Tanks Encyclopedia: Recent Episodes
Various authors
If you are interested in history in general and warfare in particular, Tanks Encyclopedia is the place to find ALL armored vehicles that ever roamed the battlefield, from H.G. Wells’ “land battleships” to the latest main battle tanks, our articles cover all eras of armor development and cover a wide swathe of armored vehicle designs ranging from bridge layers and engineering vehicles to tank destroyers and troop carriers. You can also find articles on “softskin” vehicles, anti-tank weaponry, tactics, battles, and technology.We are currently in the process of converting our written articles into audio articles for you to listen to. If you are interested in knowing more, we gladly invite you to our website: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/. Here you can read the articles, see the vehicles themselves and take a look at their custom-made illustrations. Tanks Encyclopedia continues to be a ‘Work-in-Progress’ and this is where you, the listener, can help. If you spot something missing, please add it to our Public Suggestion list or add a comment to the article on our website. If you aspire to becoma a writer, illustrator or podcaster yourself, please contact us at tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com.If you enjoy our podcasts, please consider supporting us on Patreon as it would help us out tremendously to keep releasing articles, artwork and podcast versions of our articles. https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
With all work on Maus development over by the end of 1943, all that was left of the program was a contract for a pair of hulls (one unfinished) and for a single turret (finished but needing modifications, along with half a dozen unfinished armored hulls. The completed hull, now at Böblingen for trials, was not going to wasted despite the serial production being cancelled. A programme for these trials was set on 1st November 1943, but without a turret, a weighted mockup would have to be used to simulate the loading on the hull. This mockup turret (Ersatzgewicht) was a crude affair, roughly similar in shape and size to the Maus Turm but unable to rotate and held in place by cross pieces which were simply tightened up against the underside of the 2,959 mm diameter opening in the hull for the turret ring to hold it in place.
Article: https://tanksencyclopedia.com/ww2/naz...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by @ConeOfArc
Edited by Big Turn
Sound edited by Kraiger
Even before a finished design was ready or approved, Hitler, in November 1942, ordered that 5 Mäuschen were to be built and a timetable set by Wa Prüf 4 to achieve this. Turret and hull drawings were to be ready and approved by March 1943 and then 5 vehicles built within just 6-7 months- an ambitious and unrealistic schedule, as this also called for trials by 5th May 1943. The Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Department) arranged for Colonel Haenel to help ensure timetables for the Maus were adhered to by going from firm to firm to press them to meet production requirements and, if necessary, assess severe penalties for missing deadlines.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by @ConeOfArc
Edited by Séraphin Panlion
Sound edited by Gabe The Tanker
It is impossible to consider the Maus and not be impressed by the machine as a feat of engineering. At 188 tonnes, it is the heaviest operational tank ever made by any nation at any time in any war and was made despite the shortages of raw materials, industrial capacity, and manpower at the time in Nazi Germany. Yet, despite the impressive achievement of making this rolling behemoth, the vehicle stands as a testimony to the total waste taking place in the German industry and the inefficiencies inherent in the way in which tank development was carried out. By the time the Maus was finished in 1945, it was a boondoggle. No amount of awe at the size, weight, firepower, or armor on this beast could disguise the incredible waste of resources it accounted for, nor could it make any difference to the outcome of the war. The Maus, as a weapon, was simply useless, yet the lessons learned from its development did find use in other programs and the very existence of such an enormous machine has inevitably drawn a significant amount of attention. Drawing both awe and fascination in equal measure, the Maus is a complex tank with a lengthy development.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by @ConeOfArc
Edited by ya boy Jim Zawacki
Sound edited by Gabe
After the Battle of Stalingrad ended in February 1943, a great effort was made by Germany to develop heavily armored vehicles armed to be more effective at assaulting fortified positions and buildings, particularly in urban environments. The realization that such a vehicle was required came soon after fighting in Stalingrad began, and the straightforward solution to this problem was presented in Hitler's conference on the 20th September 1942.
The initial result of this calling was the SturmInfanterieGeschütz 33B (Eng: Assault Infantry Gun 33B), a variant of the StuG III assault gun with a heavily modified box-like casemate armed with a 15cm (5.9 in) sIG/33/1 howitzer. With 80 mm (3.15 in) of frontal armour, the StuIG 33B was capable of directly attacking fortified positions while still being adequately protected against return fire.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/30-5-c...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by C.Ryan
Narrated by @Sofilein
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Gabe The Tanker
One of, if not the most famous French tanks of the Second World War was the B1 heavy tank and its improved model, the B1 Bis. These large infantry heavy tanks were some of the most heavily armed and armored tanks existing in the world during the late 1930s. While their production only started in the second half of this decade, they had roots going back as far as 1921, with the Char de Bataille program that started a search for a medium, well-armed tank to fill in the void between the small and numerous Renault FT and the gigantic and rare FCM 2C tanks. One of the proposals to this program was created by the manufacturer of the FCM 2C, Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/char-d...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Jim Zawacki
Sound edited by Gabe
With the introduction of the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) and the Vehículo de Combate Transporte de Personal (VCTP) in the early 80’s and the infrastructure to produce more vehicles using the same technology, Argentina was in a unique position to produce a family of vehicles based on the same chassis. After a mortar carrying vehicle and plans for a Self-Propelled Gun, the next step was a command vehicle to coordinate the units of the Ejército Argentino: the Vehículo de Combate Puesto de Comando (VCPC).
