For those that want to see and hear a B1bis being run, here is some footage that recently showed up on youtube. This footage comes from the Retromobile 2018 show in France. The flames coming from the exhaust are quite impressive.
Video: Treat ’em Rough? The U.S. Army Armor Branch Since the Great War by Dr. Robert Cameron
February 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
We recently came across this video from June of last year featuring author and historian Dr. Robert Cameron giving a lecture describing the history of the U.S. Armor Branch. He is the author of the book Mobility, Shock, and Firepower: The Emergence of the U.S. Army’s Armor Branch, 1917-1945. This book is available as a free download here.
Book Alert: T-90 Standard Tank: The First Tank of the New Russia
February 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Osprey books has released a new entry in the New Vanguard series. This one is titled T-90 Standard Tank: The First Tank of the New Russia (New Vanguard)
Publisher’s Description:
In the wake of the T-72 tank’s poor performance in the 1991 Gulf War, the Kremlin instructed the Russian tank industry to drop the discredited T-72 designation in favour of the T-90 Vladimir. The T-90 was in fact a further evolution of the T-72 family, but the name change represented an important break in Russian/Soviet tank design history. The T-90 has become the principal export tank of Russia, and is in service in large numbers in many countries including Algeria, India, and many of the former Soviet republics. Using detailed illustrations and full colour artwork, this book will also describe the evolution of the T-90s many failed successors including the little known Bokser, Molot, and T-95, as well as its likely successor, the new T-14 Armata, and the wide range of specialized vehicles based on the T-90 chassis such as the formidable Terminator tank support vehicle.
Available from Amazon here
Book Alert: Soviet T-34 Tank Manual (Haynes Manuals)
February 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Haynes Manuals series has released a new book on the WWII era Soviet T-34 Tank. This is a hardcover book of 140 pages. Titled Soviet T-34 Tank Manual (Haynes Manuals)
Publisher’s Description:
The Soviet T-34 was one of the finest tanks of the Second World War and the mainstay of Soviet armoured units throughout the war. Most nations underestimated the scale and quality of Soviet tank production before the Second World War and the Germans were no exception. They were certainly not prepared for the T-34, which they encountered during Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of Russia) in 1941. Its combination of firepower, mobility, protection, and ruggedness led German Panzer General Paul von Kleist at the time to call it “The finest tank in the world.” Another legendary Panzer tactician and general, Heinz Guderian, also confirmed the T-34’s “vast superiority” over existing German armour of the period.
Book Alert: Early US Armor: Armored Cars 1915-40
February 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A new entry in the Osprey New Vanguard series. This one is titled Early US Armor: Armored Cars 1915–40 (New Vanguard)
Publisher’s Description:
The first American armoured cars began to emerge around the turn of the century, seeing their first military use in 1916 during the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa. When the United States entered World War I, the American Expeditionary Forces used some armoured cars in France, and American armoured cars were used by the French Army.
The inter-war years saw considerable innovation and experimentation in armoured car design. Of the 1930s scout car designs, the M3A1 scout car was good enough to be produced in very large numbers in World War II, and was widely exported to many other armies via Lend-Lease. It also served as the basis for the late M2 and M3 armoured half-tracks.
In this study, using detailed full colour plates and rigorous analysis, US armour expert Steven J. Zaloga chronicles the development of the US armoured car in the years leading up to World War II.
Book Alert: The Anti-Tank Rifle
February 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Osprey Publishing has released a new book by Steven Zaloga on the history of the anti-tank rifle titled The Anti-Tank Rifle (Weapon)
Publisher’s Description:
The emergence of the tank in World War I led to the development of the first infantry weapons to defend against tanks. Anti-tank rifles became commonplace in the inter-war years and in the early campaigns of World War II in Poland and the Battle of France, which saw renewed use in the form of the British .55in Boys anti-tank rifle – also used by the US Marine Corps in the Pacific. The French campaign made it clear that the day of the anti-tank rifle was ending due to the increasing thickness of tank armour.
Nevertheless, anti-tank rifles continued to be used by the Soviets on the Eastern Front with two rifles, the 14.5mm PTRS and PTRD, and were still in widespread use in 1945. They served again with Korean and Chinese forces in the Korean War, and some have even appeared in Ukraine in 2014–15. Fully illustrated and drawing upon a range of sources, this is the absorbing story of the anti-tank rifle, the infantryman’s anti-armour weapon during the world wars.
Tank Chats #46 Ram Kangaroo | The Funnies
February 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Another Tank Chats video. The Ram Kangaroo.
Tank Chats #45 Major General Sir Percy Hobart
February 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Tank Chats series takes a look at the “The Funnies” series of AFVs developed by Major General Sir Percy Hobart.
Tank Chats #44 T14 and A33 Assault Tanks
February 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
From the Tank Museum at Bovington comes another installment of Tank Chats staring David Fletcher. In this episode historian David Fletcher looks at the T14 and A33 Assault tanks.
Tank and AFV News 