How the LTTB Was Born
Light tanks made during the Great Patriotic War were cheap and simple vehicles, capable of being put into mass production in the most difficult conditions. By 1943, Soviet industry was restored, but...
View ArticleToo Much Power
"To comrade StalinGOKO decree issued on March 12th, 1944 #5378ss accepted the 580 hp V-11 diesel engine, to be installed in the IS tank. Preparations for production of these diesel engines is complete,...
View ArticleUnlucky Seven
Soviet post-war Object 752 and Object 777 heavy tanks were, for their time, the height of daring and originality. The designers had to strike a balance between requirements to increase armour and...
View ArticleT-220: Prototype in Combat
There is an opinion that the Red Army dropped other tank projects for some time after the appearance of the KV tank. Indeed the SMK and T-100 heavy tanks were cancelled in the summer of 1940. However,...
View ArticleWorld of Tanks Armoured Fantasy: Walkers and Jumpers
A pillbox can cover a certain sector of terrain with its fire. If the enemy attacks in a different place, there is no way to move it over. Or is there? The issue of moving pillboxes around has been...
View ArticleAA Panther
Who needs a Coelian? You can deal with just a regular old Panther, if you're good enough. From the combat journal of the 20th Tank Corps, January 30th, 1944:"The enemy continued to bomb the brigades'...
View ArticleGerman Experience
"Introduction:What follows is a translation of a captured document in the form of a summary of combat experience common in the German army. Documents of this type were composed in many units since the...
View ArticleEngine Crisis
"To the Chair of the State Committee of Defense, comrade StalinT-34 and KV tanks, with their powerful armament and armour, showed themselves well in combat. However, due to a lack of diesel engines...
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Repeated Trophy
An interesting note was discovered among the combat diaries of the 89th Tank Brigade. Fighting the German 58th Infantry Division in Lithuania on July 20th, 1944, they captured some pretty interesting...
View ArticleBritain's Christie
In the mid-1930s, the British military split up its tank into three classes. Light tanks retained their status, their goal was reconnaissance. A new class of infantry tanks had thick armour and low...
View ArticleCzechoslovakian Medium
Unlike light tanks, Czechoslovakia did not do well with medium tanks. A decade-long program to create a medium tank resulted in almost nothing. In the end, a Czechoslovakian medium tank was built and...
View ArticleWorld of Tanks History Section: Sinyavino Offensive
1. IntroductionOn September 8th, 1941, Shlisselburg fell. German forces reached the shore of Lake Ladoga, closing a ring around Leningrad. Zhukov, who replaced Voroshilov as the head of the Leningrad...
View ArticleLend Lease Trade-In
Somewhat recently, I wrote about the common myth about the 1st Mechanized Corps trading in their T-34s for Shermans. A reader emailed me and asked me about examples of swapping our domestic vehicles...
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Anti-Tank Rifle Manual
Destroy fascist tanks with the anti-tank rifle!Anti-tank rifleman! The Soviet people gave you a powerful weapon to destroy fascist tanks: the anti-tank rifle.In order to complete this task with honour,...
View ArticleTwitter!
Over the years of running this blog (it's been almost three!), I collected a bunch of random junk and scraps that I always wanted to fit into an article, but never did. I figure it's about time I give...
View ArticleThird Reich Serving the Fourth Republic
After the end of WWII, French tank design was significantly influenced by their German colleagues. Their achievements are very well reflected in the design of the French AMX M4 heavy tank, the...
View ArticleIS-2 Hero
"Award OrderName: Fedotov, Mikhail AlekseevichRank: Guards StarshinaPosition, unit: IS tank commander, 86th Independent Guards Novozybkov Order of the REd Banner Heavy Tank Regimentis nominated for the...
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Object 705
The IS-7 wasn't the only Soviet post-war super-tank. The Chelyabinsk Kirov Factory worked on Object 705, with similar characteristics, but a rear turret.Object 705 turret and 122 mm BL-13 gunObject 705...
View ArticleWorld of Tanks History Section: Japanese Tank Building
In the middle of the 19th century, Japan began the Meiji Restoration. After a few decades, the backwards island nation became a sovereign empire with a powerful army and navy. Japan also maintained...
View ArticleWorld of Tanks History Section: Japanese Tank Tactics
Active formation of tank units started alongside of combat. The first regulations and field manual were formed in 1931, due to the formation of the Kwantung Army and beginning of exercises. The...
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