1.
ZSU-23-4
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The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a lightly armored Soviet self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system. The acronym ZSU stands for Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka, meaning anti-aircraft self-propelled mount, the 23 signifies the bore diameter in millimeters and it is named after the Shilka River in Russia. Afghan soldiers nicknamed it the sewing machine due to the sound of firing guns and it is also referred to by its nickname of Zeus. The previous Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, the ZSU-57-2, was armed with two 57 mm autocannons, it was aimed using a basic tracking and lead calculating system. The ZPU series armed with 14.5 mm heavy machine guns carried on a mount for stationary. The 23 mm version of this system was known as the ZU-23-2. However, these towed or improvised truck-mounted weapons had similar disadvantages, initially, tank regiments should have had the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of Shilka. At the end of the 1960s, one battery was equipped with ZSU-23-4s, motorized rifle and tank regiment standard anti-aircraft batteries consisted of two platoons later. The ZSU-23-4 combined a proven radar system, the chassis based on GM-575 tracked vehicle. This delivered a highly effective combination of mobility with heavy firepower, the ZSU-23-4 outclassed all NATO anti-aircraft guns at the time, and it is still regarded as posing a major threat for low-flying fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The system was widely fielded throughout the Warsaw Pact and among other pro-Soviet states, around 2,500 ZSU-23-4s, of the total 6,500 produced, were exported to 23 countries. The Soviet Unions successor states continue to manufacture and supply variants of the ZSU-23-4, notably the Ukrainian Donets, ZSU-23-4 units saw active service in the Yom Kippur War and other Arab-Israeli conflicts, the Iran–Iraq War, and the First Gulf War. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the system was effective against the Israeli Air Force. Israeli pilots attempting to fly low in order to avoid SA-6 missiles were shot down by ZSU-23-4s as in Operation Doogman 5. They were also used to suppress defensive positions around the palace during the initial coup in Kabul at the start of the Soviet-Afghan war. The Russian Army used the ZSU-23-4 for mountain combat in Chechnya, the ZSU-23-4 has a very high density, rate and accuracy of fire, as well as the capability for each of the four autocannons to fire its own type of projectile from separate belts. Operators were strongly discouraged from shooting from a single barrel, the appearance of the Shilka caused significant changes in NATO tactics in aircraft use at low altitude over the battlefield. With its high rate of fire, the ZSU-23-4 can even neutralize tanks by destroying their gun sights, radio antennas
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
3.
History of the tank
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Though initially crude and unreliable, tanks eventually became a mainstay of ground armies. By World War II, tank design had advanced significantly, the Cold War saw the rise of modern tank doctrine and the rise of the general-purpose main battle tank. The tank still provides the backbone to land operations in the 21st century. World War I generated new demands for armoured self-propelled weapons which could navigate any kind of terrain, the great weakness of the tanks predecessor, the armoured car, was that it required smooth terrain to move upon, and new developments were needed for cross-country capability. The tank was designed as a special weapon to solve an unusual tactical situation. It was a designed for one simple task, crossing the killing zone between trench lines and breaking into enemy. Few recognised during World War I that the means for returning mobility and shock action to combat was already present in a device destined to warfare on the ground. With increased firepower and protection, these forces would, only some 20 years later. Numerous concepts of armoured vehicles had been imagined for a long time. With advent of trench warfare in World War I, the Allied French and British developments of the tank were largely parallel, in the 15th century, a Hussite called Jan Žižka won several battles using armoured wagons containing cannon that could be fired through holes in their sides. But his invention was not used after his lifetime until the 20th century, in 1903, a French artillery captain named Léon Levavasseur proposed the Levavasseur project, a canon autopropulseur, moved by a caterpillar system and fully armoured for protection. This arrangement gave them the maximum of adaptability to the contours of the ground and they crawled level along the ground with one foot high upon a hillock and another deep in a depression, and they could hold themselves erect and steady sideways upon even a steep hillside. In the years before the Great War, two practical tank-like designs were proposed but not developed, in 1911, the Austrian engineering officer Günther Burstyn submitted a proposal for a fighting vehicle that had a gun in a rotating turret. In 1912, the Australian civil engineer Lancelot de Moles proposal included a model of a functional fully tracked vehicle. Both of these were rejected by their respective governmental administrations, benjamin Holt of the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton, California was the first to file a US patent for a workable crawler type tractor in 1907. The centre of innovation was in England, and in 1903 he travelled to England to learn more about ongoing development. Holt paid Alvin Lombard US$60,000 for the right to produce vehicles under Lombards patent for the Lombard Steam Log Hauler. Holt returned to Stockton and, utilising his knowledge and his companys metallurgical capabilities, he became the first to design, in England, David Roberts of Hornsby & Sons, Grantham, obtained a patent for a design in July 1904
4.
Tanks in World War I
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The development of tanks in World War I was a response to the stalemate that had developed on the Western Front. Research took place in both Great Britain and France, with Germany only belatedly following the Allies lead, in Great Britain, an initial vehicle, nicknamed Little Willie, was constructed at William Foster & Co. during August and September 1915. The prototype of a new design that would become the Mark I tank was demonstrated to the British Army on February 2,1916, although initially termed Landships by the Landships Committee, production vehicles were named tanks, to preserve secrecy. The term was chosen when it became known that the workers at William Foster referred to the first prototype as the tank because of its resemblance to a steel water tank. The French fielded their first tanks in April 1917 and went on to far more tanks than all other combatants combined. The Germans, on the hand, began development only in response to the appearance of Allied tanks on the battlefield. Whilst the Allies manufactured several thousand tanks during the War, Germany deployed only 1680 of her own, the first tanks were mechanically unreliable. There were problems that caused considerable attrition rates during combat deployment, the heavily shelled terrain was impassable to conventional vehicles, and only highly mobile tanks such as the Mark and FTs performed reasonably well. The Mark Is rhomboid shape, caterpillar tracks, and 26-foot length meant that it could navigate obstacles, especially wide trenches, along with the tank, the first self-propelled gun and the first armoured personnel carrier were also constructed in World War I. The conceptual roots of the tank go back to ancient times, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the demonstrable power of steam, James Cowan presented a proposal for a Steam Powered Land Ram in 1855, towards the end of the Crimean War. Lord Palmerston is said to have dismissed it as barbaric, at one point in 1908, Major William E. Donohue of the Mechanical Transport Committee remarked to Roberts that he should design a new machine with armour, capable of carrying its own gun. But, disheartened by years of ultimately fruitless tinkering for the Army, in later years he expressed regret at not having pursued it. The Austrian government said it would be interested in evaluating it if Burstyn could secure commercial backing to produce a prototype, lacking the requisite contacts, he let it drop. An approach to the German government was similarly fruitless, De Moles proposal already had the climbing face, so typical of the later World War I British tanks, but it is unknown whether there was some connection. De Mole noted in 1919 that he was urged by friends before the war to approach the Germans with his design, before World War I, motorized vehicles were still relatively uncommon, and their use on the battlefield was initially limited, especially of heavier vehicles. Armoured cars soon became commonplace with most belligerents, especially in more open terrain. Armored cars did indeed prove useful in open land such as in deserts, the other issue was that it was very hard to add much protection or armament. The main limitation was the wheels, which gave a high pressure for the vehicles weight
5.
Tanks of the interwar period
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This article discusses tanks of the interwar period. World War I established the validity of the concept and between the two world wars, many nations needed to have tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design. During and after World War I, Britain and France were the leaders in tank design. This early lead would be gradually lost during the course of the 1930s to the Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, the final tank designs of 1918 showed a number of trends. The joint US and British Mark VIII tank was supposed to be a heavy tank design for them. The design should have overcome the limitations of the earlier British heavy tanks, the 34-foot-long, 37-ton armored vehicle was powered by a 300-hp V-12 engine and capable of 7 mph cross-country. Worldwide, many sizes of tank were considered, and much of the development effort went into light tanks that were primarily against infantry or for colonial police-type work. The worldwide economic difficulties of the 1920s and 1930s led to an emphasis on light tanks as they were much cheaper to produce than medium or heavy tanks. However, the Spanish Civil War showed that tank-versus-tank engagements and tank-versus-towed antitank gun engagements would now be a consideration for the future of tank warfare. It became clear that tanks would need to be heavily armoured, Tank shape, previously guided purely by considerations of obstacle clearance, now became a trade-off between a low profile, desirable for stealth, and weight savings. In Britain, a deal of study on the future of tank warfare was carried out. In the U. S. J. Walter Christie developed a series of fast tanks and this was combined with very high power-to-weight ratios achieved by fitting large aircraft engines in his tanks. Christies prototypes were purchased by the Soviet Union, and were to be developed into the BT tanks and eventually, on the eve of World War II. Today it may be difficult to understand why the idea found such resistance from the leadership of several armies. Part of the explanation is that the automotive industry was in its infancy. Tanks were rightly considered unreliable, troublesome equipment as late as the early 1930s, weak engines, poor transmissions, and fragile, short-life tracks contributed to this reputation. The international success of the Vickers six-ton tank is due more to its high reliability than any brilliance in the design, however, as the decade passed, engines, transmissions and tracks all improved. By the beginning of World War II, reliable engines and transmissions, a final trend in the between-the-wars period was changes in manufacturing methods
6.
Tanks in World War II
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Tanks were an important weapons system in World War II. Although tanks were the subject of research in the inter-war years. However, during World War II most armies employed tanks, Tank usage, doctrine and production varied widely among the combatant nations. By wars end, a consensus was emerging regarding tank doctrine, the tank was invented by the British in World War I, with nearly simultaneous development in France. Tanks of the First World War reflected the novelty of the idea, World War I tanks moved at a walking pace, were relatively unreliable, and the best usage of them was still developing up to the wars end. In addition to support, tanks fulfilled traditional cavalry roles, provided mobile artillery support. Tank design gradually improved in the period also. Reflecting the growth of the industry, tank engines, transmissions. By the beginning of the war in September 1939, tanks were available that could travel hundreds of miles on their tracks with a number of breakdowns. The war accelerated the pace of change in design, in particular, the gun-vs-armor race of the war led to rapid improvements in firepower and armor. The United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, the early tanks of Germany were inferior to many of their opponents tanks in the areas of armor and firepower. However, in their tactical employment the German tanks dominated all rivals early in the war, German doctrine stressed the use of rapid movement, mission-type tactics and combined-arms where tanks operated with mobile infantry and air support, this doctrine was popularly called Blitzkrieg. This doctrine required the Germans to equip their tanks with radios, in contrast, for example, almost 80 percent of French tanks lacked radios, essentially because their battle doctrine was based on a more slow-paced, deliberate conformance to planned movements. This required fewer radios at all levels, French tanks generally outclassed German tanks in firepower and armor in the 1940 campaign, but their poor command and control doctrine negated these advantages. By 1943, two-way radio was nearly universal in all armies, a trend towards heavier tanks was unmistakable as the war proceeded. In 1939, most tanks had maximum armor of 30 mm or less, by 1945, typical medium tanks had maximum armor over 60 mm thick, with guns in the 75–85 mm range and weights of 30 to 45 t. Light tanks, which dominated most armies early in the war, turrets, which had always been considered, but were not previously a universal feature on tanks, became recognized as essential. Also, mounting the gun in a turret ensured that the tank could fire from hull down cover, hull-mounted guns required that most of the vehicle be exposed to enemy fire
7.
