News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
Amazon is listing a release date of May 19, 2015 for the upcoming book Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa by Oscar E, Gilbert and Romain V Cansiere. Published by Casemate, this is a hardcover book with 256 pages.
Publishers Description: In May 1943 a self-described “really young, green, ignorant lieutenant” assumed command of a new Marine Corps company. His even younger enlisted Marines were learning to use an untested weapon, the M4A2 “Sherman” medium tank. [Read more…]
Jane’s reporter Christopher Foss describes the latest version of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Leopard 2 tank in this video filmed at the IDEX 2015 Convention in the UAE.
The embed code does not seem to be working, please click here to view video.
The Tank Museum has released a second video in it’s series of “tankchat” video clips with tank historian David Fletcher. This episode focuses on the Carden Loyd Carrier.
To give an idea of how small the Carden Loyd Carrier was, [Read more…]
The following charts are taken from the document Terminal ballistic data, volume II, artillery fire released August 1944. These charts (pages 31 -51 in the report) show what the US Army thought at the time regarding the effectiveness of their tank and anti-tank guns versus German armor (Panzer III, IV and Tiger I). It is worth noting that according to the report, this data was gained by firing US projectiles at captured German tanks. They note that “the plates in many cases were completely defeated and whole sections dropped out of the tank. This was caused by failure of welds and cracking and spalling of the plate. Thus, many plates failed under the impact shock of the hit, as well as from actual penetration.”
Today we present document MS # P-059 Project # 47 German Tank Losses published on Nov 7, 1950. This document was compiled by former Generalmajor Herman Burkhart Meuller-Hillebrand, who served as the chief of staff to the Third Panzer Army. The document includes lists of German tank types with quantities in service by date. There is also included a penetration chart for KwK and Pak guns. Also included are stats for tank strength for a given date by front. At the end of the report are three detailed charts showing tank strength, tank losses and tank production by vehicle type and month.
Today we present one of the best collections of tank and AFV photos online. This gallery is posted on Photobucket belongs to Neil Baumgardner. Mr. Baumgardner is one the moderators at the AFV News Discussion Board. According to his bio page at the discussion board, he worked as a reporter from 1999-2003 covering the Army and international weapon systems programs. The photo gallery is very well organized and easy to navigate. The photos are organized by locations and in some cases, further broken down by vehicle type. Please view the gallery here.
The website Korean War Educator hosts an impressive number of written memoirs from Korean war veterans. Several of these memoirs are from veterans that served with armored units. These are all well written and worth a read, providing interesting details on Korean War tanks as well as insights into the experiences of the men who served in these vehicles. Some of the entries also have photo galleries. We have listed the tank related entries below with links.
At the IDEX Conference in the UAE, China is displaying the Poly Technologies 07PD (8×8) vehicle fitted with a turret armed for anti-tank guided weapons (ATGWs). Presented in the ready-to-launch configuration, these missiles are laser-guided and are fitted with a tandem warhead to defeat targets fitted with explosive reactive armour. The missile is designated the PA02-MA and, in addition to being launched from ground-based platforms, also has other launch applications. The 07PD (8×8) chassis is also being used for a number of other variants, including an APC, 120mm mortar-carrier and a mobile gun system consisting of a three-person turret armed with a 105mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun.
Meanwhile, Emirates Defense Technology (EDT) is displaying their new Enigma 8×8 vehicle. According to a spokesperson from EDT, the vehicle is fully operational and will conduct trials over the next six months, including the UAE summer trials where the vehicle is expected to meet requirements for the UAE 8×8 competition. The vehicle is fitted with a BMP-3 turret.
BAE Systems is displaying a model of its M777 155mm howitzer mounted on the Enigma 8×8. According to the model the gun would be carried on top of the Enigma 8×8 but connected at the rear to be mechanically maneuvered to the ground, with the barrel facing the opposite direction to where the vehicle is pointing.
For the Record has noted that footage from 1918 of US Army tests of an Mk. VIII Liberty tank has been posted on youtube. The footage seems to have been sped up, making the tank seem unusually agile. Playing the video at half speed results in a more realistic look playback.
Harry Yeide is a foreign affairs analyst with the federal government in Washington, DC. He lives with his wife, Nancy, in Hyattsville, Maryland. Mr. Yeide is the author of eight books on World War II history, focusing primarily on US Armor. He has a website at yeide.net. Earlier this month he agreed to talk with Tank and AFV News.
Posted below is the second installment of the two-part interview.
Part 2: Fighting Patton
Tank and AFV News 