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/vehicu...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Illustrated by Pablo Javier Gómez
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Sound edited by Kraiger
Edited by ya boy Jim Zawacki
The Light Tank T3, made in the late 1930’s, occupies a period of time in US tank development history best described not so much as a dark age but more of a grey age. Lots of failed and somewhat obscure ‘T’ number designs were being developed to fulfil an unclear and poorly considered set of strategic goals at a time when an isolationist America was unprepared to wage a modern war.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by @The_Chieftain
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Pavel Alexe
The United States had, by the 1970’s, realised that the majority of their artillery was ageing rapidly or just out of date. Open topped, slow, vulnerable, based on obsolete chassis, the existing self-propelled guns (SPG’s) in service were not suitable for a potential Cold War showdown with the Soviet Union, which had a more modern SPG force. Early development work took place under the program names Division Support Weapon System (DSWS) and Direct Support Armored Cannon System (DSACS). The DSWS had changed by 1979 into the Enhanced Self-Propelled Weapons System (ESPWS) program with the goal of producing a common platform for self-propelled artillery for the Army. All of these programs were also grouped under the general name of the Howitzer Improvement Program (HIP).
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/fmc-ho...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by Lucian Stan
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Kraiger
The E100 was a project which is occasionally and somewhat erroneously referred to as a rival to Dr. Porsche’s Maus design. This is not strictly true, as the E100 came after the 130-tonne Tiger-Maus design from Krupp, which was the Maus-rival. When the Porsche-Maus was approved by Hitler on 3rd January 1943, the Krupp Tiger-Maus was abandoned. Shortly thereafter, Ernst Kniekampf (Panzer Kommission), without informing Krupp, gave work on the project over to the firm of Adler at Friedberg to build a simple prototype (E100 versuchs-farhgestell: Experimental 100-tonne test hull) for trials. This was done despite the lack of experience by the firm in the design or manufacture of tanks and turrets. According to Kniekampf, Krupp was already overburdened with other work, but it lay within Kniekampf’s general Entwicklungsreihe versuchs panzerkampfwagen ( (development series test armored car) framework trying to rationalise tank development in different weight categories. It would be nearly a year later (after the failure of the Porsche-Maus production plans), that the failed Tiger-Maus, a vehicle which showed a large amount of promise in simplified production over the Maus, had shown any substantive progress.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/e100-e...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by @ConeOfArc
Edited by Kraiger
Sound edited by Pavel Alexe
A little known armored car design, the Automitrailleuse CDM, or CDM armored car, is one of the most extensive armored vehicle projects undertaken in secrecy, not only from the general public, but also from the higher-ups of the manufacturer’s own military. This was a project undertaken by a rogue element of the Vichy Regime’s military that refused to accept the Armistice and prepared to resist a German invasion of the unoccupied southern half of France. The CDM armored car’s production was in full swing by the point the invasion of the Vichy “Free Zone” in November of 1942 put a definitive halt to the secret armament project.
Article:https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/cdm-armored-car/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Video editor: Big Turn Audio
Editor: Gabe
Narration: Stan Lucian
When the US joined the war in 1941, their primary light tank was the M3 Stuart and, while this vehicle was acceptable for that time, there was an interest in a new light tank. In January 1941, the US Army started the T7 Light Tank program, however, by August 6th, 1942, this tank had grown in weight and size and was now reclassified as the M7 Medium Tank. With no replacement for the Light Tank M3 in progress, the T21 Light Tank project was started.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/t21-light-tank/
An article by Katherine
Narrated by Nicholas Moran (@The_Chieftain )
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Kraiger
It doesn't actually strike back.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/it...
An article by Arturo Giusti
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by ya boy Jim Zawacki
Sound edited by Kraiger
The Semovente 75/18 was a family of Italian self-propelled guns based on the chassis of the Italian medium M13/40, M14/41 and M15/42 tanks armed with a 75 mm L.18 Ansaldo cannon in casemate. It is the most widely produced self-propelled gun in the Kingdom of Italy during the Second World War, capable of fighting against almost all opposing armored vehicles. It was used in various roles by the Regio Esercito (Eng: Royal Italian Army) for infantry support and as a tank destroyer. 288 vehicles were produced in total. It was also appreciated by the Wehrmacht, which captured several of them and put them back into service in its armored divisions.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/it...
if you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Giusti Arturo
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Séraphin Panlion
Big Turn Sound edited by Kraiger
One of the biggest problems with Self Propelled Guns (SPGs) is that they can only carry a limited amount of their precious and delicate ammunition, so other vehicles have to be tasked with supplying it to the SPGs. Argentina did exactly that at the beginning of the current millennium, when they converted the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) chassis into the Vehículo de Combate Amunicionador (VCAmun) to supply the Vehículo de Combate de Artillería (VCA).
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/vehiculo-de-combate-amunicionador-vcamun/
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Sasuri
Sound edited by Gabe
The final decades of the Cold War saw a generational change in Western tanks as they faced off against the armies of the Warsaw Pact across Central Europe. The Soviet-led forces were dominated by tanks such as the T-55, T-72 and variants of both, and there were continuing concerns over even newer Soviet tanks with improved armor and firepower. The Western tank armies of NATO were dominated by an older generation of tanks in a long and slow process of improvement and replacement: the British wanted a replacement for the Chieftain, the Americans were replacing the aged M60 with the new M1 Abrams, and the Germans were replacing the Leopard I with the Leopard II. Much of that Western generational change from tanks based on steel armour had come about as a result of the British development of a new type of armor, announced in June 1976 as ‘Chobham’. A whole new level of protection for Western tanks promised to provide a true qualitative edge in protection over their Soviet contemporaries. With this new armor, and a need for a replacement for Chieftain urgently required, there was a clear opportunity for a large and lucrative contract for a new main battle tank for the UK, and potentially for export.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/vicker...