Tanks in the Cold War
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During the Cold War, the two opposing forces in Europe were the Warsaw Pact countries on the one side, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries on the other side. The Warsaw Pact was seen by the West as having an aggressive force outnumbering the NATO forces, Soviet domination of the Warsaw Pact led to effective standardization on a few tank designs. In comparison, NATO adopted a defensive posture, the major contributing nations, France, Germany, the USA, and the UK developed their own tank designs, with little in common, while the smaller nations of NATO purchased or adapted these designs. After World War II, tank development continued largely as it had been because of the Cold War, Tanks would not only continue to be produced in huge numbers, but the technology advanced dramatically as well. Tanks became larger and their armour became thicker and much more effective, aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with big advances in shell design and terminal effectiveness. However, nowadays most tanks in service still have manually breech-loaded guns, many of the changes in tank design have been refinements to targeting and ranging, gun stabilisation, communications and crew comfort. Armour has evolved to keep pace with improvements in weaponry, but there have been no fundamental changes. The design and budgeting of tanks has known severe ups and downs, right after the war, tank design budgets were cut and engineering staff was often scattered. The Korean War proved that tanks were useful on the battlefield. Medium tanks gradually evolved into the new concept of the battle tank. This transition happened gradually in the 1950s, as it was realized that medium tanks could carry guns that could penetrate any practical level of armor at long range. The World War II concept of heavy tanks, armed with the most powerful guns and heaviest armor, likewise, World War II had shown that lightly armed, lightly armored tanks were of little value in most roles. Even reconnaissance vehicles shown a trend towards heavier weight and greater firepower during World War II, speed was not a substitute for armor, an increasing variety of anti-tank weapons and the perceived threat of a nuclear war prioritized the need for additional armor. The additional armor prompted the design of more powerful cannons. The main battle tank thus took on the role the British had once called the Universal tank, typical main battle tanks were as well armed as any other vehicle on the battlefield, highly mobile, and well armored. Yet they were enough to be built in large numbers. The classic main battle tanks of the 1950s were the British Centurion, the Soviet T-55 series, and these three basic vehicles were upgraded significantly over time. For example, the Centurion began life with the highly effective 17-pounder gun, the Russian T-55 started with a 100 mm gun, but has been upgraded with both 115 mm and 125 mm guns, much improved fire control systems, new engines, track, etc
8.
Tanks in the Australian Army
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The Australian Army has used tanks from after the First World War, through the interwar period, the Second World War, the Cold War and to the present day. Throughout this period the Army has primarily been an infantry force. The Australian Armys tanks have seen combat during the Second World War and the Vietnam War, the first Australian tanks were a small number of British medium and light tanks which were operated mainly for training purposes during the 1920s and 1930s. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to a significant expansion of Australias armoured force, from 1942 large numbers of American light and medium tanks were delivered to Australia, along with British Matilda IIs. In addition, a number of Australian-designed Sentinel tanks were delivered to the Army during 1942 and 1943. Three armoured divisions capable of independent operations were formed during the Second World War, many individual units later fought against the Japanese in the Pacific, although only in regimental strength. With few modern tanks at the time of the Korean War, during the 1950s the Army standardised on the British Centurion tank, which saw action in Vietnam and remained in service until it was replaced with the German Leopard 1 in the mid-1970s. In addition to these types, the Army has operated small numbers of tank designs for training. The operational use of tanks during the part of the First World War established the validity of the tank concept. After the war, many nations recognised the importance of tanks, during and after the First World War, Britain and France were the intellectual leaders in tank design, while other countries generally followed, adopting their designs. Since then Australias armoured forces have fought in a number of battles during key conflicts, such as those in the Second World War and the Vietnam War. Primarily a light infantry force for most of its history, the Australian Army has used mainly in the direct support role as opposed to engaging in sweeping manoeuvre against other tanks. After the First World War, many European countries attempted to mechanise their cavalry, in parallel, Australian cavalry also shifted to military armoured units. The Australian Army tried various methods to integrate modern armour into their traditional horse cavalry formations, as a result, the Australian Army sought to obtain tanks of its own, however, due to post-war economic measures this was slow in occurring. Four British Vickers Medium Mark II tanks were procured in 1927 to build its force, the 1st Tank Section was subsequently was formed as a part-time Militia unit in 1930. The unit was based at Randwick, New South Wales, and training was undertaken at Greenhills. The 1st Tank Section was disbanded in November 1937 with the men and it was not the Australian Armys only armoured unit as the Second World War approached. The 2nd Light Tank Company was formed as a Militia unit at Caulfield, the light tank companies were then equipped with the Light Tank Mark VIa,10 of which had been acquired to replace the ageing Mark IIs
9.
Tanks in the British Army
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Tanks first appeared on the battlefield as a solution to trench warfare. The British Army was the first to use them, who built them in secret to begin with, to keep the enemy from finding out about this new solution, the public were informed that the vehicles were large water carriers, or tanks, and the name stuck. World War I established the validity of the tank concept, after the war, many nations needed to have tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France were the leaders in tank design. This early lead would be gradually lost during the course of the 1930s to the Soviet Union who with Germany began to design and build their own tanks. While World War I saw the first use of the tank as a weapon of war, the British, American, German and Soviet armies all had different approaches to tanks and tank warfare, each with their fair share of successes and failures. The infantry tank was a developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks. The extra armouring came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow moving infantry, no one individual was responsible for the development of the tank. Rather, a number of technological developments brought the development of the tank as we know it closer until its eventual form was unveiled out of necessity by the British army. The British army designs were forced by the warfare in which neither side could achieve more than small incremental gains without heavy loss of soldiers lives. They were made to cross the trenches and quickly break into the enemy rear, the next development of the more heavily armoured and upgunned tanks was brought about by the tank on tank battles in World War II German Blitzkrieg. This continued throughout the war, and led to heavy tanks which became the basis of the current Main Battle Tanks seen throughout the armies today. The Landships Committee commissioned Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson of the Royal Naval Air Service and William Tritton of William Foster & Co. Ltd. of Lincoln, constructed in great secrecy, the machine was given the code-name tank by Swinton. Nicknamed Little Willie, this prototype tank weighed 14 tons and could carry a crew of three, at speeds of less than 2 mph over rough ground. The great secrecy surrounding tank development, coupled with the skepticism of infantry commanders, the first use of the British tanks on the battlefield was the use of 49 Mark I tanks during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916, with mixed, but still impressive results. Many broke down but nearly a third succeeded in breaking through, finally, in a preview of later developments, the British developed the lighter Whippet
10.
Tanks in China
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This article on military tanks deals with the history of tanks employed by various military forces belonging to the Kuomintang and Communist Party of China within China. In China, every sort of available import and captured weapon was used, warlords set up their own armies and bought what tanks and weapons they could. Many local armour versions were assembled from materials on hand, as an example, the use of tanks along with artillery in the Chinese army was generally in ones and twos, and they were usually hoarded to enhance the power and prestige of a commander, governor or warlord. Armor was not used en masse for shock, but in penny packets in a support role exclusively, tank against tank fighting with the Japanese was never contemplated. During the entire Sino-Japanese war from 1937-1945 there was not one single major tank on tank confrontation between Chinese and Japanese armor, Sun Yat-sen, first provisional president of China and his protégé Chiang Kai-shek tried to bring under control the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Trains were intended to be used offensively and could carry troops, weapons, Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sens close ally, took Suns place in the party when the latter died in 1925 and led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming Chinas overall leader. This led to a break with the Communists and the expulsion of their Soviet advisors and a strengthening of Sino-German cooperation, along with German advisers and weapons and training. The cooperation intensified with the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 to the start of the war with Japan in 1937, the Russians became advisors again but by 1939 the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Germany and relations started to cool. With the signing of the Soviet and Japanese non-aggression pact, China turned to the US, the US could only offer limited official help until the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the Americans into World War II and massive amounts of aid including US tanks. After World War II ended in 1945, the hostility between the ROC and the CPC exploded into civil war and many former Japanese weapons were used by both sides. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist cause went steadily downhill until 1949, the Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin introduced tanks to China. The Manchurian Army purchased 14 more FTs in 1924-25, and these were used in the fighting with the warlord Wu Pei-fu in 1926. Surprised during the Northern Expedition by Chiang Kai-sheks National Revolutionary Army, however, the Japanese Army seized nearly all of Chinese/Manchurian FTs in 1931 when they occupied Manchuria. The tanks captured by the Japanese army were deployed in the Kwantung Army, in 1929,24 of the British Mk VI Carden Loyd tankettes were purchased by the Chinese Nationalists and its known they fought on the Lunghai front, apart from its armoured train fleet. Later they bought 20 Vickers 6-ton tanks between 1934 and 1936, which were used in combat against the Japanese in the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 and they also bought 29 Vickers Amphibious Tanks, which were developed in 1932 but not used in the United Kingdom. Chiang Kai-shek then turned to Germany, historically a great power, for the reorganisation and modernisation of the National Revolutionary Army. The Nationalists hired many German military advisers to help them with their buildup of the mechanisation, the German military advisers made the Nationalists purchase many European weapons through a German company with which the German advisers cooperated. The Nationalists bought Italian CV-33 and CV-35 tankettes, German Panzer I Ausf, a light tanks, and British 12-ton tanks
11.
Tanks of Czechoslovakia
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The first armored tanks and vehicles in Czechoslovakia were like most countries based on others designs and eventually evolved into their own tank designs. The Czech Army bought three Carden Loyd tankettes and a license for them in 1930, Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk building four copies that same year as prototypes for future orders. Furthermore, they were slow, underpowered and often broke down, one of the P-1 prototypes was rebuilt to address these issues with additional vision ports in all directions, internal ammunition storage and the machine guns field of fire increased to 60°. It was extensively tested during 1931—2 and a few changes were made as a result. The armor was increased from 6 to 8 mm and from 9 to 12 mm, Two of the other prototypes were rebuilt to the same standard, all three were officially accepted by the Army on 17 October 1933. The other prototype was given to the Shah of Iran. The order for seventy was placed on 19 April 1933, all being delivered by October 1934, in 1919, during the chaos following the breakup of Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia was formed with numerous Germans and Hungarians within the newly set borders. A Slovak patriot Milan Rastislav Štefánik, who helped organize Czechoslovak regiments against Austria-Hungary during the First World War, in the peace following the World War, Czechoslovakia emerged as a sovereign European state. It provided what were at the rather extensive rights to its minorities. During the Interwar period, democratic Czechoslovakia was allied with France, and also with Romania and Yugoslavia, however, both Czechs and Slovaks enjoyed a period of relative prosperity. There was progress in not only the development of the countrys economy, the minority Germans came to accept their role in the new country and relations with Austria were good. Yet the Great Depression caused an economic downturn, followed by political disruption. Thereafter Czechoslovakia came under pressure from the revisionist governments of Germany. The Germans seized a large amount of the Czechoslovakian design tanks, the remainder of rump Czechoslovakia was renamed Czecho-Slovakia and included a greater degree of Slovak political autonomy. Thus, Slovakia seceded from Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 and allied itself, as demanded by Germany, the government of the First Slovak Republic, led by Jozef Tiso and Vojtech Tuka, was strongly influenced by Germany and gradually became a puppet regime in many respects. A bloody German occupation and a war followed. The territory of Slovakia was liberated by Soviet and Romanian forces by the end of April 1945, after World War I the Polish army began the design of tankettes, light tanks, and armored vehicles, many by Škoda. A German engineer Joseph Vollmer after the war, joined Škoda and designed a light tank
12.
Tanks in France
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French development into tanks began during World War I as an effort to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare. The Schneider CA1 was the first tank produced by France, and 400 units were built, the French also experimented with various tank designs, such as the Frot-Laffly landship, Boirault machine and Souain experiment. While the British began the design and use of tanks in World War I, France at the time developed its own tracked AFVs. In Britain a single committee had coordinated design, while the major industries remained passive, almost all production effort was thus concentrated into the Mark I and its direct successors, all very similar in shape. In France, on the hand, there were multiple and conflicting lines of development which were badly integrated. Already in January and February 1916 quite substantial orders were made, Army enthusiasm and haste would have its immediate drawbacks however. The first, the Char Schneider CA equipped with a short 75 mm howitzer, had poor mobility due to a track length combined with a hull that overhung front. It was unreliable as well, a maximum of only about 130 of the 400 built were ever operational at the same time and its innovative petro-electrical transmission, while allowing for easy steering, was insufficiently developed and led to a large number of breakdowns. But industrial initiative also led to swift advances, previous models had been box tanks, with a single crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock and drivers cabin. The FT would have the largest production run of any tank of the war, with over 3700 built and that this would happen was at first far from certain, some in the French army lobbied for the alternative mass production of super-heavy tanks. Much design effort was put in line of development resulting in the gigantic Char 2C. French production at first lagged behind the British, after August 1916 however, British tank manufacture was temporarily halted to wait for better designs, allowing the French to overtake their allies in numbers. When the French used tanks for the first time on 16 April 1917, during the Nivelle Offensive, but that would not last long as the offensive was a major failure, the Schneiders were badly deployed and suffered 50% losses from German long-range artillery. The Saint-Chamond tanks, first deployed on 5 May, proved to be so designed that they were unable to cross the first line of German trenches. The French used a wide range of tanks, including many unique types. France was the second largest tank producer in the world, behind the Soviet Union, French cavalry tank designs saw attempts to balance the needs of firepower, protection and mobility. They also fielded a heavy tank design, and several types for scouting. In addition to these types, they were working on super-heavy breakthrough tanks
13.
