News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
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.
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.
Today we present some historical documents and video concerning the M551 Sheridan light tank.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.
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.
The website for the video game Armored Warfare has posted a two part article on the history of the M551 Sheridan. The articles make for an interesting read although no sources are provided, making it hard to confirm any of the information provided. For those wanting to view the articles, click on the links below.
Over at War History Online they have posted an article by Wargamings Military Specialist, Nicholas “the Chieftain” Moran on how US WW2 tanks got their names. In particular, Moran focuses on some comments made during the WoT Operation Think Tank forum in which several prominent armor experts were in agreement that there was no official US recognition of the nicknames based on famous generals given to US tanks. To make his case, Moran provides an image of a memo from November 1944 from General Barnes of the Ordnance Dept. listing approved nicknames for several US tanks, artillery and small arms. Included in the list are the nicknames General Stuart (M5 light tank), General Sherman (M4 medium tank), General Jackson (M36 tank destroyer) and General Chaffee (M24 light tank.) However, Moran points out that:
There is one very obvious and disappointing omission here, however, that being the 3″ GMC M10. I have never been a supporter of the name “Wolverine”, and though it’s commonly stated on websites, I have seen no War Office documentation to support the proposal that it was a British name. Further, it fits in with neither the British policy on naming US tanks, nor on their policies of naming artillery pieces after the clergy or the letter “A.” Even “Achilles” didn’t show up as a name until very late in the war.
The full original article can be read here.
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 :
The Tank Museum at Bovington, England has announced the opening of a exhibition with explores the design and manufacture of British armored vehicles from 1916 to the present. According to the Museum website:
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the exhibition tells the often overlooked story of the men and women who built these complex war machines and how the demands of factory life affected the workforce and wider society. The display also showcases an impressive line-up of vehicles and through a series of themed bays, cover a variety of topics including Materials, Armour and Weapons and Testing.
The exhibition covers issues around who builds tanks and why they look the way they do, what makes a good and bad tank and, via a touchscreen interactive, the public have the chance to design their own armoured vehicle. ‘Tank Factory’ is housed in one of the older museum buildings – a perfect backdrop as it is in fact an old factory building – re-erected at the site in the 1998. The main centrepiece is a production line of Centurion tanks, arguably the best tank Britain ever made.
Jane’s is reporting that the Israeli Defense Forces have announced that they are in the advanced stages of selection a replacement for their 155 mm M109 self-propelled howitzer. According to the Jane’s article, a senior source from the Israeli Artillery Corps said that the new howitzer system would have to have a longer range and smaller crew than the M109, as well as the ability to relocate positions more rapidly. The new artillery system will be based on the Lockheed Martin M270 multiple launch rocket system chassis to maximize commonality with Israels existing inventory. The gun component of the vehicle will be a system by either Israeli company Elbit Systems or a system based on the Artillery Gun Module by German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) optimized for the IDF by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
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