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
April 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Today we present some historical documents and video concerning the M551 Sheridan light tank.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.
From the Editor: Photo Gallery of M551 Sheridan at New Lothrop MI
April 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Today we present a photo gallery of the M551 Sheridan light tank on display outside the VFW hall in New Lothrop Michigan. These photos were taken in fall of 2013. As far as we can determine, this is the only M551 on display in Michigan. There are many Sheridan light tanks on display around the country, primarily in museums or on military bases. Several are on display outside of National Guard armories. Only a few serve as monuments outside VFW or American Legion halls such as this one in New Lothrop. For those interested in finding tanks on display near where they live, please consult the Historical AFV register homepage.
From the Vault: Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2)
April 13, 2015 by 1 Comment
Today we present a very interesting group of documents called the Anti-Armor Defense Data Study (A2D2). This report was put together in the early 90’s and examines instances from World War II of US anti-tank units fighting against German armored attacks. There are five separate documents, one of which is a “how to research” guide and the others are labeled Volume I-IV. Volume I is titled “Technical Report” and primarily deals with methodology, sources and appendices. Volume II, III and IV are more interesting, for they include the meat of the report. Each volume examines a particular battle, providing detailed descriptions of the actions that took place. Volume II looks at the US anti-tank defense in Mortain France in August 1944. Volume III focuses on US anti-tank operations at Dom Butgenbach, Belgium in December of 44 and volume IV looks at Krinkelt-Rochrath, Belgium in December of 44.
Here is an unusual excerpt from Volume IV, page 149 :
From the Vault: The Patents of General Barnes
April 11, 2015 by 3 Comments
For those with an interest in the history of US Armor, the name General Gladeon Barnes may be a familiar one. Barnes served as the head of the Technical Division of the Ordnance Department during World War 2. In his book “Armored Thunderbolt”, Steven Zaloga refers to Barnes as “the single most influential U.S. Army officer in the development of wartime tank designs.” During World War 2, Barnes and the Ordnance Dept. often butted heads with Army Ground Forces and the Armored force. in particular, Barnes and the ordnance dept. were known for their advocacy of a heavy tank for the US Army and for the development of the T20 series of vehicles to replace the M4 Sherman.
Barnes started his career with the U.S. Army in 1910 as a lieutenant of Coast Artillery. He transferred to the Ordnance Department and spent World War 1 designing heavy artillery. According to the book “Faint Praise” by Charles Baily, Barnes’ post war assignments gave him experience in both production and design, and he owned some thirty-four patents. We thought it might be interesting to do a search for some of these patents and see what they looked like. A quick search in Google patents revealed four pages of results (click here to view them.) Most of the results are for various gun designs or vehicle components. However, there are two rather unusual patents from 1942 and 1944 simply described as “tank.” Both patents seem to describe the same vehicle. Let’s take a look.
From the Vault: Panther Videos
April 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Today we present for your viewing pleasure various videos about the German Pz. V Panther.
We will start with this Youtube playlist of clips of Panther restoration. For those interested in seeing various components of the Panther up close, these should prove satisfying. There are 20 clips in the playlist, click here to view.
Next is a playlist of five clips of Panther tanks moving around. These are nice in that they give the viewer an idea of what this vehicle actually sounded like.
Below is a clip called “Panther Graveyard” showing damaged and destroyed Panther tanks filmed at the end of the war.
From the Vault: AMX-30 articles
April 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Some old articles on the French AMX-30 MBT. We primarily uploaded these to share with a friend that is doing some research on this vehicle but we figured there might be others that would find them interesting.
AMX 30 France’s Main Battle Tank by General Jean Marzloff (1971)
From the Vault: Latrun Armor Corps Tank Museum pictures
April 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Tanks have played an important role in the history of the state of Israel. Fortunately, this history has been preserved in Israel at the Armored Corps Memorial Site and Museum at Latrun (Yad La-Shiryon.) The Museum was founded in 1982 and includes 110 tanks and armored vehicles displayed outdoors. The heart of the collection are Israeli vehicles and vehicles captured during Israels various wars, although the museum has also purchased other foreign vehicles in order to diversify the collection. The most famous sight associated with the location is an M4 Sherman tank on top of what used to be a water tank. This “Tank on a Tower” serves as the logo for the museum.
For those interested in viewing the vehicles located at Latrnn, there are several galleries and videos available online by people that have visited.
Photo Galleries:
From the Vault: The Army’s Tank Engine Adventure of WWII
April 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Today we present another article from the Army R,D&A magazine. This article is from the May-June 1992 issue and gives a short history of US Army tank engine development during the Second World War.
From the Editor: M56 Scorpion Gallery
April 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Here is a photo gallery of the M56 Scorpion that is on display at the VFW Hall in Marcellus Michigan. These photos were taken in mid 2013. The M56 was produced in relatively small numbers in the 1950s for use by US airborne forces. It saw limited use during the Vietnam war. Despite having not been produced in great numbers, quite a few M56 vehicles survive as static displays. The M56 Wikipedia page lists sixteen Scorpions on display, although the list does not include the Marcellus vehicle.
Tank and AFV News 