Tanks in the German Army
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The development of tanks in World War I began as an attempt to break the stalemate which trench warfare had brought to the Western Front. The British and French both began experimenting in 1915, and deployed tanks in battle from 1916 and 1917 respectively, the Germans, on the other hand, were slower to develop tanks, concentrating on anti-tank weapons. Initially unconvinced that tanks were a threat, the High Command ordered just twenty A7Vs. They suffered from numerous design faults, and Germany actually used more captured British tanks than A7Vs, after the Armistice, all tanks in German hands were confiscated. Almost all were scrapped, and the various postwar treaties forbade the former Central Powers from building or possessing tanks. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, although he initially headed a coalition government, he quickly eliminated his government partners. He ignored the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming, approving the development of many German tank designs he was shown. The German Army first used light Panzer I tanks, along with the Panzer II, the IV became the backbone of Germanys panzer force and the power behind the blitzkrieg. During the invasion of Russia in 1941, the Germans encountered the famous and this led Germany to develop the Panther or Panzer V in response. Its 75mm gun could penetrate the new Soviet tanks, Germany also developed the heavy Tiger I, released in 1942. The Tiger could defeat any Allied tank and was joined by the Tiger II, also known as King Tiger. Ryan specifically writes about these foreign workers in German tank manufacturing and this especially affected tanks built later in the war when forced labor had replaced German manpower in their manufacture. In the Battle of Kursk, when the newly arrived Panther tanks moved into their areas,45 out of 200 experienced mechanical problems requiring repair. A good example was the Großdeutschland Division, which had a brigade of two battalions of new Panther Ausf, D tanks come under its operational control before the battle. It also may have been an issue with the Tiger tanks, the Tigers reliability problems were well known and documented, Tiger units frequently entered combat understrength due to breakdowns. It was rare for any Tiger unit to complete a road march without losing vehicles due to breakdown, German factories and industry was devastated by the end of World War II, but by the 1950s, the nation began to look at designing new tanks. In total,6,485 Leopard I tanks were built, of which 4,744 were battle tanks and 1741 were utility and anti-aircraft variants, the Leopard quickly became a standard of European forces, and eventually served as the main battle tank in Germany. It was superseded by the Leopard 2, German tank development can be traced back to 1911, when Austrian Oberleutenant Gunther Burstyn proposed a design for motor vehicle gun with a turret
14.
Tanks in the Italian Army
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The current C1 Ariete is the current main battle tank of the Italian Army. Italy first imported the French Renault FT and produced an improved version. While the Fiat 3000 was being developed, France sent 100 of these FT tanks to Italy in 1918 so that Italian troops could get acquainted with tracked combat vehicles, by 1918, FIAT and Ansaldo, were the only industrial complex large enough to deal with tank production. The first model produced for the Royal Army, was the FIAT3000 and they were ready by 1922, and served well to forge Italian interwar armoured tactics and was in use until 1943. Another model developed in 1930, was the gun-armed serie II or FIAT 3000B, both formed the bulk of the Italian army corp until new models arrived in 1935. Soon after, the official designations incorporated Carro Armato or CA meaning armored carriage, Italy bought a number of Carden Loyd Mark VIs, built a few licence copies designated CV-29, and then developed this design further. Italy produced a number of CV-33 and CV-35 tankettes based on this Vickers-Carden-Lloyd concept. A native Italian design was the L6/40, a small light tank with a 20 mm Breda cannon. A medium tank, based on the Vickers Six-Tonner, was the M11-M13 series which had a very good 47 mm gun, the Carro Armato was the Italian Armys designation for tanks from 1938 onwards. This would be followed by a letter and a series of numbers, the letter would be either L, M or P meaning light, medium, and heavy tank respectively. The official Italian military tank classification differed from contemporary classifications in other countries, the numbers would follow the pattern of X/Y where X would be the weight in tonnes and Y the year of adoption. The Fiat 3000 was the first tank to be produced in series in Italy and it was to be the standard tank of the emerging Italian armored units after World War I. The 3000 was based on the French Renault FT, the design was accepted with deliveries to begin in May 1919, but the end of the war caused the original order to be cancelled and only 100 were delivered. The first Fiat 3000s entered service in 1921 and were designated as the carro dassalto Fiat 3000. Tests of the Model 21 revealed that the armament, consisting of two 6.5 mm machine guns, was inadequate, and adoption of a 37 mm gun as main armament was urged. The up-gunned version of the Fiat 3000, armed with a 37/40 gun, was tested in 1929 and was adopted in 1930 with the designation of carro dassalto Fiat 3000. Some Model 30s were also produced with two 6.5 mm machine guns as armament, as on the Model 21. A limited number of Model 21 vehicles were exported to Albania, Latvia and Abyssinia prior to 1930, the L3/35 was developed from the Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette, four of which were imported from Britain in 1929
15.
Tanks in the Israeli Army
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Before Israel gained independence in 1948, neither Israel nor the Arab nations surrounding it had many tanks. The Arabs and the Israelis had to find their weapons through arms dealers, the first armored tanks and vehicles in Israel were, like many other countries, imported or based on others designs, but eventually evolved into their own tank designs. But in Israel the plans to them began before the country even was formed and rudimentory built armoured cars. During this period the Jewish and Arab communities of British Mandate clashed with only light arms, while the British organized their withdrawal, from January onwards, operations became increasingly militarized. A number of Arab Liberation Army regiments infiltrated into Palestine, each active in a variety of distinct sectors around the different coastal towns and they consolidated their presence in Galilee and Samaria. The Army of the Holy War, under the command of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, having recruited a few thousand volunteers, al-Husayni organised the blockade of the 100,000 Jewish residents of Jerusalem. By March, al-Husaynis tactic had paid off, almost all of Haganahs armoured vehicles had been destroyed, the blockade was in full operation, and hundreds of Haganah members who had tried to bring supplies into the city were killed. The situation for those who dwelt in the Jewish settlements in the highly isolated Negev, the Arab League began to believe that the Palestinian Arabs, reinforced by the Arab Liberation Army, could put an end to partition. The British decided on 7 February 1948 to support the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Jordan, Ben-Gurion ordered Yigal Yadin to plan in preparation for the announced intervention of the Arab states. The result of his analysis was Plan Dalet, which was put in place from the start of April onwards, in case of resistance, the population of conquered villages was to be expelled outside the borders of the Jewish state. If no resistance was met, the residents could stay put, the first operation, named Nachshon, was directed at lifting the blockade on Jerusalem. Armored cars and forces tried to out the roads and escort supply trucks as they tried to reach Jerusalem. The Arab attacks on communications and roads has intensified, the failure of the convoys and the loss of Jewish armoured vehicles has shaken the Yishuv leaders confidence. 1,500 men from Haganahs Givati brigade and Palmachs Harel brigade conducted sorties to free up the route to the city between 5 April and 20 April. The operation was successful, and enough foodstuffs to last 2 months were trucked into to Jerusalem for distribution to the Jewish population, the success of the operation was assisted by the death of al-Husayni in combat. At the same time, the operation of the Arab Liberation Army was defeated at Mishmar HaEmek. Their Druze allies left them through defection, with the creation of Israels army, the three Palmach Brigades were disbanded and its members formed the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command for many years. The few tanks and armoured cars of these Brigades were the beginning of what was to become a history of armoured forces in the Israeli Army
16.
Tanks in the Japanese Army
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This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Japanese Army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era. The First World War established the validity of the tank concept, after the war, many nations needed to have tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after World War I, Britain and France were the leaders in tank design. Japan took interest in tanks and procured some of the foreign designs, however, due to the outbreak of the Korean War, SCAP ordered Japan to re-militarize, forming the Japanese Ground-Self Defense Force and providing M4A3E8 Sherman and M24 Chaffee tanks. The JGSDF decided to develop its own tank, which resulted in the development of the current range of modern Japanese tanks built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Japanese system for naming tanks seems difficult to a Westerner, although it is logical. Like all weapons, the year of introduction is the first criteria and that year is computed on the historical calendar of Japan, starting 660 years BC. A Type 89 tank was introduced in 1929, the year 2589 of the Japanese calendar. The problem is that several weapons or tanks can be introduced the same year, the Japanese used ideograms to differentiate further the various weapons. The ideogram Chi meant a medium tank, Te a tankette, Ke an assault gun, Ho a self-propelled gun, there was a second ideogram to distinguish the models. The Type 97 Chi-Ha is a tank introduced in 1937. There is sometimes a surname to supplement or replace the ideograms, the Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha is a variation of the medium tank Chi-Ha with a new turret. The Type 95 had the surname Ha-Go given by the builder of the tank, after World War I ended, many European countries attempted to mechanize their cavalry. The Japanese cavalry experimented with a variety of armored cars with limited success and these wheeled armored cars were not suitable for most operations in Manchuria, due to the poor road conditions and severe winter climate. Japans army tried various methods to integrate modern armor into their traditional horse cavalry formations, the Imperial Japanese Army obtained a variety of models from foreign sources. The Japanese did not have any indigenous tank production capability, until the factories could be set up and infrastructure put in place, they continued buying from foreign sources. These models included one British Heavy Mk IV and six Medium Mark A Whippets, the Mk IV tank was purchased in October 1918 while the Whippets and Renaults were acquired in 1919. With this beginning, the Imperial Japanese Army establish a force in 1925. In 1929, the Imperial Japanese Army purchased the replacement for the Renault FTs, the Imperial Japanese Army also purchased several Vickers 6-Ton tanks and Carden Loyd tankettes from the British and used these as a basis for further development
17.
Tanks of the Polish Armoured Forces
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This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Polish army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era. During and after World War I, Britain and France were the leaders in tank design. After World War I, many nations needed to have tanks and they contributed to the Allied effort throughout the war. The Polish Army was recreated in the West, as well as in the East, after World War I the Polish Armed Forces received the Renault FT light tank, with 174 FTs being used by its forces. In 1918 the newly organized Polish 1st Tank Regiment had been equipped with 120 of the small, the unit was based on equipment and part of personnel of former French 505th Tank Regiment, and was equipped with the most modern tanks of the time, the Renault FT. After the war the 1st Tank Regiment, along with Gen. Hallers Army, returned to Poland, thanks to this, Poland became the fourth biggest armoured power in the world at that time. They also participated in the Polish-Soviet War, which by 1920 most of the French personnel had departed back to France, in July 1920, FTs tanks were used in the Defense of Grodno and defense of Lida, and Rowne. Then, they part in the great Warsaw Battle in August 1920 and some damaged tanks were put on railway flatcars. In 1924,6 Renault TSF radio command tanks were bought in France and they were based upon the FT hull, fitted with a radio in a big superstructure in a place of a turret. Also, in 1929-1930, some of newer Renault tank designs were bought and they were 5 Renault M26/27 tanks and 1 Renault NC-27 tank. The M26/27 was a development of the FT, with the hull and armament, fitted with a new track mechanism. The Renault NC-27 was a development of the FT, with a redesigned hull and new chassis. The Polish Armed Forces looked at the Carden-Loyd Mk. VI tankette, the TKS was an improved model with a new hull and a more powerful engine. The armour of the TK was up to 8 mm thick, in 1939, re-arming of the tankettes with 38FK20 mm machine guns began, but only about 24 were completed before the outbreak of World War II. Their advantages were, mobility, good obstacle crossing and small dimensions and it was estimated, that they fit better as cavalry reconnaissance vehicles, than newly acquired wz.28 halftrack armoured cars. As a result, the Polish authorities decided to buy a licence for manufacturing Carden-Loyd Mk. VI. However, at the end of the 1920s, the Polish Armed Forces felt that they also needed a new tank model. The Military Institute of Engineering Research sent Captain Ruciński to the United States to legally acquire a Christie M1928 tank, its blueprint, the tank was to be used as a base for a new Polish light tank. The Poles however never received the machine and Christie fearing legal charges, the work was based on available data and advertising leaflets as well as notes and sketches that Captain Ruciński obtained from Christie
18.