An article by Andrew Hills
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Big Turn
Sound edited by Gabethetanker
During WWII, Hungary was one of Germany’s allies with a significant domestic production of armored vehicles. While these locally produced vehicles were fine by the standards of the early war, unfortunately for the Hungarians, by the time these were fielded in larger numbers, they were already obsolete. To bolster their ally’s firepower, during the war, the Germans supplied the Hungarians with a selection of armored vehicles, including a small number of the famed Tiger tanks in 1944.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/tiger_hun
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko P
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Kraiger
Lt. Colonel Gladeon M. Barnes from the US Army’s Ordnance Department casts a long shadow over tank development in the USA in the period around the start of WW2. Barnes was an interesting man, but some of his ideas and designs were demonstrative of a disconnect between his thinking and military reality. One such example came in 1938 with the idea for a small heavy tank armed with a single machine gun. Quite what role such a vehicle was meant to fulfill is hard to imagine years after other users of such vehicles had already accepted the serious inherent limitations of a similar type of vehicle.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/barnes...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Voiceover by Nicholas Moran
Audio Editing by Gabethetanker
Video Editing by ya boy Jim Zawacki
To date, 9 AB41 armored cars have survived, three have become monuments at Italian Army barracks, four are on display in museums, two in Italy, one in Egypt in the El Alamein War Museum and the last in South Africa in the Museum of Military History in Johannesburg.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/it...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
In 1937, the Esercito Italiano (Eng. Italian Royal Army) realized that the Lancia 1ZM armored cars in service in the reconnaissance units since 1915, still employed in the Italian African Colonies and in the Spanish Civil War, even if still efficient, were obsolete because they were not fast, were weakly armored and had bad off-road driving capabilities. This led to the development of the Autoblindo Fiat-Ansaldo series, of which the most prominent was the AB41.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/italy/autoblinda-ab41/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Giusti Arturo
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Kraiger
In recent years, thanks largely to erroneous publications and popular video games such as ‘World of Tanks’ and ‘War Thunder’, a comedy of errors has surrounded the history of the officially named ‘Centurion Mantletless Turret’. This redesigned turret – intended for installation on the Centurion – is often incorrectly identified as the ‘Action X’ turret, with the X being the Roman numeral for 10. It is also known as the ‘Action Ten’ or simply as ‘AX’. In turn, vehicles fitted with the turret, such as the intended Centurion, then have a false suffix attached to them, ‘Centurion AX’ being an example. There is also a false belief that the turret is associated with the FV4202 project, however as we will see, this is not the case.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/centur...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Mark Nash
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by Pavel Alexe
Sound edited by Kraiger
Infantry taking on tanks is a real challenge. Infantrymen are, afterall, mainly equipped with weapons primarily intended for killing enemy infantry. Anti-tank guns are large, cumbersome, and heavy and so, right from the first days of the tank in WWI, the goal has been to produce a man-portable anti-tank weapon. One of the first, the Mauser Panzergewehr M1918 was little more than a scaled up rifle designed to defeat relatively modest armor. More anti-tank rifles followed in the decades afterwards up to the first years of WW2, but they all suffered from the same drawbacks. The rifles were so large and heavy they would take at least one (often two) men to carry without being able to carry the usual accoutrements of infantry work. On top of this, the performance was relatively modest. Only thinly armored vehicles were vulnerable and anything with armor about 30 mm thick was relatively impervious to them.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/sticky-and-magnetic-anti-tank-weapons
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Whilst the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) has become the most celebrated armored vehicle of the Argentine Armed Forces, the Vehículo de Combate de Transporte de Personal (VCTP) has, perhaps unfairly, not achieved such fame. Despite the fact that the development of both vehicles took place at the same time, much information regarding the history of the VCTP is hard to come by. This is quite surprising given that the VCTP is the only vehicle of the TAM family to have seen service outside of Argentina.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Narrated by Stan Lucian
Edited by ya boy, Jim Zawacki
Sound edited by Gabe
The CV90120 is a prototype light tank that has undergone continuous development since its first appearance in the summer of 1998 at the EUROSATORY defence exhibition in Paris. However, attempts to mount higher calibered guns on the CV90 can be traced back to 1993, when Hägglunds collaborated with GIAT to make the CV90105 TML, which was equipped with a GIAT Industries TML 105 turret. The initial development on the CV90120 was presumably started by Hägglunds AB and continued when Alvis Ltd. purchased the company in 1997. Development continued under the guise of BAE Systems, which acquired Alvis Ltd. in 2004, Hägglunds included.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/swedish/cv90120
An article by Steffen Hjønnevåg
Narrated by Nicholas Moran (@The_Chieftain)
Edited by Big Turn (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...)
Among one of the most common tanks used in the Chinese Civil War was the Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha and Shinhoto Chi-Ha tanks. These saw extensive use by both sides of the conflict. Curiously, the Nationalists appeared to have developed an indigenous casemate self-propelled-gun (SPG) in 1948 using the Chi-Ha chassis and a Japanese 75 mm (2.95 in) Type 94 Mountain Gun. This Chinese Civil War-era tank conversion is one of the most obscure products of its era.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/why-do...
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/why-do...
Hungary got its first chance to get back some of the lost territories with the support of its Axis allies during the Vienna Arbitral Award in 1938. The Hungarians used this document to take parts of southern Slovakia and southern Ruthenia. Hungary would acquire Czechoslovakian territories thanks to the secessionist movement that arose in Ruthenia (eastern Czechoslovakia). By the end of September 1939, this region was declared as an Ukrainian autonomous region. This short-lived and unrecognised Carpatho-Ukraine state had, from the start, complicated political relations with Hungary due to previous lost Hungarian territories. It managed to form a 2,000 man strong Carpathian Guard which attacked the Hungarian-held town of Munkacs in early 1939. By 18th March, the Hungarians officially annexed Carpatho-Ukraine territories.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/hu...
