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IS-2 Front Line Impressions
The appearance of the heavy IS-2 tank was an unpleasant surprise for the Wehrmacht. The Germans could no longer rely on the qualitative supremacy that Tigers and Panthers enjoyed in 1943. The first...
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War Plans
The Red Army was undergoing a pretty radical reorganization in the summer of 1941. Fans of the theory that the USSR was about to attack Germany and Hitler merely delivered a preemptive strike will be...
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Book Review: Soviet T-62 Main Battle Tank
It's easy to dismiss the T-62 tank. It was not produced in the numbers that its predecessors, the T-54 and T-55 enjoyed, nor did it have the technical novelties of the T-64 tank that came just a few...
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Armoured Confusion: Start of the Great Patriotic War
One of the most popular topics of discussion in Soviet tank circles is their use in the Great Patriotic War. As strange as this may sound, the production and use of Soviet tanks during the war is not a...
View ArticleFathers of the SU-152
 "Order to the People's Commissariat of Tank Production #764sChelyabinskNovember 13th, 1942On the creation of an SPG design groupIn accordance with the order issued by People's Commissar of Tank...
View ArticleIn Defense of the Panzer IV
With the debut of the Panther in 1943 the Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV were threatened with cancellation. Their chassis would be used to make StuGs, a vehicle that could not be replaced with the Panther....
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Germany and the T-34
The Wehrmacht was stuck at Moscow in the winter of 1941, and leadership of the Reich had time to think while its troops developed frostbite. The first encounters with the T-34 and KV-1 tanks showed...
View ArticleKV-3 Gun Mount
 "I.V. Stalin factory #92September 8th, 1941To the Chief Engineer of the Chelyabinsk Factory, comrade MakhoninWe developed and are currently manufacturing a coaxial 45 mm gun for the 107 mm ZIS-6 gun...
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Running In
 "December 8th, 1944Description of the running in process of rifle regiment personnel from the 60th Guards Pavlograd Order of the Red Banner Division with SU-76M SPGs conducted on November 11th,...
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Intermediate Experiment
The American program to create a replacement for the Medium Tank M4 was a mess by the end of 1943. Three types of medium tanks were being tested in parallel. These included the Medium Tanks T20 and...
View ArticleZIS-6 Production
 "Decree of the Committee of Defense within the Council of Commissars of the USSR#D-7ssMoscow, KremlinApril 5th, 1941Contents: on production of the 107 mm tank gunThe Committee of Defense...
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Pre-War Markings
The Red Army had no universal system of tank markings used during the Great Patriotic War, and commanders developed their own systems, sometimes changing them frequently to prevent the enemy from...
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Long-Awaited Success
The last two years of WW2 were difficult for American tank building. Their first few wartime tanks were quite modern and even surpassed those of leading tank building nations of the time, but a wave of...
View ArticleKV's Replacements
 "To the Chief of the BTU, Military Engineer 1st Class comrade KorobkovJanuary 31st, 1941I report the status of the work on the T-150 and T-220 tanks at the Kirov factory as of January 28th, 1941. The...
View ArticleSupercharged KV
"State Committee of Defense decree #1221ssJanuary 30th, 1941On improving mobility of KV tanksTo improve mobility of KV tanks, the State Committee of Defense decrees that:The People's Commissar of Tank...
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Kingmaker of American Tank Building
American tank history is strange in some ways. For instance, Creighton Abrams is the best known American tank ace, and few know about tankers who scored more tank kills than he did. The situation with...
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Identification
"June 22nd, 1943Package to comrade AntropovI report that the investigation of rumours of Tiger tanks appearing in the region of Greater Karagashinka established that the enemy did not use Tiger tanks...
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Valentine Impressions
 "To the Chief of the GABTUCombat and technical characteristics of the British Mk.III tankIn using the Mk.III in combat from November 11th to December 6th, the following positive qualities were...
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The Peak of American SPG Evolution
American self propelled artillery developed on its own terms, especially tank destroyers. After a series of experiments, American tank destroyers became very similar to their own tanks. As a rule they...
View ArticleAnti T-34 Tactics
"Translated from GermanChief Inspector of Mobile ForcesStaff of the Supreme Command of the Land Forces#126/42SecretDirection on tank combat against the Russian T-34 tankCharacteristics of the T-34The...
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