Tanks of South Korea
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The history and development of the tank in the South Korea spans the period from their adoption after World War II with the foundation of the South Korean Army, into the Cold War and the present. Only the upgrades to the Pattons were carried out, with the results the Republic of Korea began to undertake a program to develop and produce a South Korean tank, heavily based on the M1. The development of the vehicle resulted in the South Korean K1 88-Tank was completed in 1983. In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, in the South, elections supervised by the United Nations were held, a Republic of Korea was declared, and Syngman Rhee inaugurated as its first president. In December, the UN General Assembly declared this a lawful government, the United States engaged in the decolonization of Korea from Japan after World War II. After three years of administration by the United States, the South Korean government was established. On June 25,1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, sparking the Korean War, when the North Koreans invaded South Korea in June 1950, using T-34s, the South Koreans had no armor of their own so had to retreat in the face of North Korean tanks. Soon after the invasion of South Korea, the United Nations voted to support the South Koreans, with the Korean War so closely following on the heels of World War II, many of the top tanks used in World War II were also utilized during the Korean War. The first tanks to be used by UN forces in South Korea were American M24 Chaffee light tanks and they were sent to South Korea from Japanese army bases. While the Chaffee was useful for infantry support, it could not stand up to a T-34, upon the onset of the Korean War, U. S. forces were sent to defend South Korea against invasion by North Korea and later China. At the time, the Soviet Union had boycotted the United Nations and this allowed the UN to intervene when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would unify the entire country. In the Korean War M24 Chaffees fared poorly against the North Korean T-34-85s, so the M24s were put in reconnaissance roles, supported by heavier tanks such as the M4, M26, and M46. Less than a thousand were upgraded to M46 standard, on 8 August 1950 the first M46 Pattons landed in South Korea. The tank proved superior to the much lighter North Korean T-34-85, subsequent shipments of M46 and M46A1 Pattons allowed all remaining M26 Pershings to be withdrawn during 1951, and most Sherman equipped units were also reequipped. By 1953 the M24 Chaffees were completely replaced by the new M41 tank in the United States Army which was designated the M41 Walker Bulldog. The M41 was an agile and well armed, the Walker Bulldog was rushed to the battlefield but saw limited combat. British tanks, the Centurion tank with Cromwell tanks for reconnaissance, the tanks had to operate in much colder conditions than their usual North German Plain deployments. The Centurions covered the retreat at the battle of the Imjin River and were used throughout the war, unlike in the Second World War, in which the tank proved a decisive weapon, the Korean War featured few large-scale tank battles
19.
Tanks in the Soviet Union
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This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Soviet Union from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era. After World War I, many nations needed to have tanks, during and after World War I, Britain and France were the intellectual leaders in tank design, with other countries generally following and adopting their designs. This early lead would be gradually lost during the course of the 1930s to the Soviet Union who with Germany began to design, the Treaty of Versailles had severely limited Germanys industrial output. The final tank designs in World War I showed a number of such as in the US. However, the French Renault FT set the pattern for almost all tanks that followed it, these generally had lower track profiles and more compact hulls. Another notable design that influenced the Soviets was the Vickers A1E1 Independent and its design influenced the Soviet T-35 heavy tank. The Spanish Civil War showed that tank-versus-tank engagements and tank-versus-towed antitank gun engagements would now be a major consideration and it became clear that future tanks would need to be heavily armoured and carry larger guns. The Soviet Unions efforts in design and production must be understood in the context of the experience of the Russian Civil War. During the civil war, the use of armoured trains and artillery trains was common and this tended to lead to a greater interest in tanks and armoured cars compared to some western nations. The rapid growth of industry in the USSR under the Five-Year plans made a large tank fleet possible. The Soviets also spent tens of millions of dollars on U. S. equipment and technology to modernise dozens of automotive and tractor factories, in the U. S. J. Walter Christie had developed a series of fast tanks, based on his revolutionary Christie suspension system. This was combined with very high power-to-weight ratios achieved by fitting large aircraft engines in his tanks. Some of his prototypes were purchased by the Soviet Union, and were to be developed into the BT tanks and eventually, on the eve of World War II, the famous T-34. The BT series in turn influenced the British cruiser tank designs such as the A-13 Cruiser Mk IV, Crusader, the French pioneered manufacturing methods in the use of very large castings to form gun mantlets, turrets and eventually, entire tank hulls. In Soviet Russia, the armoured forces preceded the Tank Corps. They consisted of the armoured units made of armored vehicles. The country did not have its own tanks during the Civil War of 1918-1920, a number of the Mark V tanks saw service in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side. Most were subsequently captured and used by the Red Army in the Russian Civil War, in January 1918, the Red Army established the Soviet of Armored Units, later renamed to Central Armored Directorate and then once again to Chief Armored Directorate
20.
Tanks in the Spanish Army
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Tanks in the Spanish Army have over 90 years of history, from the French Renault FTs first delivered in 1919 to the Leopard 2 and B1 Centauro models of the early 21st century. The FT took part in combat during the Rif War and participated in the first amphibious landing with tanks in history, at Alhucemas. In 1925, the Spanish Army began to undertake a program to develop and produce a Spanish tank, heavily based on the Renault FT, although the prototype performed well during testing, the tank was never put into mass production. Spain also experimented with the Italian Fiat 3000, acquiring one tank in 1925, and with another indigenous tank program called the Landesa. However, none of these evolved into a major armor program, between July 1936 and April 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, the two opposing armies received large quantities of tanks from foreign powers. The Spanish Civil War, although the grounds for the nations which would ultimately take part in World War II. The Spanish Army ended the Spanish Civil War with a fleet of light tanks, looking to field more modern and capable tanks, the Spanish government and army approved a venture to design and manufacture a better light tank, known as the Verdeja. Although the tank proved extremely capable, a lack of raw materials, furthermore, the armys requirements were temporarily satisfied by the procurement of Panzer IVs in late 1943. However, the failure to acquire more Panzer IVs led Spain to field a largely antiquated collection of light tanks, in 1953, the United States and Spain signed a military aid program agreement which led to the supply of M47 Patton and M48 Patton tanks. Almost immediately after, the Spanish Army and the Spanish Ministry of Defense began to look for a future Spanish tank and this turned into the Lince tank program. Over half of the AMX-30Es were upgraded to a known as the AMX-30EM2. However, the M60s and modernized AMX-30Es did not provide Spain with a modern tank for the next century. In 1994, the Spanish Ministry of Defense began to negotiate with the German government over the purchase of the Leopard 2. Ultimately,108 Leopard 2A4s were procured and integrated into the Spanish Army, while 219 Leopard 2Es were built in Spain, the Leopard 2E and Leopard 2A4 replaced the fleet of M60 Patton tanks, while Spains AMX-30EM2s were replaced by Italian B1 Centauro anti-tank cavalry vehicles. Presently, the Spanish Army possesses 108 Leopard 2A4s and 219 Leopard 2Es, before First World War Spanish Army bought a Schneider-Brillié in 1909 to be used in Melilla, where armed conflict with local tribes was going on. This was a French bus platform that was fitted with an armoured body, although it was big, slow and its performance was not good Spanish Army learnt the value of armored vehicles and bought a second one. Spanish Army officers appreciated the advantages of using advanced technology in Colonial War in Spanish Morocco. The Spanish armys interest in the tank began near the end of World War I and this purchase, however, was not processed until 15 January 1919
21.
Tanks of the United States
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This article on military tanks deals with the history and development of American tanks, their origin during World War I, the interwar period, World War II, the Cold War, and the modern era. The U. S. entered the First World War on the side of the Entente Powers in April,1917, a joint Anglo-American programme was set up to develop a new type of heavy tank similar to those then in use by the British. It was, though, expected that sizeable quantities of tanks would not be available until April of 1918. S, some heavy tanks would also be supplied by Great Britain. The battalion shipped out on the night of March 26, the M1917 was the U. S. s first mass-produced tank, a license-built near-copy of the French Renault FT. The US Army ordered approximately 4,440 M1917s between 1918 and 1919, receiving about 950 before cancelling the contract. A requirement of 1,200 was decided, later increased to 4,400, and some sample Renault tanks, plans, and various parts were sent to the US for study. The design was to be carried out by the Ordnance Department, under the job title Six-ton Special Tractor, and orders for the vehicles placed with private manufacturers. The Army in France was expecting the first 300 M1917s by April,1918, but production had not begun by June, production of the M1917 did not begin until the autumn, and the first completed vehicles emerged only in October. Two arrived in France on November 20, nine days after the end of hostilities, the Ford 3-Ton M1918 was one of the first light tank designs by the U. S. It was a small two-man, one-gun tank, armed with a M1919 Browning machine gun, design on the 3-ton tank started in mid-1918. The 3-Ton was a tank designed so that American forces could use another tank besides the Renault FT. Its two Model T ford engines were controlled from the driver- seated at the front- with a gunner beside him who had control of a. 30/06 machine gun on a limited-traverse mount. A contract for 15,000 of these vehicles was awarded, however, the contract for the 15,000 tanks was ended after the Armistice, leaving only the fifteen original vehicles produced. Initially, two independent US tank organizations developed in parallel, the Tank Corps in France, and the Tank Service in the US. Throughout the war, the units, resulting in a divided command structure with two men—Rockenbach and Welborn—separately directing the development of the American armored arm. Eisenhowers mentor, Lt. Colonel Ira Clinton Welborn, was an officer who had been awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. On March 5,1918, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker appointed Welborn to serve as director of the Tank Service in the United States. The Tank Corps, was created in France as a unit of the American Expeditionary Force and its first commander was Colonel Samuel Rockenbach, though Captain George S. Patton was the first officer actually assigned to the new unit
22.
Light tank
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Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility. The fast light tank was a feature of the pre-World War II buildup. Numerous small tank designs and tankettes were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, and as a cheaper alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank. In World War I industrial initiative also led to swift advances and it would be Renaults small tank design the FT, incorporating a proper climbing face for the tracks, that was the first tank to incorporate a top-mounted turret with a full rotation. Previous models had been box tanks, with a crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock. The FT would have the largest production run of any tank of the war - with over 3,700 built it was more numerous than all British, the Carden Loyd tankette and its derivatives were adopted by several nations as small tracked vehicles carrying a machine gun for armament. In 1928, the British firm of Vickers-Armstrong started promoting another design by John Carden and Vivien Loyd as the six-ton tank, although rejected by the British Army, it was bought by a large number of nations in small numbers. It formed the basis of the Soviet T-26 and the Polish 7TP tank, as the only tank fit for immediate manufacture, it was a key element in the expansion of the British Army in the period leading up to the outbreak of war. In general, French tanks of the 1930s were well-armored, innovative vehicles that owed little to foreign designs, the lack of radios with the light tanks was not seen as a major drawback, since French doctrine called for slow-paced, deliberate maneuvers in close conformance to plans. The role of small unit leaders was to execute plans, not to take the initiative in combat, in 1939, a belated effort was made to improve flexibility and increase the number of radios. Throughout the interwar period the US produced only a few hundred tanks, from the end of World War I to 1935, only 15 tanks were produced. Most were derivatives or foreign designs or very poor quality private designs, the Christie designs were among the few better examples, but the US Army acquired only three Christies and did not pursue the idea any further. Budget limitations and the low priority given to the army meant that there were few resources for building tanks, the US Army instead developed and tested tank components such as suspensions, tracks, and transmissions. This paid off when production had to be initiated on the outbreak of war, the Soviet BT tanks were the most advanced in the 1930s, extremely fast and mounting high velocity 45 mm cannons. Their only drawback were their petrol engines which caught fire often, the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank was equipped with a diesel engine, and although mounting a 37 mm cannon, it was a low velocity gun with a maximum effective range of about 700 meters. However, this conflict would be instrumental in developing the famous T-34 medium tank, germanys armored Panzer force was not especially impressive at the start of the war. In the invasions of Poland and France, the German forces were made up of the Panzer I. The Panzer I was little more than a vehicle armed only with machine guns
23.