After World War One, from the shattered remains of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a new Kingdom of Hungary was created. Being on the losing side of the war, the new Kingdom of Hungary lost many of its territories which had a significant percentage of Hungarian population, among which were. In addition, the size of its armed forces (Honved) was limited by the Trianon Treaty signed on the 4th June 1920. Hungary was also in a perilous situation, as it was surrounded by countries with which it had no friendly relationships. Between late 1918 and mid-1919, Hungary was invaded by the newly formed Czechoslovakia and Romania. Whilst the war with Czechoslovakia was a Hungarian military victory and was low in casualties, Romanian troops entered Budapest in August 1919, putting an end to hostilities which had left over 3,000 dead on either side. Furthermore, in March 1919, the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic was founded under the de facto control of Béla Kun, and politically, the country was volatile. The Hungarian Soviet Republic would fall on August 1st 1919, to be replaced by the Hungarian Republic and then in 1920, the Kingdom of Hungary.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/hu...
Everyone has heard about the TOG-1 and TOG-2 but few know the vehicle that came before either of them. This is a tale of The Old Gang and a tank that would later influence the Churchill.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/tog-300g/
The M47 Patton was designed in 1949 by the United States’ military (Detroit Arsenal, US Army, Corps of Engineers, and Corps of Ordnance) to replace the aging US tank fleet of obsolete M4 Shermans, M26 Pershings, and M46 Pattons. It never saw active combat with the US Army, but 8,576 vehicles were built and were extensively used by many nations around the world, such as France, Germany, Italy, Iran and Spain.
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/m47-pa...
Bigger is better! American engineer Frank Shuman devised a massive war-winning weapon in 1916, 50 meters tall, and able to go 100 miles per hour (160kph). It would crush the enemy with its sheer weight. And yet the magnitude of the vehicle ensured that it would never get past the drawing board. Nevertheless, it is still an interesting piece of imagination, regardless of the practicality.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/schuman-superdreadnought/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
As early as the Great War, the British Army experimented with mounting a mortar between the rear horns of a Mark IV Tadpole. Placing a mortar on an armored vehicle has the advantages of the extra protection offered by the armor and the mobility of the platform. These vehicles became more common in the Cold War era and continue to be used by modern militaries. Among the many nations around the world developing their own mortar-carrying armored vehicles is Argentina. Using the development of the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) and Vehículo de Combate de Transporte de Personal (VCTP) carried out by Thyssen-Henschel, the Argentinians designed their own vehicle, the Vehículo de Combate Transporte Mortero (VCTM).
Article:https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/vehicu...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Video and audio edited by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Voicing by Stan Lucian
After the invasions of September 1939, Poland was occupied and split between Germany and the Soviet Union. However, the occupation did not stop the Polish people from continuing to resist. Soon after the occupation, the Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) was established, an underground resistance group.
Their most notable action would be during the Warsaw Uprising, which started on August 1st 1944 at 5 PM. The organizers of the Uprising hoped that the Soviets, who were near Warsaw, would help them, but the Red Army stopped just 10 km from the city. The first days of the Uprising went well for the Home Army, thanks, in part, to the capture of German vehicles, including two Panthers and a Jagdpanzer 38(t).
The Uprising tragically ended on October 2nd, 1944, leaving tens of thousands of civilians and thousands of troops on both sides dead. The city was razed to the ground by the Germans as a way to punish the Poles who had rebelled against them. The city would be rebuilt after the War by a new pro-Soviet Communist government.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/tiger-...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Article narrated by @Military History Visualized. For more amazing military history content, check out his Youtube channel!
Hungary was after Italy, Germany’s European ally with the most significant domestic production of armored vehicles. While these vehicles were fine by the standards of the early war, unfortunately for the Hungarians, by the time these were fielded in larger numbers, they were already obsolete. To bolster their ally’s firepower, in 1942, the Germans supplied the Hungarians with a group of five Marder II tank destroyers.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/pz-kpf...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video edited by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Bernard Kast @Military History Visualized
The armor of the Spanish Civil War (17th July 1936 - 1st April 1939) is a complex subject, which encompases both vehicles delivered from foreign powers – the Soviet Union in the Republican case and Italy and Germany for the Nationalist – and locally produced, often quite makeshift vehicles, nicknamed ‘tiznados’. While they and their use are, on their own, a quite obscure subject outside of Spanish-language sources, it is even less known that some of these vehicles left Spain's border and saw very limited service with Spain's northern neighbour, France.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/spanis...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Video edited by Sasuri
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
In a single report, different figures for losses and damage are confusing enough and may be related to the period of time in which both groups are defining the terms of their analysis. This serves to illustrate a key problem with counting losses even by the winning side, even with few numbers in a relatively well defined space and time, but if that is not complex enough as ‘counting’. Consider the single largest loss of M1s which took place after the shooting war was over but was still in theater. The incident in question was a major fire at Doha, Kuwait, a fire which destroyed over 100 American military vehicles, including 4 M1 Abrams, and is likely the worst one-day loss of vehicles suffered by the US Army since WW2. It is worth noting that the war itself was over by the end of February 1991, so it is no surprise that events happening in July do not count in loss statistics for combat but this has also served to almost conceal this disaster in the aftermath of a successful war.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/the-do...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Citroën P28 is one of the most often ignored armored vehicles fielded by the French military in 1940. It was an obscure half-track armored car that only offered mediocre performances and was theoretically limited to a training and perhaps propaganda role at first. However, the vehicle did end up seeing very limited combat because of the general collapse of the French military, though most vehicles appear to have fallen into German hands unharmed. They were ignored by their new owners, who appear to have promptly sent them to be scrapped.
