Experimental Guns
"To the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union, comrade KulikJuly 23th, 1940I report on the status of experimental work on tank and anti-tank armament specified...
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Nomenclature Confusion
Periodically, one can find information online that the M2 Light Tank, namely the M2A4, was shipped to the USSR as a part of Lend-Lease aid. Indeed, 31 "American light M2A4" tanks show up in the "Report...
View ArticleOn German Tank Losses
Aleksey Isayev talked about the peculiar nature of German loss records before, but this time he specifically tackles the losses of tank units."The Germans had a habit of not recording the tank as lost...
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Combat Car M1: Armour for American Cavalry
Traditionally, cavalry occupied a very strong position in the American army. As soon as there was an opportunity to obtain its own tanks, the cavalry took it. Since, officially, the cavalry was not...
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T18 HMC: Quick Howitzer
The American army began thinking of motorizing their artillery back in WWI. For a long time, attempts were made to build an SPG on the chassis of the light tracked Holt tractor. In parallel, John...
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Cheating at Statistics 19: Time Travelling Tigers
One of the first uses of the IS-85 tank was in the Korsun Pocket. The 13th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, equipped with brand new IS-85s, was sent to block Kampfgruppe Bake (an unusual formation equipped...
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Porsche Suspension
"British Embassy, MoscowBritish Military Mission in the USSRMoscow, May 15th, 1944To: Mr. Lieutenant General LebedevCopy: Mr. Chief of the NKO Department of External AffairsThe War Ministry asked me to...
View ArticleEnd of Rearmament
"To the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSRComrade BeriaJanuary 9th, 1942Chief designers of factory #92, Major-General of the Technical Forces, comrade Grabin, installed domestic armament in...
View ArticleParty Hard
"To the commander of the 61st Radom Rifle CorpsI report that at 23:00 on May 6th, 1945, American correspondents Captains Robert Ruben, John McVane, Victor Berstein, Richard Hotslet, escorted by Sr....
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Gun Motor Carriage M10
Unlike many tanks, few tank destroyers arrived in the USSR within the Lend Lease program. The Gun Motor Carriage T48, or SU-57, built on the chassis of the M3 halftrack, was the only exception....
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Infantry Tank Mk.I: the First Infantry Tank
There are many tanks in the history of armoured warfare that were simply unlucky. The British Infantry Tank Mk.I is one of them. Even its name was lost when it became the Matilda due to some...
View ArticleKirov Experiments, June 1941
"Report on completion of experimental works on armoured vehicles from May 20th, 1941, to June 20th, 1941Object 220 (KV-3 base)As of June 20th, the tank traveled 1979 km in total, 584 km after...
View ArticleValentine Improvement
"To the Chief Engineer of TsAKB and TsAKB Chief, Lieutenant-General of the Technical Forces, comrade GrabinApril 18th, 1944Valentine tanks armed with a 40 mm gun continue arriving from England in the...
View ArticleRepair Bill
"Preliminary calculations of capital repairs of the A-34 vehicleProposed replacement of mechanisms:V-2 engine: 72,386Electric motors (set): 2610Radiators: 2013Tires: 10,000Ball bearings: 3325Gearbox:...
View ArticleZhukov and Minefields
There's a very common myth about Zhukov prevalent in popular culture, both Russian and Western, about his unparalleled cruelty and disregard for human life. Historian Aleksey Isayev read a radio...
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Hummel: Bee with a Long Stinger
German engineers invented the "self propelled gun mount" class of artillery. The first work in this area was done during WWI, but it truly became a mass event 25 years after it ended. The recipe was...
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E-50 and E-75: A Story of Failed Unification
Tanks that could have been built are often discussed within certain circles. Aside from the superheavy Maus and E-100, there are the light and medium E-10 and E-25 tank destroyers. Despite very...
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Anti-Tiger Manual
I posted a brief manual on dealing with Tiger tanks in my post on anti-tank manuals, but here is an extended version."The most vulnerable and easily damaged places of a German T-VI tank and methods of...
View Article100 mm Tank Gun, First Attempt
"To the director of the Kirov factory, Leningrad, in response to letter #838s sent on January 31st, 1941CC: GAU UVNA Military Representative at the Kirov factoryNKTM Military Department ChiefMarch...
View ArticleImproved Gearbox
"To comrade V.M. MolotovOn the timeline of producing improved T-34 components at the Kirov factoryIn connection with the increased production of T-34 tanks and start of their production at the Kirov...
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