Medium tank
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Many of the medium tanks lines became what are called main battle tank in most countries. The first tanks to carry the name Medium appeared in the First World War with the British Medium Mark A Whippet and it was smaller and lighter than the British heavy tanks and only carried machine guns. The medium tank doctrine came into use in the interwar period and its existence outlasted the super-heavy tank and heavy tank and gradually transitioned into the main battle tank. Medium tanks of the period included the British Vickers Medium Mark II. There were medium tanks that focused on capabilities, and medium tanks which were more focused on the anti-tank role. The French cavalry tanks focused on speed in addition to power and they were similar to what other countries called medium tanks. The result was the T-34 medium tank, whose superb capabilities shocked the German Wehrmacht when it invaded the Soviet Union. The lessons of Blitzkrieg, first employed by the Germans and eventually adopted by other nations, found their best expression in formations of mutually-supporting medium tanks, the traditional view of infantry and cavalry tank roles was rendered obsolete. During and after World War II, the roles of tanks were gradually taken over by less-expensive armoured cars. Heavy tanks, having shown their limitations in combat, experienced a limited post-war arms race of progressively more heavily armed and armoured designs, with the rise of more sophisticated anti-tank missile weapons, to which heavy tanks had demonstrated high vulnerability, these too were eventually phased out. Simpler and more economical self-propelled guns, and later anti-tank guided missiles, came to fulfil some fire-support and anti-tank roles, the role of medium tanks started with a prioritisation of speed. Medium tanks could travel faster, but needed help to cross trenches, in British use, this evolved into the Cruiser tank class, while other tank doctrines formed around the medium tank making the main advance. In this later use, medium tanks represent the intent of producing a successful balance of firepower, mobility. Medium tanks aim to be suitable to the widest variety of roles, with less reliance on other types of tank during normal operations Light tank Heavy tank Super-heavy tank Main battle tank
24.
Heavy tank
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As lighter tanks were introduced, the larger designs became known as heavies. A similar breakthrough role remained into World War II, as tank-v-tank combat became more common, heavy tanks mounted very powerful anti-tank guns. By the end of the war they were used both for dealing with heavy fortifications as well as antitank work and they were also known as breakthrough tanks, indicating their purpose of spearheading the attack. They were usually organised into specialised heavy tank units, the emergence of the main battle tank spelled the end of the heavy tank as a separate class, although a number of post-war examples were produced. These were generally gone by the 1960s, heavy tanks achieved their greatest successes both fighting other, lighter tanks, and destroying fortifications with their very large guns. But the greatest drawback is cost which translates into production quantities and/or design and this case repeated itself in the operational use of the Tiger II of which only 492 were produced. Heavy tanks feature very heavy armour and weapons relative to lighter tanks, many heavy tanks shared components from lighter tanks. For example, the US M103 shared many components with the lighter Patton tanks including its transmission, as a result, they tend to be either underpowered and comparatively slow, or have engine and drive train reliability problems. In case of a new design development, which was the case with the German Tiger I. The heavy tank concept originated in World War I and co-existed with light, the first British tank, the Mark I of World War I, was introduced to break through German defensive lines of trenches and barbed wire. When lighter, faster tanks were introduced, the tanks were classified as heavy. The Char 2C was one of the largest tanks ever produced, at the start of World War II, the French and the Soviets were the only countries to have inventories of heavy tanks, such as the Char B1, T-35, and KV-1. The Matilda II infantry tank, though not weighing as much as the others, was designed to the British infantry tank concept and had thicker armour than most tanks in service at the time. Later war examples were the German Tiger I and II, as well as the Soviet IS series, note that heavy versus medium is more a question of tactical roles than weight, the Panther, for example, was a medium tank that outweighed most Allied heavy tanks. Near the end of World War II, the M26 Pershing was sent to Europe in limited numbers, the largest tank guns were approaching maximum calibre whose shell could still be handled by the crew, even using awkward two-part ammunition, which greatly slowed their rate of fire. Thanks to improved gun designs and fire technology, postwar medium tanks were catching up to heavy tanks in firepower. The tactical value of heavy tanks thus declined to the point that no new designs were fielded, doctrine held that less expensive self-propelled artillery could serve in the infantry support role. Older heavy tanks with steel armour were rendered obsolete by anti-tank guided missiles, light tank Medium tank Super-heavy tank Main battle tank
25.
Super-heavy tank
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Super-heavy tank, also super heavy tank, is a semi-official term for any armoured fighting vehicle in the class beyond heavy tanks. As such, they can most easily be distinguished from vehicles by their very large size. Weight-classes are only meaningful when comparing contemporary vehicles, examples were designed in World War I and World War II, along with a few in the Cold War. The first super-heavy tank was designed by the Russian naval engineer Vasily Mendeleyev who worked on the project from 1911 to 1915, the tank was envisioned to be invulnerable to almost all contemporary threats but remained on paper because of its high construction cost. Following the production of their first tanks, the British Flying Elephant was designed as a tank that would be resistant to artillery fire, since mobility was more important than protection, and the tanks already developed were successful, work on the project was stopped. The German K-Wagen was a very heavy design carrying 4 guns, Two of them were under construction when the war ended and both were demolished. During World War II all of the major combatants introduced prototypes for special roles. Adolf Hitler was a proponent of war winning weapons and supported projects like the 188 tonne Maus, and even larger 1,000 tonne Landkreuzer P.1000 Ratte and 1,500 ton Landkreuzer P.1500 Monster. The British and Soviets all built prototype designs similar to the Jagdtiger, and the US was working on the then known T95 Gun Carriage, however, most of these designs never passed the prototype stage, and only some have ever been in existence. The idea of heavy tanks saw less development after the war. The advances in technology allowed large tanks to stay in the approximate up to 65 ton range. Examples include Object 279 and T29 Heavy Tank, further advances in armour technology have given the armour of late 20th century tanks the estimated equivalent of over a meter of rolled homogeneous armour. At the same time the weapon development allows for any equal adversary to destroy any target detected and tracked by the array of different sensors available. United Kingdom TOG1 –80 tons, built in 1940, designed for ground conditions similar to those experienced in WWI, tOG2 –80 tons improved design of TOG1, one prototype. Flying Elephant – First World War-era project at 100 tons, not built, tortoise heavy assault tank –80 tons, designed to attack fortifications. FCM F1 –139 tons, World War II era replacement for the Char 2C, to attack fortifications, ordered, nazi Germany Panzer VII Löwe – About 95–100 tons, cancelled in favour of Maus. Panzer VIII Maus –188 tons, two prototypes, both were captured by the Soviet army, although one was partially destroyed. One can now be seen at the Kubinka Tank Museum, panzerkampfwagen E-75 –95 tons, designed to succeed Tiger II
26.
Cruiser tank
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The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed to function as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry. Cruiser tanks were developed after the Royal Armoured Corps were not satisfied with many of the tank designs of the 1930s. The cruiser tank concept was conceived by Giffard Le Quesne Martel, there were two main types of cruiser tanks, light cruiser tanks and heavy cruiser tanks. Light cruiser tanks were armoured and relatively fast, while heavy cruiser tanks were more heavily armoured. The Crusader was superseded by the A27 Cromwell reaching service in 1944, the A34 Comet - a better-armed development of Cromwell - entered service in lesser numbers in late 1944. The Centurion tank introduced in 1946 became the Universal tank of the United Kingdom, transcending the cruiser and infantry tank roles, financial constraints had made it impossible to produce a vehicle suitable for close support and for exploitation. The thinking was behind several tank designs which saw action during the Second World War, British armoured operations theory flowed from the decision to build two types of tank in parallel and use them to equip two types of unit and formation. Infantry tanks went to Army Tank Battalions, sometimes grouped administratively into Army Tank Brigades of the RTR, small, fast, lightly-armed tanks like the Light Tank Mk VI operated as reconnaissance vehicles. Armoured division theory emphasised using the speed of cruiser tanks for independent action to protect flanks, attacks on an opponents flanks and rear, pursuit and counter-attack. Giffard Le Quesne Martel originated the concept, while Assistant Director. Martel preferred a large number of smaller and simpler tanks to swamp an opponent, like naval cruisers, cruiser tanks were fast and mobile for operations independent from slower-moving infantry with their heavier infantry tanks and artillery. F. C. Fuller, Percy Hobart and B. H. Liddell-Hart, the cruiser tank was designed for use in a way similar to cavalry, which made speed the most important factor and to achieve this, early cruisers were lightly armoured and armed to save weight. The emphasis on speed unbalanced the British designs, on limited engine power, the idea that speed is armour was considered most important in the Royal Tank Corps. An even bigger problem for most cruiser tanks was the small calibre of their main gun, the first cruisers were armed with the 2-pounder gun. This gun had adequate armour penetration against early war tanks, but was never issued high explosive ammunition and this made the cruisers less able to deal with towed anti-tank guns. The Cromwell had too small a turret ring for the intended high-velocity gun and was fitted with the dual-purpose medium-velocity 75 mm gun, the tank had a high-power engine giving it a maximum speed around 40 mph on roads. It was the tank design in the British cruiser line. As the UK had large numbers of US M4 Sherman tanks, despite the emphasis on high mobility, most cruisers were plagued by mechanical unreliability, notably the Crusader tank in the hot and gritty desert of the North Africa Campaign
27.
Infantry tank
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The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantry-soldiers in an attack, to achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily armoured to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy fire. The extra armour came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow-moving infantry, the British tank arm was constrained by decisions about procurement made in the early 1930s. A close support tank armed with a gun firing high explosive, the cost of experiments with tanks led in 1932 to the Director of Mechanisation to cancel work on a replacement for the medium tank, during the financial cuts imposed during the Great Depression. When work resumed in 1935, the army had Light Tank but no design bureau for a new medium tank, the prototype of October 1936 weighted 10 long tons had a maximum speed of only 8 mph but carried 60–65 mm of armour and was mechanically reliable. By 1939, further amendments to FSR added counter-attacks on an enemy armoured breakthrough, defence against tanks could be achieved by troops finding physical obstacles and by controlling their own anti-tank guns. The obstacles could be woods and rivers or minefields as long as they were covered by fire from other weapons. Capable of 15 mph, the A12 was still slow but had 60–70 mm of armour, making it almost invulnerable to tank guns and standard foreign guns like the German 37 mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. The tank had a crew and a turret big enough for a radio. Vickers and government factories could not take on the work and it was farmed out to a civilian firm, which lacked experience, designers and draftsmen. It took until 1939 to bring the A12 into production as the Matilda II and it had not gone into service when the war began, only 67 A11s having been delivered. Using later terminology, the tank has been compared to a heavy tank, while the cruisers were compared to mediums, lights. This comparison can be misleading, particularly as the tank was never intended to have the same anti-tank capabilities as a heavy tank. The Neubaufahrzeug was considered too slow for Blitzkrieg tactics and fell from favour, German wartime doctrine shifted towards faster medium and heavy tanks fighting large multi-tank battles, with the role of the infantry tank in the assault taken by simpler Sturmgeschütz. An important difference, however, was that tanks were generally very well armed. For example, the Soviet KV-1 heavy tank and British Matilda II infantry tank were deployed at about the time in 1940. These two models had similar levels of protection and mobility, but the KVs 76.2 mm main gun was much larger than the Matildas 2-pounder. In British practice, the armament of the infantry tank went in three phases
28.