Nonetheless, the vehicle has some interesting elements. It serves as the first armored vehicle of Uruguay, which would then go on to become a regular customer of American light tanks, acquiring M3A1s and then M24 Chaffees. The P28 is also one of the last combat vehicles using the Kégresse track system, an innovation originating from a French engineer in Imperial Russia, and which was experimented on heavily by the French in the 1920s, but somewhat fell aside, at least for armored vehicles, in the following decades, mostly because of the typical fragility of Kégresse tracks.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/citroe...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
During WWII, the Hungarians were one of Germany’s allies which had a significant domestic production of armored vehicles. While these locally produced vehicles were fine by the standards of the early war, unfortunately for the Hungarians, by the time they were fielded in larger numbers, they were already obsolete. To bolster their ally’s firepower, in 1942, the Germans supplied the Hungarians with a selection of armored vehicles, including over 100 Panzer 38(t) tanks.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/t-38-p...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by @theScottishKoala
The early 20th century was dominated by new technologies being developed in large numbers. To capitalize on these rapid advancements, monthly magazines were published that focused on bringing these new technologies to the general public’s attention. This proved to be a great success. The most popular example of these magazines is Popular Mechanics, which published its first issue in 1902 and continues to be published today. Another popular example was Modern Mechanix, which went through several name changes since its first issue in 1928 before its final issue in 2001.
The technologies featured in these magazines varied greatly in their application. Power sources, home gadgets, farming equipment and flying machines are but a few examples of the kinds of inventions and concepts featured. Most notably, particularly during both World Wars, was the inclusion of conceptual weaponry and armored vehicles. These were rarely competently designed. Due to a total lack of practical insight into the use of military equipment, the end result was often a design more appropriate for a science fiction setting than a real battlefield. Some designs featured in these magazines are notable for their relative practicality however, at least when compared to the rest, and their intended usage is somewhat reasonable for being designed by illustrators as nothing more than magazine filler.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/mobile...
An article by Mr. C. Ryan
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Vehículo de Combate Artillería (VCA) is an elongated Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) chassis that carries a large OTO Melara turret housing a powerful 155 mm gun. This has allowed the Ejército Argentino (Eng: Argentinian Army) to have its heaviest artillery piece on a mobile and tested platform that is able to cover the vast areas of terrain in the potentially conflictive southern tip of the country.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/vehicu...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Lucian Stan
Even before the Second World War, the famous German tank commander Heinz Guderian had predicted the need for highly mobile self-propelled anti-tank vehicles, later known as Panzerjäger or Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer or hunter). However, in the early years of the war, beside the 4.7 cm PaK (t) (Sfl) auf Pz.Kpfw. I ohne turm, which was in essence just a 4.7 cm PaK (t) gun mounted on a modified Panzer I Ausf.B tank hull, the Germans did little to develop such vehicles. During the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht encountered tanks which they had trouble dealing with effectively due to their thick armor (T-34 and KV series) and were forced to introduce a number of different hastily built and developed Panzerjäger based on any chassis that was available. From this, a series of vehicles generally known today as the ‘Marder’ (Marten) was created. The first such vehicle was built by using a captured French Lorraine 37L fully-tracked armored tractor and arming it with the German 7.5 PaK 40 anti-tank gun.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by @Many Miles Away
In the late 1940s, the British War Office (WO) was concerned that – after the debut of the IS-3 in 1945 – the Soviet Union would continue to develop heavily armored tanks. As such, the War Office filed a requirement for the development of a gun capable of defeating a 60-degree sloped plate, 6 inches (152 mm) thick, at up to 2,000 yards (1,830 meters), and a suitable vehicle to carry it. This requirement led to the development of the ‘Ordnance, Quick-Firing, 183 mm, Tank, L4 Gun’, the largest purpose-built anti-tank gun to have ever been created. It was intended that this gun would be mounted on a new ‘Heavy Gun Tank’ based on the FV200 series chassis. This was designated the ‘Tank, Heavy No. 2, 183 mm Gun, FV215’. A project was also launched to find a way to get the gun into action quickly on an existing hull. This could then be constructed quickly should the Cold War turn hot before the FV215 was ready. This is where the FV4005 project comes in.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Lucian Stan
The Hotchkiss H39 was an improvement over the previous H35 model, a light infantry tank created for the French 1933 infantry tank program. However, the H35 was rejected by the infantry and ended up being adopted by the French cavalry. The newer H39 model brought a more powerful engine and, from about the 480th tank produced onward, a newer, more potent 37 mm SA 38 main gun was installed. Used widely by the French army in 1940, and then in a secondary role by the German Wehrmacht, a number of H39s were recaptured by the French upon the liberation of the country in 1944. In comparison to other pre-1940 vehicles, the Hotchkiss light tank would see a more extended post-war service, being used by French occupation forces in Germany, in the earliest phases of the Indochina war and exported to the state of Israel upon its creation in 1948.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/hotchk...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by ConeOfArc
