation and Bureau of Ordnance signed a contract to build five Christie M.1931 tanks, later expanded to seven. American infantry received three...
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2 cm KwK 38 Penetration Tables
By 1941, the PzII wasn't exactly a top of the line tank, and its firepower left much to be desired. These instructions reveal how to squeeze the most out of a gun that hasn't aged well. The tank has...
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85 mm AT Gun Battery
"16.11 At 13:00, a radio telegram arrives from the XXXXVI Tank Corps giving us the objective to deliver an attack from Shitkovo through Lama, as the progress of 2 Pz.D. is blocked by flanking fire from...
View ArticleMS-1 Production Plans
"November 6th, 1928To the State Izhor Factory (GIZ)The Bolshevik factory writes to you with a proposal to produce armoured hulls for the T-18 according to blueprints and technical requirements from the...
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SU-85BM
"Photo album of D-5S-85 with increased muzzle velocity designed by factory #9 and installed by Uralmash factory Photo #1: Overall view of the SPG with gun elevated to 25°.Photo #2: Overall view of the...
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Char B: A Difficult Beginning
The Char B1 and its improved version, the Char B1 bis, stand as the symbol of French tank building in WWII. At the start of WWII, these were the best medium tanks, combining shell-proof armour and...
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Char B: On France's Backburner
On May 13th, 1924, a demonstration of medium tanks built according to the Char de bataille program took place in Rueil-Malmaison. FAMH, FCM, Renault, and Schneider each built a prototype. The plan was...
View ArticleTeletank Development
"To Lieutenant-General of the Tank Forces, comrade FedorenkoReportI report to you on the current status of armoured telemechanics:Various organizations (NII-10, NII-20, Red Army NIST) performed work...
View ArticleExperimental Night Vision
"Trials of night vision IR detection devices and IR projectorsItems under trials:Night vision device type Dudka Dosug (2 units)Tokarev rifle with IR optical sight.IR projectorsPP-45 spotlight (2...
View ArticlePak 43 Problems
"Experience with 88 mm Pak 43 anti-tank gunsFront line experience showed that towed 88 mm anti-tank guns are of limited usefulness in mobile warfare (counterattacks, mobile defense, and especially when...
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TK-3 and TKS: Poland's Armoured Cockroaches
By pure numbers, Poland had an impressive amount of armoured vehicles in WWII: about 870 units (against approximately 2700 German tanks in Army Group North and South). However, three quarters of them...
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Medium Tank Mk.III: Britain's Cerberus
By the middle of the 1920s, the British army received a new generation of medium tanks that served for a long time. The Medium Tank Mk.I and Medium Tank Mk.II became the first turreted medium tanks in...
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