Main battle tank
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A main battle tank, also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the armor-protected direct fire and maneuver role of many modern armies. Through the 1960s, the MBT replaced almost all other tanks, today, main battle tanks are considered a key component of modern armies. Modern MBTs seldom operate alone, as they are organized into armoured units which involve the support of infantry and they are also often supported by surveillance or ground-attack aircraft. In World War I, tanks were classed into light, medium, and heavy based on weight, as tank combat evolved, tank design suffered from a number of limitations due largely to engine power and transmission capability. A designer could produce a tank with high maneuverability, armour, or a large gun, the first prioritised maneuverability, and thus had a limit on weight. These were known variously as cavalry tanks, light tanks, medium tanks and these tanks had different uses depending on the countrys tank doctrine, but were generally used to exploit holes in the enemy lines and run far into the rear areas in self-supporting armoured groups. This would disrupt enemy logistics and command-and-control, as well as delay the movement of reserves to the front and it was believed operations of this sort would undermine or completely destroy the ability for the front-line troops to continue battle. The second class prioritised armour and thus weighed more, limiting maneuverability and these were known as infantry tanks, heavy tanks, or assault tanks. They were generally designed to assault enemy lines, working in concert with front-line infantry, as these were expected to move forward at the same speed as the men, higher speeds were not required and the engine power could instead be used to carry a much greater load. Infantry tanks featured much larger amounts of armour, heavier guns, as the nature of tank warfare evolved, tanks designed for other specialised roles also saw development. This included dedicated tank destroyers, and engineer tanks such as Hobarts Funnies, Tank destroyers had varied successes, and often ended up engaging enemy infantry instead of their intended targets. German assault gun armoured vehicles like the Sturmgeschütz III were found effective in an anti-tank role, in spite of a great amount of theory and pre-war testing, the plans for armoured combat quickly proved themselves outdated. The battlefield did not bog down like it did in World War I and this was especially evident in the great sweeping battles in North Africa and the Soviet Union, where armoured forces executed drives of hundreds of miles. In these cases the problems with having two became especially evident, the tanks able to go toe-to-toe with the enemy were generally found miles to the rear. Those able to maintain the drive were lightly armoured, and proved easy prey for enemy anti-tank guns, as these evolved, the tanks own weapons had to grow larger in order to deal with enemy tanks with the same level of armour. This evolution led to the development of a more general-purpose medium tank, medium tanks formed the bulk of the tank combat forces. Generally these designs massed about 25-30 tonnes, were armed with cannons around 75 mm, notable examples include the Soviet T-34, the German Panzer IV, and the US M4 Sherman. The widespread production of designs led to most others being pushed out of service or into niche roles
29.
Tank destroyer
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The tank destroyer on the other hand is specifically designed to take on enemy armour. Many are based on a tank chassis, while others are wheeled. Since World War II, gun-armed tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole main battle tanks, however, lightly armored anti-tank guided missile carriers are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. Dedicated anti-tank vehicles made their first major appearance in the Second World War as combatants developed effective armored vehicles, some were little more than stopgap solutions, mounting an anti-tank gun on a tracked vehicle to give mobility, while others were more sophisticated designs. Except for most American designs, tank destroyers were all turretless and had fixed or casemate superstructures, the turretless design allowed accommodation of a more powerful gun, typically a dedicated anti-tank gun that had a longer barrel than could be mounted in a turreted tank on the same chassis. The lack of an increased the vehicles internal volume, allowing for increased ammunition stowage. Eliminating the turret allowed the vehicle to carry thicker armor than would otherwise be the case, sometimes there was no armored roof to keep the overall weight down to the limit that the chassis could bear. Variants of the Polish TKS and TK-3 tankettes up-armed with 20 mm gun were operationally deployed in the invasion of Poland and they were used as an anti-tank component of the reconnaissance units. Due to the defeat of France, few French vehicles were built. The Laffly W15 TCC was an attempt to build a light tank destroyer by mounting a 47 mm SA37 anti-tank gun onto a lightly armored Laffly W15T artillery tractor. Other French tank destroyers were being developed, including the SOMUA SAu-40, ARL V39, for instance,202 obsolete Panzer I light tanks were modified by removing the turret and were rebuilt as the Panzerjäger I self-propelled 4.7 cm PaK. Similarly, Panzer II tanks were used on the eastern front, captured Soviet 76.2 mm anti-tank guns were mounted on modified Panzer II chassis, producing the Marder II self-propelled anti-tank gun. The most common mounting was a German 75 mm anti-tank gun on the Czech Panzer 38 chassis to produce the Marder III, the Panzer 38 chassis was also used to make the Jagdpanzer 38 casemate style tank destroyer. The Panzerjäger series continued up to the 88 mm equipped Nashorn, German tank destroyers based on the Panzer III and later German tanks were unique in that they had more armor than their tank counterparts. One of the more successful German tank destroyers was actually designed as an artillery gun. Based on the Panzer III tank chassis, the Sturmgeschütz III was originally fitted with a low-velocity gun, later, after encountering Soviet tanks, it was refitted with a comparatively short-barreled high-velocity anti-tank gun, usually with a muzzle brake, enabling it to function as a tank destroyer. The Sturmgeschütz III from its 1938 origin used a new superstructure with an integrated design similar to the later Jagdpanzer to completely enclose the crew. It was employed in support and offensive armored operations as well as in the defensive anti-tank role
30.
Tankette
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A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for infantry support and scouting. Colloquially it may simply mean a small tank. Several countries built tankettes between the 1920s and 1940s, and some saw limited combat in the phases of World War II. The vulnerability of their armor, however, eventually led armies to abandon the concept. Tankettes were made both in two- and three-man models, some were so low that the occupant had to lie prone. Some models were not equipped with turrets, or just a simple one that was traversed by hand or leg. They were significantly smaller than light tanks and did not have a tank gun, the genesis of the tankette concept was the armoured warfare of World War I. The breakthrough tanks were isolated and destroyed and reinforcements plugged the hole in the trench line. The tankette was conceived in the early interwar period to solve this problem. The first designs were a sort of mobile, one-man machine gun nest protected against small arms fire and this idea was abandoned and the two man-model, mainly intended for reconnaissance, was produced instead. The moving up of infantry while protecting them was solved with the personnel carrier. In 1925 British tank pioneer Giffard Le Quesne Martel built a tank, the Morris-Martel, in his garage and showed it to the War Office. The publicity caused John Carden and Vivian Loyd to produce their own, both types were developed further, but the two-man Carden Loyd tankette was considered the classic and most successful design, with many other tankettes modeled after it. While the design was influential, few Carden Loyd tankettes saw combat, however, the design did lead to the universal carrier, which had an extensive operational history in the Second World War. The Italian Royal Army equipped three armoured divisions and three fast divisions with L3/33 and L3/35 tankettes, the L3s were used in large numbers during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, and almost every place Italian soldiers fought during World War II. Some L3s went with the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia as late as Operation Barbarossa, the French armoured reconnaissance type of the 1930s was essentially a tankette in form, specifically intended for scouting ahead of the main force. In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transporting T-27s by air, the Imperial Japanese Army became one of the most prolific users of tankettes, producing a number of designs intended for jungle warfare
31.
Assault gun
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The term is a literal translation of the German word Sturmgeschütz. Nazi Germany introduced the first purpose-built assault gun, the StuG III, in 1940, historically, the custom-built fully armoured assault guns usually mounted the gun or howitzer in a fully enclosed casemate on a tank chassis. In most cases, these vehicles also presented a lower profile as a target for the enemy. The assault gun looks and works in the way as the similar tank destroyer. This was contrasted with the destroyer, which utilized higher velocity. Therefore, these vehicles often sacrificed being able to fire a good high-explosive shell in exchange for maximal armour penetration characteristics. Towards the beginning of the war, a vehicle could generally be used in both roles, but that changed as the classes became increasingly specialized as the war progressed. Assault guns were used during World War II by the forces of Nazi Germany. Early in the war, the Germans began to create makeshift assault guns by mounting their infantry support weapons on the bed of a truck or on obsolete tanks with the turret removed. Later in the war, both the Germans and the Soviets introduced fully armoured assault guns into their arsenals. Early on, the Soviets built the KV-2, a variant of the KV-1 heavy tank with a short-barrelled 152 mm howitzer mounted in an oversized turret, the primary German assault gun was the Sturmgeschütz III. The Germans also built a number of fully armoured turretless assault guns, including the StuG IV, Brummbär. The latter two were heavy vehicles, and were built only in small quantities. Independent battalions were deployed as stiffeners for infantry divisions. US and UK forces also deployed vehicles designed for a support role. Two versions of the American Sherman tank were armed with the M4105 mm howitzer, the M4 and the M4A3, these were designated assault guns in US usage of the term. The Churchill, Centaur and Cromwell tanks were all produced in versions armed with 95 mm howitzers, the Churchill Mark V and Mark VIII, the Centaur Mark IV, American tank destroyer units were often used in the assault gun role for infantry support. The AVRE version of the Churchill Tank was armed with a Spigot mortar that fired a 40 lb HE-filled projectile 150 yards and its task was to attack fortified positions such as bunkers at close range
32.
Self-propelled gun
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A self-propelled gun is a form of self-propelled artillery, and in modern use is usually used to refer to artillery pieces such as howitzers. Self-propelled guns are mounted on a wheeled or tracked chassis. As such the gun can be maneuvered under its own power as opposed to a gun that relies upon a vehicle or other means to be moved on the battlefield. Self-propelled guns are combat support weapons, they are employed by combat support units fighting in support of, or attached to, self-propelled guns are best at providing indirect fire but can give direct fire when needed. It may be armoured, in case it is considered an armoured fighting vehicle. Typically, self-propelled guns are more lightly armoured and may not have turrets, the greatest tactical advantage in the case of artillery guns is clearly the greater degree of mobility they have compared to towed artillery. A secondary advantage in the case of – even lightly – armoured guns is the protection offered to the gun crews. The first attempts to give artillery a greater degree of manoeuvrability was in World War I, although mechanical tractors had been used to tow some artillery, most were still towed by horses. The Gun Carrier Mark I was a piece that was transported by. Between the wars, in the development of their armoured warfare tactics and it carried an 18 pounder gun on a chassis derived from their then medium tank and as such was able to keep up and cross the same ground as the tanks it was intended to support. As well as use as a gun, the gun could be elevated sufficiently for use against aircraft. Self-propelled guns and howitzers are used in the way as their towed variety. Self-propelled artillery can also include other types of weapons not considered a self-propelled gun. Assault guns are artillery pieces, meant to support infantry by direct fire with high explosive ammunition
33.