In a search to equip its army with modern anti-aircraft vehicles, the JNA (Jugoslovenska narodna armija, Yugoslav People’s Army) High Command decided to negotiate the purchase of over 100 copies of the Soviet ZSU-57-2. These vehicles arrived in the 1960s and would be used to equip armored and tank brigades. The ZSU-57-2 would see action during the chaotic Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. A few vehicles would remain in service up to 2005 in the Serbian Army (Vojska Srbije) and 2006 in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine) before finally being retired from service.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/zsu-57...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
During the early development of the Panzer IV, nobody involved in the program knew that this vehicle, designed to serve as a support Panzer, would become the Wehrmacht’s backbone for a good deal of the war. While today the Tiger and Panther are better known, the Panzer IV was produced in the greatest numbers and served on all fronts in many bloody engagements throughout the war. In October 1939, the demands for an increasing number of support tanks would lead to the introduction of the Panzer IV Ausf. D version, of which over 200 would be built.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The G-3 Light Tank Destroyer was the product of the disorganized state of US tank design at the start of WW2. The United States of America formally declared war on Japan, one of the three main Axis powers, on 8th December 1941, following the attack of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii the day before. This was followed, on 11th December, by a declaration of war against Nazi Germany and Italy. The US had been selling arms to the United Kingdom for some time before this though and had started its own military build-up as well, increasing its army strength from just over ¼ million men in 1940 to nearly 1.5 million by the time of entering the war. Nonetheless, it would be some time before the American war machine was in full swing and it had squandered the honeymoon period from the war’s beginning in 1939 to do exactly the development work it needed to deliver an effective tank destroyer. The G-3 Light Tank Destroyer is emblematic of this failure by the US military as the design fails to accommodate the needs of the Army in a new era of tank warfare.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/g-3-li...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by CarlitosSupa
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
After the War, with the removal of the Sherman from British Service, designers began to look for a new flail vehicle based on a new, British-built chassis. Initially, consideration was given to making a flail variant of the FV200 series of universal tanks, then in development as a replacement for the Centurion. However, when development of the FV200 was canceled, the flail version went with it. As such, designers turned to an old faithful – the Churchill, a heavy and obsolete vehicle available in large numbers, and cheap. What would emerge from this became known as the FV3902 Churchill Flail, or as it is more commonly known, the ‘Toad’. Entering service in 1954, the Toad featured one of the most powerful mine flails ever created and became one of the last Churchill types to see service – albeit in a training capacity – with the British Army. It is in the Army that the vehicle gained the name ‘Toad’. Quite why is a mystery, although it may just be because it is a rather ugly vehicle – depending on the eye of the beholder, of course.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/UK/churchill-toad-fv3902-flail-tank/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
As the Yugoslav Royal Army was in a search of new armored equipment, the Czechoslovak Škoda company was more than willing to offer its armored vehicles products. During the thirties, a few tankettes were presented to the Yugoslav Royal Army but performed poorly on testing so a new vehicle was requested. The following Š-I-D tankette achieved some success and eight were bought, but even this vehicle was deemed insufficient and future improvements were requested. This would lead to the development of the Š-I-j, which was presented to the Yugoslav Royal Army but for unknown reasons was never adopted.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-yu...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
In the early thirties, the German army showed interest in the adoption of new types of armored cars. At that time, the German economic situation was dire, having entered a crisis due to the Great Depression, and for this reason a temporary and cheap solution was needed. This would eventually lead to the adoption of the Kfz. 13 and 14 as temporary solutions until properly designed armored cars could be produced in sufficient numbers. Nevertheless, due to a lack of more modern armored cars, the obsolete Kfz. 13 and 14 would see combat up to the end of 1941.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
In 1962, the US Armor Association launched a competition for the design of a next generation of Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to replace the M60 Gun Tank in light of advanced Soviet vehicles which were being developed. The goal was to gather ideas as to how people thought the tanks of 1965-1975 might look and left the various designers a lot of freedom in terms of armament and propulsion. Many designs were sent in from around the world but one very close to home came from a serving US soldier, David Bredemeir, based at Fort Knox, the home of the US School of Armor at the time. This design was to eschew conventional suspension, layout, and armament and produce a missile carrier capable of destroying any future Soviet threat. Named the ‘M-70’ (no connection to the MBT-70), presumably for the anticipated in-service date, this vehicle provides a semi-professional glimpse at some of the thinking of the era.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/m-70-m...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
The concept behind the AS42 "Sahariana" appeared in the minds of Italian designers in 1942, when the famous British and Commonwealth Long Range Desert Groups (LRDG), with their distinctive heavily-armed and unarmored long-range vehicles, were breaking far behind Axis lines, creating havoc in refilling bases or airfields. At the same time, their large-scale reconnaissance tasks were very valuable to Allied intelligence. The Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) tried to emulate these units by using a project that SPA-Viberti had proposed a year before based on the chassis of the AB41 armored car, itself derived from the chassis of the Fiat-SPA TM40 medium artillery tractor.
