Russia & India Report has published an article giving brief descriptions of three experimental Russian tanks that never went into production. The article frames these three vehicles as unique innovations that formed the basis for development of the new Russian Armata universal combat platform. The three vehicles described in the article are the Object 477 Molot (Hammer), the Object 775 and the Object 640 Chyorhiy Orel (Black Eagle.) The Object 775 is the oldest of the three, having been developed in the 1960s as missile tank. Object 477 was developed in the 1980s and featured a large 152mm cannon mounted in an unmanned turret. Object 640 was developed in the 1990s and featured a bustle mounted auto-loader and new generation Kaktus ERA. Full article here.
Article on Russian Object 477, 775, and 640 experimental tanks
The T124E2 anti-tank gun
While this website is dedicated to tanks and AFVs, we will occasionally look at anti-tank weapons as well. Recently, the TFB (thefirearmsblog.com) posted an article written by friend of Tank and AFV News Nathaniel F about the US T124E2 anti-tank gun. This gun has an interesting history, being one of the last towed anti-tank guns issued by the US Army. It was issued in the early 1950’s but under a 100 were built before the army decided to stop production and focus on recoil-less rifles instead. The T124E3 was a 76mm weapon, based on the 76mm gun used in the M41 Walker Bulldog tank. It was intended to be a very light weight weapon, suitable for use by airborne forces. On paper is appears to be a much better weapon than the heavy and cumbersome towed 3 inch gun issued to US tank destroyer units in WW2. Despite its very limited production run, quite a few of these guns survive to this day as monuments in front of veterans halls and public parks. Read the TFV article here. We have included a small gallery of pictures of a T124E3 gun on display outside the VFW post in Muskegon MI on Getty Street taken a couple years ago by the editor.
Anthony Seward’s Photobucket Gallery
We recently stumbled across a rather impressive photobucket gallery of various armored fighting vehicles that we felt was worth posting about. This gallery belongs to Anthony Seward (ldshrecceboy) and contains a great many photos organized by vehicle. These photos will be of particular interest to model builders as they contain quite a few close up shots of various components of the subject vehicles. One of the most interesting photo sets in the gallery is of the turret to a “Skink” anti-aircraft gun turret. The skink was a Canadian AA tank based on the chassis of the Grizzly tank (Canadian Sherman) and only eight turrets for the vehicle were ever completed. According to Wikipedia, only some unfinished turret castings salvaged from the firing range survive. The photo gallery may be viewed here.
From the Vault: Ads with tanks
Here is a gallery of old magazine advertisements that feature tanks or armored vehicles. Most of these are from WWII and are ads for the company that makes components found in the vehicle. Image quality varies, but most of these are legible if people click on the image and enlarge it. All of the ads feature American vehicles except for one rather odd ad for an advertising firm which features a picture of a very early model Panzer III.
Inside the Tanks: The T-72 – AU Armour & Artillery Museum
Wargaming Europe has released a new installment of their video series featuring “The Challenger” Richard Cutland. This episode focuses on the Soviet T-72 although it also includes some quick footage of the Australian Armor and Artillery Museum. The blog “Status Report” has made a post critical of the video, claiming that it includes several errors.
David Fletcher’s Tank Chats #3: Medium Tank MkII
The Tank Museum has released the third of their Tank Chats videos featuring British tank historian David Fletcher. This episode looks at the 1920’s era British Medium Tank MkII.
From the Vault: War Dept. Film Bulletin Videos
Today we bring you a selection of War Dept. Film Bulletin videos from WWII. These come from the WWII Archive at archive.org. For those who are not familiar with Archive.org, it is one of the best things about the internet. It’s really easy to lose track of time while browsing all the old videos and documents they preserve.
We start with War Dept Film Bulletin 3: Tests Of Gun Carriers Etc., 1942. This clip shows footage of the testing of 37mm anti-tank guns mounted on Jeeps, 75mm guns mounted on halftracks and of a Christie type chassis.
From the Editor: More Aberdeen Pictures
Semovente 47/32
Here are the rest of my old photos from Aberdeen Proving Grounds circa 1981. These were previously posted on my old blog. These vehicles are no longer located at APG. These were taken by my father with a cheap 110 film camera when he was stuck in Aberdeen for several weeks due to his job. The quality of the pictures is not great, but they do show the state of these vehicles in this time period. If you look carefully, you can see on both the Tiger tank and the Panther tank how the side of the turret has been covered over with sheet metal. The turrets on both of these vehicles had been cut away so museum visitors could see inside them back in the 1950’s
Articles on Nicholas Moran, WoT’s “The Chieftain”
Military Times has published two new articles about Wargamming’s North American tank researcher and “chief evangelist” Nicholas Moran, aka The Chieftain. One article focuses on Moran’s role as an employee of Wargamming. It also looks at “The Chieftain’s Hatch” section of the World of Tanks forum where Moran publishes articles based on his research. Here is one of the more interesting excerpts from the article:
He sees part of his mission at Wargaming as helping dispel myths and misconceptions — perpetuated mostly by movies — about armored warfare during World War II.
Consider the M4 Sherman tank, he says, long disparaged as the scrappy, if inadequate, answer to the Nazis’ armored divisions. [Read more…]
Government settles with Journalists whose cameras were seized outside M1 Abrams plant
The Toledo Blade is reporting that the Government has reached an agreement to pay $18,000 in damages to the Toledo Blade after two of their reporters had their cameras seized and were briefly detained by security after taking pictures outside the Lima Ohio General Dynamics Joint Systems Manufacturing Center. This is the location where the M1 Abrams MBT is produced. The reporters were taking pictures of the plant from the street, which were intended for use as stock pictures for business articles. The confiscation of the film was done by US Army personnel under the command of TACOM, not by General Dynamics employees. Oddly enough, there is no shortage of pictures of the tank plant online. Full article here.
Tank and AFV News 