Self-propelled artillery
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Self-propelled artillery is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move towards its target. Within the term are covered self-propelled guns and rocket artillery and they are high mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large howitzer, field gun, a mortar or some form of rocket or missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield, in the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers. These have been heavily armoured vehicles, the former providing close fire-support for infantry, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles may superficially resemble tanks, but they are generally lightly armoured, too lightly to survive in direct-fire combat. However, they protect their crews against shrapnel and small arms and are usually included as armoured fighting vehicles. Many are equipped with guns for defense against enemy infantry. The key advantage of self-propelled over towed artillery is that it can be brought into action much faster, before the towed artillery can be used, it has to stop, unlimber and set up the guns. To move position, the guns must be limbered up again, by comparison, self-propelled artillery can stop at a chosen location and begin firing almost immediately, then quickly move on to a new position. This shoot-and-scoot ability is useful in a mobile conflict and particularly on the advance. Conversely, towed artillery was and remains cheaper to build and maintain and it is also lighter and can be taken to places that self-propelled guns cannot reach. Since the Vietnam War, heavy transport helicopters have also used for rapid artillery deployment. So, despite the advantages of the artillery, towed guns remain in the arsenals of many modern armies. During the Thirty Years War, early 17th century experiments were made with early types of horse artillery, batteries towed light field guns where most or all of the crew rode horses into battle. The gunners were trained to quickly dismount, deploy the guns and provide instant fire support to cavalry, the Russian army organized small units of horse artillery that were distributed among their cavalry formations in the early 18th century. While not forming large batteries and employing only lighter 2- and 3-pound guns, they were still effective and this inspired Frederick the Great to organize the first regular horse artillery unit in 1759. The British Gun Carrier Mark I was the first example of a self-propelled gun and it was based on the first tank, the British Mark I and carried a heavy field gun. The gun could either be fired from the vehicle, or removed, in effect, the carrier replaced the use of a separate horse team or internal combustion engine powered artillery tractor, and allowed a new way for the gun to be used. The next major advance can be seen in the Birch gun developed by the British for their motorised warfare experimental brigade after the end of the War
34.
Mortar carrier
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A mortar carrier, or self-propelled mortar, is a self-propelled artillery piece in which a mortar is its primary weapon. Simpler vehicles carry an infantry mortar while in more complex vehicles the mortar of is fully integrated into the vehicle. Mortar carriers cannot be fired while on the move and some must be dismounted to fire, the mortar carrier has its genesis in the general mechanisation and motorisation of infantry in the years leading up to World War II. Provision to allow the mortar to be fired from inside the vehicle resulted in the most common form of the mortar carrier. In the battlefield taxi role mortar carriers have traditionally avoided direct contact with the enemy, many units report never using secondary weapons in combat. Some light armoured fighting vehicles, such the Panhard AML-60 and Ratel-60 and this combination allowed a light vehicle to engage targets both directly and indirectly. In addition to traditional infantry mortars, the Soviet Union introduced into service the 2B9 Vasilek, the Soviet 2S9 Nona and its successor the 2S31 Vena are true self-propelled mortars, being tracked turret mounted 120mm gun-mortars. Attached to light units, such as the Russian Airborne Troops the Nona and Vena, provides Russian commanders with additional mobile direct fire anti-armour. Other self-propelled gun mortars are the Chinese PLL-05 and the Nordic AMOS, in U. S. Army doctrine, mortar carriers are to provide close and immediate indirect fire support for maneuver units while allowing for rapid displacement and quick reaction to the tactical situation. The ability to not only allows fire support to be provided where it is needed faster. Prior to the Iraq War, American 120mm mortar platoons reorganized from six M1064 mortar carriers, the urban environment of Iraq made it difficult to utilize mortars. New technologies such as mortar ballistic computers and communication equipment are being integrated, list of mortar carriers Media related to Self-propelled mortars at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Multiple rocket launcher
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A multiple rocket launcher or multiple launch rocket system is a type of rocket artillery system. Rockets have different capabilities than artillery, like longer range, and different payloads, typically considerably larger warheads than a similarly sized artillery platform, unguided rocket artillery is notoriously inaccurate and slow to reload, compared to artillery. To overcome this, rockets are combined in systems that can launch multiple rockets simultaneously, modern rockets can use GPS or inertial guidance, to combine the advantages of rockets with high accuracy. The first multiple rocket launchers were made in Song dynasty China and it was designed to launch multiple rocket arrows from a gunpowder box. The first self-propelled multiple rocket launchers — and arguably the most famous — were the Soviet BM-13 Katyusha, first used during World War II and they were simple systems in which a rack of launch rails was mounted on the back of a truck. This set the template for modern multiple rocket launchers, the Americans mounted tubular launchers atop M4 Sherman tanks to create the T34 Calliope rocket launching tank, only used in small numbers, as their closest equivalent to the Katyusha. The Germans began using a towed six-tube multiple rocket launcher during World War II, simple MRL types still have a reputation of having a devastating morale effect on ill-disciplined or already shaken troops. The material effect depends on circumstances, as well-covered field fortification provide much protection, simple MRL rocket types have a rather long minimum firing range for the same reason. An approach to lessen this limit is the addition of drag rings to the rocket nose, the increased drag slows the rocket down relative to a clean configuration and creates a less flat trajectory. Pre-packaged MRL munitions such as with MLRS do not offer this option, the Convention on Cluster Munitions has led to the destruction and cessation of production of most cluster munitions for MRLs. Large submunitions, smoke agents and unitary high explosive warheads are permitted under the Convention. Some of the not banned submunitions are relatively large Explosively Formed Projectile warheads with sensors which search the ground for tanks to attack in a spiral pattern during their descent, western examples are SMArt 155,155 Bonus and SADARM. Modern MRL systems can use modern land navigation for quick and accurate positioning, the accurate determination of the battery position was previously enough effort to make a dispersed operation of the battery impractical. MRL systems with GPS can have their MRLs dispersed and shoot from dispersed positions at a single target, radars are in use to track weather balloons to determine winds or to track special rockets which self-destruct in the air. The tracking allows to determine the influence of winds and propellant temperatures on the flight path. These observations can then be factored into the solution for the rocket salvo for effect. Such tracking radars can also be used to predict the range error of individual rockets and this requires that the rockets were originally aimed too far, as the range can only be shortened by the air brakes, not extended. A more sophisticated system makes use of data and one-way radio datalink to initiate a two dimensional correction of the rockets flight path with steering by fins or nose thrusters
36.
Anti-aircraft warfare
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Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, a surface-based air defence capability can also be deployed offensively to deny the use of airspace to an opponent. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm were the weapons, guided missiles then became dominant. The term air defence was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. However, arrangements in the UK were also called anti-aircraft, abbreviated as AA, after the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by Light or Heavy to classify a type of gun or unit. Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AA, AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation of anti-aircraft artillery, ack-ack, NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare as measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites. In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops, other terms from the late 20th century include GBAD with related terms SHORAD and MANPADS. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced SAM, non-English terms for air defence include the German FlaK, whence English flak, and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona, a literal translation of anti-air defence, abbreviated as PVO. In Russian the AA systems are called zenitnye systems, in French, air defence is called DCA. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure, however, many different definitions are used but unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. For AA guns only the part of the trajectory can be usefully used. By the late 1930s the British definition was that height at which an approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation. However, effective ceiling for heavy AA guns was affected by nonballistic factors, The maximum running time of the fuse, the capability of fire control instruments to determine target height at long range. The essence of air defence is to detect aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three-dimensional space, Air defence evolution covered the areas of sensors and technical fire control, weapons, and command and control. At the start of the 20th century these were very primitive or non-existent
37.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
38.
Machine gun
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A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm designed to fire bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or magazine, typically at a rate of 300 to 1800 rounds per minute. Note that not all fully automatic firearms are machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or cannons may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, unlike semi-automatic firearms, which require one trigger pull per round fired, a machine gun is designed to fire for as long as the trigger is held down. Nowadays the term is restricted to heavy weapons, able to provide continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasts. Machine guns are used against personnel, aircraft and light vehicles, or to provide suppressive fire. Some machine guns have in practice sustained fire almost continuously for hours, because they become very hot, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, to permit air cooling from the breech between bursts. They also usually have either a barrel cooling system, slow-heating heavyweight barrel, although subdivided into light, medium, heavy or general-purpose, even the lightest machine guns tend to be substantially larger and heavier than standard infantry arms. Medium and heavy guns are either mounted on a tripod or on a vehicle, when carried on foot. Medium machine guns use full-sized rifle rounds and are designed to be used from fixed positions mounted on a tripod. 50in, the M249 automatic rifle is operated by an automatic rifleman, but its ammunition may be carried by other Soldiers within the squad or unit. The M249 machine gun is a crew-served weapon, Machine guns usually have simple iron sights, though the use of optics is becoming more common. Many heavy machine guns, such as the Browning M2.50 caliber machine gun, are enough to engage targets at great distances. During the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock set the record for a shot at 7382 ft with a.50 caliber heavy machine gun he had equipped with a telescopic sight. This led to the introduction of.50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles, selective fire rifles firing a full-power rifle cartridge from a closed bolt are called automatic rifles or battle rifles, while rifles that fire an intermediate cartridge are called assault rifles. Unlocking and removing the spent case from the chamber and ejecting it out of the weapon as bolt is moving rearward Loading the next round into the firing chamber. Usually the recoil spring tension pushes bolt back into battery and a cam strips the new round from a feeding device, cycle is repeated as long as the trigger is activated by operator. Releasing the trigger resets the trigger mechanism by engaging a sear so the weapon stops firing with bolt carrier fully at the rear, the operation is basically the same for all autoloading firearms, regardless of the means of activating these mechanisms. Most modern machine guns use gas-operated reloading, a recoil actuated machine gun uses the recoil to first unlock and then operate the action. Machine guns such as the M2 Browning and MG42, are of this type, a cam, lever or actuator demultiplicates the energy of the recoil to operate the bolt
39.
Autocannon
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An autocannon or automatic cannon is a large, fully automatic, rapid-fire projectile weapon that fires armour-piercing or explosive shells, as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger calibre than a gun, but are usually smaller than a field gun or other artillery. When used on its own, the word autocannon indicates a single-barrel weapon, when multiple rotating barrels are involved, the word rotary is added, and such a weapon is referred to as a rotary autocannon. As such, ammunition is fed from a belt to reduce reloading or for a faster rate of fire. They can use a variety of ammunition, common shells include high-explosive dual-purpose types, any variety of armour-piercing types, both the US25 mm Bushmaster and the British 30 mm Rarden have relatively slow rates of fire so as not to use ammunition too quickly. The rate of fire of a modern autocannon ranges from 90 rounds per minute, systems with multiple barrels can have rates of fire of over 10,000 rounds per minute. The first modern autocannon was the British QF1 pounder, also known as the pom-pom, during the First World War, autocannons were mostly used in the trenches as an anti-aircraft gun. Attempts to use them in aircraft failed as the severely limited both speed and altitude, thus making successful interception impossible. The more effective QF2 pounder naval gun would be developed during the war to serve as an anti-aircraft, autocannons would serve in a much greater capacity during the Second World War. During the inter-war years, aircraft underwent an evolution and the monoplane, pioneered as far back as the end of 1915, almost replaced wood. The subsequent increase in speed and durability greatly reduced the window of opportunity for defence and this was only reversed with the introduction of computer-controlled systems. The German Panzer II light tank, which was one of the most numerous in German service during the invasion of Poland and the campaign in France, used a 20 mm autocannon as its main armament. Although ineffective against tank armour even during the years of the war. Larger examples, such as the 40 mm Vickers S, were mounted in ground attack aircraft to serve as an anti-tank weapon, Polish 20 mm 38 Fk auto cannon was expensive to produce, but an exception. Unlike the Oerlikon, it was effective against all the tanks fielded in 1939, largely because it was built as an upgrade to the Oerlikon, Hispano—Suiza and it, with great difficulty, proved capable of knocking out even early Panzer IIIs and IVs. Only 55 were produced by the time of the Polish Defensive War, in aircraft, several factors brought about the replacement of rifle-calibre machine guns by autocannons. Early autocannons were heavy and had a rate of fire. Along with the speed, the size of aircraft grew substantially, particularly in the 1930s, so that the weight was less of an issue while the rate of fire, and reliability were greatly improved
40.