The AS42 “Sahariana’ was a reconnaissance car, initially unarmed. However, under pressure from the Italian Royal Army's high command, the vehicles received heavy armament. The SPA-Viberti AS42 was rapidly developed at the beginning of 1942. The prototype was presented to the army on July 9, 1942, passed all tests and was put into production in the SPA-Viberti factory in Turin as early as August 1942.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/it...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Arturo Giusti
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Lucian Stan
The British FV214 Conqueror Heavy Gun Tank was developed in the early 1950s in answer to the increasingly hostile Soviet Union, and its newly developed heavily armored tanks, such as the IS-3. The 120 mm gun-armed Conqueror was the first and last Heavy Gun Tank produced and operated by the British Army. It had a short service life of just 11 years, from 1955 to 1966. While the Conqueror was based on a hull that was designed to be adaptable, no Self-Propelled Gun was ever built using this hull. Decades later, the popular online game World of Tanks (WoT) – published and developed by Wargaming (WG) – was preparing a new British tank line. Due to poor research or possibly completely intentionally, the top of the artillery tech tree appeared as the ‘Conqueror Gun Carriage’ or ‘GC’, a completely fictional adaptation of the Conqueror chassis which utilizes an archaic 9.2 inch (234 mm) ‘siege gun’ placed in a fixed superstructure.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/conque...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
The Chaffee would give the Norwegian Army (Hæren) their first taste of operating a relatively modern armored vehicle, having not had a tank to operate since the single L-120 ‘Rikstanken’ of the late 1930s. Eventually, Norway would operate a total of 141 Chaffees and, through upgrades, would keep them in service until the early 1990s.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/strids...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The machine gun was, and still is, a devastating weapon of war. Able to deliver hundreds or thousands of bullets over a prolonged period of time, a single machine can tie down the advance of thousands of the enemy if it is positioned correctly. The main drawback with the machine gun though is that it is large, heavy, and requires a lot of ammunition. It is no surprise, therefore, that, over the years, there have been numerous attempts to create a vehicle which can carry the machine gun and its ammunition to get close enough to the enemy to deliver on its deadly potential.
Matthäus Höchammer of Fürth, Bayern, had exactly this line of thought in 1937 and submitted his concept for achieving this goal to the German patent office. He was to submit one of the most complex and interesting one-man tank concepts conceived, a vehicle that combined the ultra-low silhouette of a man laid prone with a trench digger and tank tracks combined.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Andrew Hills
Video edited by Pavel 'Carpaticus' Alexe
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Renault R35 was born as a result of the French 1933 light infantry tank program, which set requirements for what would basically be a remake of the WW1-era Renault FT with more modern technology. The most common of the three tanks that were adopted following this program was the R35 (the others being the H35 and FCM 36), a slow (20 km/h) two-crew light tank which featured a puny 37 mm SA 18 main gun alongside a coaxial MAC 31 7.5 mm in a fully rotating turret. Poorly designed ergonomics-wise and lacking a radio, perhaps the only redeeming feature of the vehicle was a quite respectable 40 mm of all-around armor, considerable for a 1930s light tank. While originally meant to be used as a support vehicle alongside the French infantry in an European war, the R35's large production run meant it saw service beyond the plains of Northern Europe, including former French colonies which reached independence: this was the case of, for example, Lebanon.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/renaul...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Marisa Belhote
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
The E100, a 100-tonne experimental chassis developed by the firm of Adler using the Krupp 130-tonne Tiger-Maus design, was never finished. Partially complete at the end of the war, it was recovered to the UK for testing and evaluation and the ‘tank’ part of its history has, since the war, remained centered on this aspect of it. The design was a complicated and drawn out process and the use of the hull went further than just a tank concept.
When, in May 1944, the opportunity to work on a new vehicle mounting a 15 cm or 17 cm gun came up, there were two hulls optioned for it: the Maus (designed by Porsche and built by Krupp), and the E100 (designed by Krupp, added to by Adler, and to be built by Krupp). Krupp, therefore, embarked on another task, how to fit the huge 15 cm or 17 cm gun onto their as yet unbuilt, and untested E100 chassis.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/15-17-...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
Norway was behind in regards to purchasing tanks. It was not until the mid-1930s that the Royal Norwegian Army (No: Hæren) began to express an interest in Armored Fighting Vehicles. Their gaze took them to their Scandinavian neighbor, Sweden. AB Landsverk were working on the prototype L-120 for the Swedish Army and Norway ordered one. This would become Norway's first tank and was given various names such as ‘Kongstanken’ (Royal Tank), ‘Norgestanken’, (Norwegian Tank); and ‘Rikstanken’ (The National Tank).
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-no...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
in the 1930s the Germans were building the infamous Siegfried Line or ‘Westwall’, a fortified defensive line consisting of bunkers, tank traps, and much more arrayed along the western German frontier. Nothing in the French tank arsenal was able to challenge these potent defenses. Combining the multi-turret tank designs - in fashion at the time - and this new threat from the east, the French quickly realized they needed a new powerful breakthrough heavy tank able to withstand anti-tank fire and destroy static defenses.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-fr...
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Nathaniel McDonald
Between 1974 and 1976, the remaining M-50 Shermans were fully removed from active service in Israel. The surviving M-50s had different destinations. In 1975, a total of 75 were supplied to various Lebanese Christian militias during the Lebanese Civil War which began in 1975. 35 were supplied to the South Lebanon Army (SLA), 19 were provided to the Kataeb Regulatory Forces, 40 to the Lebanese Forces, one to the Guardians of the Cedars and 20 to the Tiger Militia.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
The M-50 Sherman would see significant combat during the Suez Crisis, the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War, fighting against the tanks of Jordan, Syria and Egypt until the vehicles became obsolescent.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Arturo Giusti
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The M-50 Sherman was an Israeli upgrade of the United States Army M4 Sherman medium tank. It was developed in the mid-50s to keep the venerable WW2 era tank effective and able to face other contemporary vehicles of the Arab armies of neighboring states even fifteen years after its development.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
An article by Arturo Giusti
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Stan Lucian
During the mid-1930s, Germany started construction of the Westwall, otherwise known as the Siegfried Line. This fortification spanned across the German border with France up until their border with Denmark and was equipped with numerous bunkers and cannons. The French authorities were alarmed by this and figured that they would have to overcome this defensive line. However, no tank in the French arsenal at the time was able to combat such an obstacle. Therefore, they quickly started a heavy breakthrough tank program, named ‘Char de Rupture 1937’.
