The Newark Advocate has posted an article about Albert “Pete” Holman, a WWII veteran of the 12th Armored Division. According to the article the 91-year-old Newark resident still has the driver’s license he received after training, giving him the authority to drive a tank. He has binders and books full of WWII history and memorabilia and enjoys sharing his memories with others. “I enjoyed some (aspects of the war), but I’m no big hero,” he said. “I just did what they told me to do, but I liked getting to drive a tank.” Last May, Holman attended Heath’s first Armed Forces Day parade and saw a Sherman tank, just like the one he drove during the war. It brought back lots of memories, he said. “It looks big now, but it didn’t look that big when I drove it,” he said. “I think I could still drive one, but my legs might not hold.”
WWII 12th Armored Division veteran recalls driving tank
Prime Portal AFV photo collection
We recently stumbled across the Prime Portal website while looking for AFV photos. The site itself is a bit dated looking but the number of galleries is truly impressive. A rough count indicates at least a thousand individual galleries on this page. AFV enthusiasts will find much to look at here.
Below is a list of all the galleries found on the Prime Portal site. Please go to their website to view the galleries.
Tank Chats #4 Vickers Armstrongs Mark E
David Fletcher MBE of the Tank Museum returns with another Tank Chat video. This episode looks at the Vickers Armstrong Mark E.
Lithuania may purchase PzH 2000 SPG
Defense News is reporting that on Wednesday Germany said it wants to sell howitzer-type mobile artillery vehicles to Lithuania as the Baltic NATO nation boosts its defenses amid concerns over neighboring Russia. The news emerged during a visit by Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas to his German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen. Lithuania is also interested in potentially purchasing Boxer infantry fighting vehicles from Germany as well. The German Ministry of Defense stated that the program was for 12 PzH 2000 howitzers. Any Boxer purchase would include the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR), which oversees the programme for Germany and the Netherlands.
LAAD 2015 News Links
Today wraps up the LAAD Defense and Security International Exhibition 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Below is a list of links to news stories related to armored fighting vehicles on display at LAAD.
IHS Jane’s 360 – LAAD 2015: Ares looks to enhance lethality of Brazil’s Guaranis
IHS Jane’s 360 – LAAD 2015: Brazilian Army remains steadfast on its strategic projects
IHS Jane’s 360 – LAAD 2015: BAE’s Brazilian M113 upgrades provide springboard for further AFV work
Shepard – LAAD 2015: Brazil-made Gladiador II makes first appearance
Shepard – LAAD 2015: Brazilian M113 modernisation nears completion
Shepard – LAAD 2015: ST Kinetics Brazil subsidiary makes debut
Defense Update – LAAD 2015: Expanding Brazil’s wheeled armored vehicle family
From the Vault: Vickers Valiant MBT
Today we present an article on the mostly forgotten Vickers Valiant Main Battle Tank. This article is from the March-April 1983 issue of ARMOR and is authored by noted tank expert Richard Ogorkiewicz. The Valiant MBT (also knows as the Vickers MBT Mk 4) was designed in 1977 as a follow up to the Vickers MBT developed in the 1960’s as a private venture. While the original Vickers Mk 1 MBT was relatively successful, being adopted by the armies of India (as the Vijayanta) and Kuwait, and the later Mk 3 version was used by Nigeria and Kenya, the Mk 4 Valiant never made it past the prototype stage. The primarly selling point of the Mk 4 was the inclusion of Chobham armor and a “universal” turret capable of mounting either the L7 105mm gun, the 120mm rifled gun of the Chieftain MBT, or the Rheinmetall 120mm gun of the Leopard 2. Unlike most British main battle tanks, the Vickers series used a torsion bar suspension rather than the Horstmann system found on Centurion or Chieftain. It’s worth pointing out that the Vickers MBT Mk 4 was the second unsuccessful British tank to be named “Valiant.” The first was a dreadful WW2 era infantry tank prototype (A38) developed by the Ruston & Hornsby company. This vehicle is preserved at the Tank Museum in Bovington, in part as an example to armor students on how not to design a tank.
Russian T90A tanks conduct drills near Ukraine border
International Business Times is reporting that the Russian military conducted drills earlier this week with dozens of modern T-90A tanks in Russia’s Krasnodar region, located south of the border it shares with Ukraine.. The training exercise was the latest instance of Russian military activity that has caused tension with government leaders in Ukraine and the West. The T-90A is sometimes referred to as the T-90 “Vladimir” and differs from the original production T-90 in that it has a welded turret. Russian tank crews drove through mud and fired shells for target practice according to Ukraine Today.
From the Vault: T-92 Light Tank footage
While watching old episodes of “The Big Picture” TV episodes, we noticed footage of the T-92 light tank in the episode “Pentomic Army” from 1956. The T-92 footage is fairly short, but given the rarity of this vehicle, we felt it was worth sharing.
From the Vault: M551 Sheridan videos and documents
Today we present some historical documents and video concerning the M551 Sheridan light tank. We start off with a government video showing the conduct of fire procedure for the Sheridan. The video is dated 1969 and provides plenty of footage for those interested in the operation of the weapons system of the vehicle.
Tank and AFV News 