Missile
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In modern language, a missile is a self-propelled precision-guided munition system, as opposed to an unguided self-propelled munition, referred to as a rocket. Missiles have four components, targeting and/or missile guidance, flight system, engine. Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes, surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, all known existing missiles are designed to be propelled during powered flight by chemical reactions inside a rocket engine, jet engine, or other type of engine. Non-self-propelled airborne explosive devices are referred to as shells and usually have a shorter range than missiles. In ordinary British-English usage predating guided weapons, a missile is any thrown object, the word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning to send. In military usage, munitions projected towards a target are broadly categorised as follows, a powered, unguided munition is known as a rocket. Unpowered munitions not fired from a gun are called bombs whether guided or not, munitions that are fired from a gun are known as projectiles whether guided or not. If explosive, they are more specifically as shells or mortar bombs. Powered munitions that travel through water are called torpedoes, hand grenades are not usually classed as missiles. The first missiles to be used operationally were a series of missiles developed by Nazi Germany in World War II, most famous of these are the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, both of which used a simple mechanical autopilot to keep the missile flying along a pre-chosen route. Less well known were a series of anti-shipping and anti-aircraft missiles, however, these early systems in World War II were only built in small numbers. Guided missiles have a number of different system components, Targeting and/or missile guidance Flight system Engine Warhead Missiles may be targeted in a number of ways. The most common method is to use some form of radiation, such as infrared, lasers or radio waves and this radiation may emanate from the target, it may be provided by the missile itself, or it may be provided by a friendly third party. The first two are known as fire-and-forget as they need no further support or control from the launch vehicle/platform in order to function. Another method is to use a TV guidance—using either visible light or infrared—in order to see the target, the picture may be used either by a human operator who steers the missile onto its target or by a computer doing much the same job. One of the more bizarre guidance methods instead used a pigeon to steer the missile to its target, many missiles use a combination of two or more of the above methods to improve accuracy and the chances of a successful engagement. Another method is to target the missile by knowing the location of the target and using a system such as INS. This guidance system guides the missile by knowing the current position and the position of the target
41.
Pantsir-S1
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Pantsir-S1 is a combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system produced by KBP of Tula, Russia. The system is a development of 2K22 Tunguska and represents the latest air defence technology by using phased array radars for both target acquisition and tracking. The first finished version was completed in 1995 with the 1L36 radar and it is a short to medium range ground based air defence system, wheeled, tracked or stationary with two to three operators. Its air defense consists of automatic anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles with radar or optical target-tracking, the system has capability for anti-munitions missions. It can hit targets on the waterline/above-water and it can operate in a fully automatic mode. It has the ability to work in a passive mode. The probability of hitting a target for 1 rocket is not less than 0.7 with a time of 4–6 seconds. It can fire missiles. For its main station, early detection in height may be between 0-60° or 26-82° depending on the mode. The system has claimed significant advantages over other systems, such as Crotale NG, Roland-3, Rapier 2000 and this is not confirmed by comparative testing, but clearly follows from declared limit of possibilities of systems. Since 2013, there is a variant with two stations for early detection * standing back to back *. The system has a structure which enables a fast and easy replacement of any part. After receiving target coordinates it may defeat the target within a range from -5 to +85 degrees, the interval between missile launches is 1-1.5 seconds. Originally Soviet strategic missile systems had been placed in fixed, hardened sites, One of the roles for the Pantsir-S is to provide air defence to the S-300 missile systems. It was also decided that a wheeled chassis would be suited for the Pantsir-S rather than a tracked chassis. The reasoning being that wheeled vehicles are faster, less prone to breakdowns, easier to maintain, development as Pantsir-S started in 1990 with a plan to be a successor of Tunguska M1. A prototype was completed in 1994 and displayed at the MAKS-1995, the program soon ran into difficulties which resulted in a halt in funding. However, KBP continued development of the program using its own funds and this resulted in a complete re-design of both the turret and radar systems and removal of any older Tunguska equipment. The system has two new radars with increased range, capable of tracking more air targets but also targets and has an integrated IFF system
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Truck
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A truck is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, smaller varieties may be similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be large and powerful, and may be configured to mount specialized equipment, such as in the case of fire trucks and concrete mixers. Modern trucks are powered by diesel engines, although small to medium size trucks with gasoline engines exist in the US. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross mass of up to 3.5 t are known as light commercial vehicles. Trucks and cars have an ancestor, the steam-powered fardier Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769. However, steam wagons were not common until the mid-1800s, the roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, towed by a tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first truck in history using the internal combustion engine, later that year some of Benzs trucks were modified to become the first bus by the Netphener, the first motorbus company in history. A year later, in 1896, another internal combustion engine truck was built by Gottlieb Daimler, other companies, such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing, also built their own versions. The first truck in the United States was built by Autocar in 1899 and was available with optional 5 or 8 horsepower motors, trucks of the era mostly used two-cylinder engines and had a carrying capacity of 3,300 to 4,400 lb. In 1904,700 heavy trucks were built in the United States,1000 in 1907,6000 in 1910, after World War I, several advances were made, pneumatic tires replaced the previously common full rubber versions. Electric starters, power brakes,4,6, and 8 cylinder engines, closed cabs, the first modern semi-trailer trucks also appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and Renault entered the heavy truck market, although it had been invented in 1890, the diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1930s. In the United States, it took longer for diesel engines to be accepted. The word truck might come from a back-formation of truckle, meaning small wheel or pulley, from Middle English trokell, another possible source is the Latin trochus, meaning iron hoop. In turn, both sources emanate from the Greek trokhos, meaning wheel, from trekhein, the first known usage of truck was in 1611, when it referred to the small strong wheels on ships cannon carriages. In its extended usage it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads and its expanded application to motor-powered load carrier has been in usage since 1930, shortened from motor truck, which dates back to 1901
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Combat vehicle
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A combat vehicle, also known as a ground combat vehicle, is a self-propelled, weaponized military vehicle used for combat operations. Combat vehicles can be wheeled or tracked, the chariot is a type of carriage using animals to provide rapid motive power. The original chariot was a fast, light, open, two-wheeled conveyance drawn by two or more horses that were hitched side by side, the car was little more than a floor with a waist-high semicircular guard in front. The chariot, driven by a charioteer, was used for ancient warfare during the bronze, armor was limited to a shield. In the modern time, combat vehicle is protected by armour and armed with weapons, which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive. The automation of human tasks endeavors to reduce the crew size with improvements in robotics. Enhancements to automation can help achieve operational effectiveness with a smaller, more economical, the automation of combat vehicles has proved to be difficult due to the time latency between the operator controlling the vehicle and the signal being received. Unlike air forces, ground forces must navigate the terrain and plan around obstacles, the rapid tactical implications of operating a weaponized vehicle in a combat environment are great. Use of titanium armor on vehicles is increasing. The use of titanium can lighten the vehicles weight, appliqué armor can be quickly applied to vehicles and has been utilized on the U. S. Armys M8 Armored Gun System. Fire suppression Contemporary combat vehicles may incorporate a system to mitigate damage from fire. Systems can be employed in the engine and crew compartments and portable systems may be mounted inside and outside the vehicle as well, automatic fire suppression systems activate instantaneously upon the detection of fire and have been shown to significantly improve crew survivability. Halon fire suppression systems quickly inundate an affected fire breach with a flood of halon to extinguish leaking fuel, halon remains necessary for crew compartment fire suppression due to space and weight constraints, and toxicity concerns. Nitrogen systems take up about twice as much space as a comparable halon unit, germany uses this system as a replacement for its halon system. Some systems, such as Germanys previous extinguisher, have a shot of suppressant to mitigate re-ignition or the effects of a second hit. Though not as instantaneous, portable crew-operable extinguishers are also used inside and outside the vehicle, typically, portable extinguishers use a CO2 agent instead of the halon agents used in the past. CO2 can become lethal to vehicle occupants if it accumulates into a deadly concentration, the U. S. Army has adopted a replacement formula consisting of 50% water, 50% potassium acetate. Alternatives such as powder formulas also exist, hygiene upkeep is difficult when operating a combat vehicle
44.
Armoured personnel carrier
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An armoured personnel carrier is a type of armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield. APCs are colloquially referred to as taxis or battle buses. Armoured personnel carriers are distinguished from infantry fighting vehicles by the weaponry they carry, by convention, they are not intended to take part in direct-fire battle, but are armed for self-defence and armoured to provide protection from shrapnel and small arms fire. Examples include the American M113, the French VAB, the Dutch-German GTK Boxer, the genesis of the armoured personnel carrier was on the Western Front of World War I. In the later stage of the war, Allied tanks could break through enemy lines, without infantry support, the tanks were isolated and more easily destroyed. In response, the British experimented with carrying machine-gun crews in the Mark V* tank, britain therefore designed the first purpose built armoured troop transport, the Mark IX, but the war ended before it could be put to use. During World War II, half-tracks like the American M3 and German SdKfz 251 played a similar to post-war APCs. British Commonwealth forces relied on the full-tracked Universal Carrier, over the course of the war, APCs evolved from simple armoured cars with transport capacity, to purpose built vehicles. Obsolete armoured vehicles were also repurposed as APCs, such as the various Kangaroos converted from M7 Priest self-propelled guns and from Churchill, M3 Stuart, during the Cold War, more specialized APCs were developed. Western nations have since retired most M113s, replacing them with newer APCs, the Soviet Union produced the BTR-40, BTR-152, BTR-60, BTR-70, BTR-80 in large numbers. The BTR-60 and BTR-80 remain in production, czechoslovakia and Poland together developed the universal amphibious OT-64 SKOT. A cold war example of a Kangaroo is the heavily armoured Israeli Achzarit, weight can vary from 6 to 40 tons or more, but 9 to 20 tons is typical. Most have a capacity of between 8 and 12 dismountable troops, although some can carry more than 20, in addition, it has a crew of at least one driver, many with a gunner and/or commander as well. An APC is either wheeled or tracked, or occasionally a combination of the two, as in a half-track, both systems have advantages and limitations. Tracked vehicles have more traction off-road and more maneuverability, including a turn radius. Wheeled APCs are faster on road, can cross long distances, and are expensive to develop, produce. However, wheeled vehicles have higher pressure than tracked vehicles with a comparable weight. The higher ground pressure increases the likelihood of becoming immobilized by soft terrains such as mud and their tracks can propel the APC in the water
45.
Tank
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A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat, with heavy firepower, strong armour, and tracks providing good battlefield maneuverability. The first tanks were designed to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare, now they are a mainstay of ground forces. Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapon platforms, mounting a large-calibre cannon in a rotating gun turret. In both offensive and defensive roles, they are units that are capable of performing tasks which are required of armoured units on the battlefield. As a result of advances, tanks underwent tremendous shifts in capability in the years since their first appearance. Tanks in World War I were developed separately and simultaneously by Great Britain and this was a prototype of a new design that would become the British Armys Mark I tank, the first tank used in combat in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The name tank was adopted by the British during the stages of their development. While the British and French built thousands of tanks in World War I, Germany was unconvinced of the tanks potential, Tanks of the interwar period evolved into the much larger and more powerful designs of World War II. Tanks in the Cold War were designed with these weapons in mind, improved engines, transmissions and suspensions allowed tanks of this period to grow larger. Aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with advances in shell design, during the Cold War, the main battle tank concept arose and became a key component of modern armies. Modern tanks seldom operate alone, as they are organized into combined arms units which involve the support of infantry and they are also usually supported by reconnaissance or ground-attack aircraft. The tank is the 20th century realization of an ancient concept, the internal combustion engine, armour plate, and continuous track were key innovations leading to the invention of the modern tank. Many sources imply that Leonardo da Vinci and H. G. Wells in some way foresaw or invented the tank, leonardos late 15th century drawings of what some describe as a tank show a man-powered, wheeled vehicle with cannons all around it. However the human crew would not have power to move it over larger distance. In the 15th century, Jan Žižka built armoured wagons containing cannons, the caterpillar track arose from attempts to improve the mobility of wheeled vehicles by spreading their weight, reducing ground pressure, and increasing their traction. Experiments can be traced back as far as the 17th century and it is frequently claimed that Richard Lovell Edgeworth created a caterpillar track. It is true that in 1770 he patented a machine, that should carry and lay down its own road and his own account in his autobiography is of a horse-drawn wooden carriage on eight retractable legs, capable of lifting itself over high walls. The description bears no similarity to a caterpillar track, armoured trains appeared in the mid-19th century, and various armoured steam and petrol-engined vehicles were also proposed
