Nicholas Moran of World of Tanks gives a look at the inside of the M3 Medium. We have been looking forward to this one.
Nordic Tank Challenge Videos
May 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Controversy in Israel over tank parts containing Asbestos
May 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Ynet news.com is reporting that despite the danger of being exposed to carcinogens, the former Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon permitted the Israeli Defense Forces to continue to install new parts made of asbestos in tanks and armored personnel carriers. Ya’alon insisted on their installation even though outgoing Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabai and his staff repeatedly warned that the parts can threaten the health of soldiers and their installation is illegal.
Approximately two months ago Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the IDF is installing new parts, which contain asbestos, in tanks and APCs, even though the Asbestos Law, which is supposed to apply to the military, forbids importing anything that contains asbestos. Ministry of Environmental Protection staff discovered the asbestos when they toured an IDF facility and observed the negligent removal of asbestos from old armored vehicles.
Happy Memorial Day
May 30, 2016 by Leave a Comment
No posts today as we will be out participating in Memorial Day activities. Everyone, have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day and keep in mind the reason for the holiday.
Video of the Day: Saumur Tank Museum Scrapyard History
May 29, 2016 by 1 Comment
This video appeared on youtube yesterday, posted by “Panzer Picture.” The video provides a photo history of some of the WW2 era German vehicles found at the French Saumur Tank Museum (Musee des Blindes.)
Russia to Return Israeli Magach Tank Captured in 1982
May 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that Russia has agreed to return to Israel a Magach (M48) tank that was one of two tanks captured in 1982 by Syria in Lebanon. Syria had given one of the captured tanks to the USSR where it eventually found its way to the tank museum at Kubinka. Since the capture of the tank in 1982, Israel has been seeking to discover the fate of 3 missing tank crewmen that were in one of the two missing tanks.
According to the Haaretz article:
Over the weekend, Israel was informed that Putin had consented to Netanyahu’s request and had signed a presidential order for the tank’s return. Netanyahu also informed the families of the three missing soldiers of the development.
The Prime Minister’s Office also announced that a delegation from the IDF ammunition corps is currently in the Russian capital meeting with Russian representatives to explore how the tank can be transferred to Israel as quickly as possible and to ascertain whether it is the three missing soldiers’ tank or the other captured tank.
“I thank Russian President Vladimir Putin, who responded to my request to return the tank from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub to Israel,” Netanyahu said in the statement. “The families of the missing, Zacharia Baumel, Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, have not had a physical vestige of their sons or a grave to visit for the past 34 years. The tank is the only evidence of the battle and now it will return to Israel thanks to Russian President Putin’s consent to my request.”
In July of last year Tank and AFV New.com posted an article written by Jim Warford in 2007 about this particular tank (the article originally appeared in ARMOR magazine.) According to Warford, the Soviet government was very interested in this particular tank because it contained an unconfirmed quantity of the 105mm M111 “Hetz” APFSDS round, which was Israel’s most advanced anti-tank round at the time. This vehicle is also covered in Warford’s 2001 article for ARMOR titled “The Secret Museum at Kubinka.”
From the Vault: the Secret Museum at Kubinka
May 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This article by Jim Warford originally appeared in the Sept-Oct 2001 edition of ARMOR magazine and it takes a look at the captured US made vehicles that found their way into the collection at the Kubinka tank museum outside of Moscow. Of particular interest is the information on the Israeli Magach 4 tank which was captured by Syria in 1982. It was recently announced that this vehicle will be returned by Russia to Israel. We have also included in the gallery below a copy of a letter written by Steven Zaloga with appeared in the Nov-Dec 2001 issue of ARMOR in which he provides some additional information on the Museum as well as a response from Jim Warford from the Jan-Feb 2002 issue. To download PDF copies of the full ARMOR issues mentioned, just click on the hyperlinks in the text.
From the Vault: Peiper on WW2 Tanks
May 28, 2016 by 2 Comments
While surfing the CARL (Combined Arms Research Library) Digital Library, we came across a document labeled War experiences of commanders of German Panzer units. The document is from 1953 and contains accounts by General Sepp Dietrich and Colonel Joachim Peiper, Commander of the First SS Panzer Regiment, First SS Panzer Division, and their involvement in World War II, between 1939 and 1945. The account was written by them for the trial judge advocate while they were awaiting trial for the Malmedy Massacre. The section written by Dietrich is fairly short and only deals with the large scale strategic situation. Peiper’s section is longer and deals with specific weapons systems and tactics. The entire paper can be downloaded as a PDF here. We have posted below the two pages of material from Peiper that may be of interest to AFV enthusiasts.
Probably the most surprising thing in these two pages is his statement that while he the considered the Stug III and Jagdpanzer IV good vehicles, he judged the US M10 as superior. He also seems to hold both the JagdPanther and JagdTiger in low regard.
To anyone that downloads and reads the full PDF, please keep in mind that these two men were part of a criminal organization (the SS) and were guilty of war crimes for with they served jail time. Their descriptions of the war are rather self serving and their racist world view comes through clearly, especially when describing their Soviet adversaries. Consider this the closest that Tank and AFV News will ever come to issuing a “trigger warning.”
Christopher Foss at SOFEX 2016
May 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Over the past week IHS Jane’s has posted a number of videos featuring reporter Christopher Foss at SOFEX 2016. Below are the videos that feature AFVs. Unfortunately, the sound quality of some of these clips is not as good as usual for this type of video.
Tank and AFV News 