News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
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)
The Kokomo Tribune is reporting on a controversy in Kokomo Indiana regarding the location of a Sherman tank. The dispute centers around the issue of whether or not to move the tank from it’s current location in Foster Park to a nearby VFW Hall. As to the tank itself, it’s an M4A1 with 76mm gun and HVSS suspension (M4A1E8.) Judging from Google maps images, the tank seems to have repainted in 2008. The M4A1E8 was the very last variant of the Sherman produced, with 1,465 built by the Pressed Steel Car Company from late 1944 to August of 1945. As far as we can determine, the M4A1E8 saw little to no combat service during the war and afterward most were issued to reserve units or given as military aid (the US Army’s preferred variant after the war was the M4A3E8.) Indiana seems to be the home of an unusual number of M4A1E8 tanks, according to the USA AFV register, there are 13 M4A1E8 Sherman tanks on public display around the state!
Swedish Tank Archives has posted an interesting piece concerning a report from British Strv 103 (S-tank) trails from 1973. In the Summer of that year the British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) sent several tank crews to Sweden to train on the S-tank for four weeks. These crews were then sent to Germany along with the S-tanks to be tested. The Swedish observers of the test considered the results of the evaluation to be highly dubious, claiming that they were conducted in a haphazard and unscientific manner. They also are quite harsh in their criticism of the BAOR.
Here is an excerpt on the quality of British Tank Gunners:
At the end of the gunnery training, there were two tests with a gun camera, one against a fixed target and one against a moving one, as per usual Swedish standard. The results were bad. The first time these results may possibly be explained by the gunners not taking the trial seriously, but even after they had evaluated their own results and re-did the test the results were very bad. It is possible that more training could have improved the results somewhat, but the more likely explanation is that a large portion of the British gunners simply weren’t suited to their job as gunners. In some cases, problems with bad eyesight were apparent. It should be noted that British tank personnel is not tested in the same way as Swedish personnel before being assigned as tank gunners.
Yikes!
To read the full piece, please go to the Swedish Tank Archives blog.
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:
Russia & India Report has posted an article about how M1A1M Abrams tanks and T-72C tanks are being used side by side in the field in Iraq. The article includes an interesting photo which appeared on the internet of the American M1A1M Abrams tank (from the Iraqi armed forces) and the Russian T-72C tank (from the Iranian Shiite army) waging a concerted attack to liberate the Iraqi town of Tikrit, which is being held by the Islamic State (ISIS).
The article notes that most likely the tanks shown in the photo are both part of the Shiite army supported by Iran. [Read more…]
On March 12 we had posted a link to a story about a Matilda tank being restored in Australia. An Australian news channel has created a video piece about this tank restoration. The video includes footage of the volunteers working on the tank as well as pictures of the condition of the vehicle when it was found abandoned in a rice paddock. Click on the image below to view the video.
The Kurdish news service Rudaw has posted a photo gallery
of ISIS armored vehicles being paraded through the streets of Mosul. According to the article the parade was an attempt to boost the morale of its fighters following its defeat in the battles for Tikrit. The Iraqi government declared victory in Tikrit on Wednesday and warned the militants holding other Iraqi provinces that they would be the next to fall. The tanks and military hardware shown in the gallery are part of ISIS’ “Shield battalion” in Mosul. The pictures show an MT-LB, an M113 APC, a T-55 tank and a M1117.
The Gallery can be viewed here.
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.
The Musee des Blindes in Saumur France has released a video of the B1 bis tank in their collection driving itself up onto a trailer. The flames coming out of the exhaust are quite impressive. There are eleven surviving Char B1 tanks left in the world, the Saumur vehicles is one of the very few in running condition.
APRIL 1, 2015 – Defense News Daily is reporting that the US Dept. of Defense has made a stunning announcement that they will be replacing the entire fleet of tracked vehicles with a new family of vehicles. The “Ground Armored Vehicle Information Networked” (GAVIN) is being touted as the most technologically advanced armored vehicle in the world. At a Pentagon press conference, General Michael Sparks stated that “the GAVIN maximizes the lethality and effectiveness of the US Army war fighter by providing an unprecedented level of information awareness of the battlefield environment in 360 degrees real time. GAVIN features an electronic system architecture supporting advanced applications, a necessary step toward fully digitized Land Combat Vehicles that will be fielded as part of the follow-on Phase. This advanced weapons platform promises to be a revolutionary force multiplier, giving American heroes in uniform unrivaled capabilities in target acquisition and the delivery of freedom any place on the globe.” [Read more…]
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