From the Editor: Panther Reliability

February 8, 2015 by 3 Comments

(This piece was originally posted on my old blog on Feb 18, 2014. We are slowly in the process of migrating the popular material from the blog over to here.)

Panther_tank_42Over at the World of Tanks forum, there have been quite a few debates over the merits of the German WWII medium tank “Panther.”  No vehicles seems to illicit the range of opinions as the Panther does, and judging from how heated the debate often becomes, people are emotionally invested to a surprising degree in this particular piece of military equipment.

One of the more interesting posts on the topic is in the “Chieftains Hatch” section of the forum, it details a postwar report by the French in regards to the Panther tanks they used in the late forties.  This report [Read more…]

Filed Under: From the Editor, Original Articles/Content Tagged With: ,

Photo Gallery of former APG vehicles in storage at Anniston Army Depot

February 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

photo galleryOver at the AFV News Discussion board regular poster “the_shadock” posted a link to a really fantastic photo album.  The album belongs to Flicker user “cmwebbjr” and features the vehicles formerly stored at Aberdeen Proving Grounds that are now in temporary storage at Anniston Army Depot.

Here is the description posted in the Gallery: In late 2012 the United States Army Museum system began moving many vehicles and weapons that had been in outdoor display at the various Army Museums around the country to temporary storage. Anniston Army Depot was one of the depots designated to receive them and consequently a parking lot there is now filled with a huge amount of history. I was able to get a camera authorization and make a photographic record of these vehicles. I understand that these vehicles will be stored here until a museum has a requirement for a particular example for a display at which time the article will be cosmetically restored and sent to them. Some of these vehicles are one of a kind experimental vehicles or captured military equipment from other countries.

Filed Under: Historical Pictures, Historical Vehicle News Tagged With: , , ,

Ukraine Announces increase in tank production

February 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Oplot_002lThe Moscow Times is reporting that Ukrainian state arms manufacturer UkrOboronProm said it would boost tank production by an unprecedented 2,300 percent in 2016.  The company’s general director, Roman Romanov, stated in a press release that UkrOboronProm will expand production of its Oplot main battle tanks from five units per year to 40 for 2015 and 120 per year from 2016 onward.  The article noted that Russia has over 2,750 tanks in active service, with more than 18,000 in storage, while Ukraine has 1,150 tanks in service, with a further 1,435 in storage.  The Oplot MBT, also known as the T-84, is derived from the Soviet era T-80 tank.  First built in 1994 and entering service in 1999, the Oplot differs from the T-80UD in that it has a welded rather than cast turret, as well as various other upgrades.

For those looking for information and stats on the Oplot MBT, the Kharkiv Morozov Design Bureau website offers a surprising amount of information.

Filed Under: Modern Vehicle News Tagged With: , , ,

Czechs to sell T-72 tanks and APCs to Iraq

February 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

filename_812Czech News Agency is reporting that Czech firm Excalibur Army will be delivering 100 T-72 tanks and BVP-1 armored personal carriers to Iraq.  These vehicles are slated to help Iraq fight the Islamic State.  This follows deal that Excalibur Army recently made to sell T-72 tanks to Nigeria to help them battle Boko Haram.  Excalibur Army primarily deals with older former Warsaw Pact equipment such as T-55 and T-72 tanks, BMP-1 IFV, and OT-64 and BRDM-2 wheeled vehicles.  They also produce the DANA M1 CZ self-propelled howitzer and the BVP-M2 SKCZ.

Czech News Agency article here.

Excalibur Army products catalog here.

Filed Under: Modern Vehicle News Tagged With: , , , ,

T-39 Soviet Super-heavy Breakthrough Tank

February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

evo5qphOver at For the Record, they are reporting on a recent Yuri Pasholok livejournal post describing the T-39 Super Heavy Tank proposal.  These drawings are from 1933 and were created by the Kirov plant special design bureau under the leadership of N.V. Barykov.  The project only got as far as wooden models before being cancelled.  “Ensign Expendable” has written a more detailed description of the vehicle here.

Filed Under: Historical Vehicle News Tagged With: ,

From the Editor: German “Cats” Influential?

February 6, 2015 by 1 Comment

This article was originally the very first post on the “Tank and AFV Blog” published back in November of 2012.   This is a slightly edited version.  

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Royal TigerOne thing I was thinking about lately is how many times I have read books or internet posts that describe the late war German tanks, particularly the Panther and the Tiger 2 as having a great deal of influence on post-war tank design.  The more I have thought about this, the less I agree with it.  In fact, I would argue that the Panther and Tiger 2 were pretty much developmental dead ends with few aspects of their design being adopted in post war vehicles.   These two vehicles were influential  only in the very general sense that they raised the bar in terms of what a medium or a heavy tank could weigh.  Their existence prompted the allied countries to develop heavier vehicles with the appropriate armor and firepower to match the late war German “cats”, but they did not actually borrow many design features from them.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: From the Editor, Original Articles/Content Tagged With: , ,

From the Vault: Detroit Tank Arsenal

February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

We are introducing a new catagory to the menu bar of Tank and AFV News called “From the Vault.”  This section will feature videos, pictures and documents that are not “news” yet which we still thing people will find interesting.

We will kick things off with a collection of materials about the Detroit Tank Arsenal.  First, here are two wartime videos about the Tank Arsenal.

Assembly Lines of Defense 20:15

[Read more…]

Filed Under: From the Vault, Historical Documents, Historical Videos Tagged With: , ,

Book Alert: Tank Battles of World War I

February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

downloadTank Battles of World War I is slated for a March 19, 2015 release according to Amazon. The publishers website, Pen and Sword Books, lists a release date of February 28. Regardless of what day it is released, this book should be of interest to people interested in the tanks of the first world war. The book is by Bryan Cooper, author of the well regarded 1967 book “Ironclads of Cambrai: The First Great Tank Battle.”

Publishers Description: [Read more…]

Filed Under: New Book Alerts Tagged With: , ,

Q&A with “Ensign Expendable” of Archive Awareness

February 5, 2015 by 3 Comments

header4For those who regularly visit forums such as World of Tanks, War Thunder or Tank Net, the name Ensign Expendable is a familiar one.  The man behind the Ensign Expendable avatar is Peter Samsonov, creator of the website/blog  Archive Awareness.  Digging through online archives only made available since the end of the Cold War, Samsonov diligently posts on a daily basis, translating Soviet archive material into English for a North American audience.  Armed with his blog, Ensign Expendable is a man on a mission, battling what he sees as a cold war legacy of negative perceptions in the West of Soviet tanks and armored vehicles.

For those interested in Soviet tanks of the Great Patriotic War (World War II), Archive Awareness has much to offer.   [Read more…]

Filed Under: Features, Original Articles/Content Tagged With: , , ,

Defense IQ: Global Armored Vehicles Market Report 2015

February 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Whitepaper-iavxvDefence IQ has released their Global Armoured Vehicles Market Report for 2015.  This is a market report geared toward people working in the defense industry.  However, there are enough technical descriptions and news about specific vehicle programs to make it interesting to tank and afv buffs.  Registration is required to download the report, but there is no fee.

Report description from Defense IQ: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Modern Vehicle News Tagged With: ,
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