Article:
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The need for a heavily armed tank was highlighted for the British Army in 1945, when the Soviet Army unveiled its newly developed heavy tank – the IS-3 – at the Berlin Victory Parade. The Armies of Britain, France, and the USA realized they had nothing to counter this new threat. Great Britain would develop the FV214 Conqueror to counter the IS-3.
Decades later, the popular online game World of Tanks (WoT) was preparing a new British tank line. Due to poor research or possibly completely intentionally, the top of the tree appeared as the Heavy Gun Tank FV215b, a fictional marriage of a FV215 chassis with the FV214 turret and gun with a fictional engine. Fortunately, Wargaming has withdrawn this fake vehicle, although they replaced it with an equally questionable one.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Decision of the British War Office to choose the Cruiser and Infantry Tank dichotomy as the guiding principle in their tank development in the mid-1930’s would have no small impact on the way in which the British Army fought the Second World War. The first tangible example of this change in course was the A9 Cruiser Mark I, an unreliable and haphazard vehicle which to a degree characterizes the scramble to adapt which the British Army undertook in the early stages of the War. The A9 Cruiser would influence British Tank design across the whole period, and despite its very appearance looking reminiscent of a prototype, which really it should have been, it made its way to the battlefield nonetheless.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Will Hardwick
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Tiger tank is undoubtedly one of the most famous tank to have ever existed, with dozens of books on the topic covering development, production, and combat. Yet, despite the fame and a lot of hyperbole related to the combat performance in particular, there is still plenty of misinformation about the tank and its variants, one of which is the existence of a ‘Bergetiger’ or Recovery Tiger variant.
In early summer 1944, a peculiar Tiger tank was captured by the Allied forces in Italy. Missing its main armament and sporting a winch and crane on top of the turret. A British intelligence summary did a short analysis of the vehicle, speculating it may have been some kind of ARV, an assumption which was taken as fact by many persons since.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Centauro II MGS 120/105 is a wheeled tank destroyer built by the Consortium IVECO OTO-Melara (CIO). It will be delivered to the Italian Army, or Esercito Italiano (EI), with the name “B2 Centauro”. It is the evolution of the B1 Centauro, which was the first purposely built tank hunter 8×8 armored car in the world, armed with a 105 mm NATO ammunition-compliant cannon.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/b2-cen...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Arturo Gusti
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Voicing by Stan Lucian
Even before the Second World War, the famous German tank commander Heinz Guderian had predicted the need for highly mobile self-propelled anti-tank vehicles, later known as Panzerjäger or Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer or hunter). However, in the early years of the war, beside the 4.7 cm PaK (t) (Sfl) auf Pz.Kpfw. I ohne turm, which was in essence just a 4.7 cm PaK (t) gun mounted on a modified Panzer I Ausf.B tank hull, the Germans did little to develop such vehicles. During the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht encountered the T-34 and KV series tanks, which they had trouble dealing with effectively. Fortunately for the Germans, they also managed to capture large numbers of the 7.62 cm field gun (M1936) which had good anti-tank firepower. This gun was immediately put to use by the German ground forces, but mobility was an issue, so an idea appeared to install this gun on the Panzer II tank chassis in order to increase its mobility. The new vehicle belonged to a series of vehicles generally known today as the ‘Marder’ (Marten).
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Nathaniel McDonald
After designing and building the prototypes of the Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) for Argentina, Thyssen-Henschel decided to improve the vehicle with more modern equipment, while maintaining almost the same exterior appearance. The resulting vehicle, the TH-301, was intended for the export market, though it was unable to attract any foreign interest.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
At 0400 hours on 16th December, 1944, men of the German 18th Volksgrenadier Division began to leave their positions and make their way towards the American lines. This moment marked the beginning of the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s last major offensive on the Western Front in World War II. Out of this grand battle would come a too-good-to-be-true story symbolic of the stiff American resistance put up against the German offensive, that of how an M8 Greyhound armored car destroyed a Tiger I heavy tank.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-gr...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Louis Mendoza
Video mounted by Louis Mendoza
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Kingdom of Italy fought on the side of the Allied powers of France and Great Britain in World War 1. Their battlefields were mostly different to the open trench covered battlefields of northern France and Belgium, however. Any tank for Italian use would have to not only fill the need to fight in very mountainous terrain but also in colonial wars in Africa.
In a contract dated 13th October 1915 the Fiat company had already been tasked by Major General Giulio Martini with the design of a 40-tonne armored vehicle with a 65mm gun in the turret and armor superior to an armored car. The Fiat design, from the pen of Carlo Cavalli (a technical director at Fiat) and Giulio Cesare Cappa (formerly a car designer at Aquila, famous for racing cars) was finally ready in January 1917. This design under the original contract was the ‘Automobile blindata d’assalto tipo 2000' and this design from Fiat was instead to now be commonly known as the ‘Fiat 2000’.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/it...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Kraiger
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Nathaniel McDonald
Throughout the 1950’s, US tank designers were looking at every aspect of the problems of tank technology, from armor to propulsion and armament. Whereas a lot of development had made great strides during this time in other areas, armor was still fundamentally based upon large steel castings. Various ideas though had been tried, including compositions with glass in armor cavities and even work on bar armor to defeat incoming projectiles and the increasingly common HEAT-type warheads.
By the early 1960’s though, even with a new generation of Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) at hand, the US was short of a light modern tank which was air-transportable, amphibious, well armed, and well protected. Obviously, this is a holy grail of tank design, light-enough weight to be air-transportable but with enough armor protection to be useful in direct battle rather than just scouting or skirmish roles. The tank which was to become the M551 Sheridan was in development but this was not the only possible light tank in development at the time. Another design from the Forsyth brothers was also being planned, and this vehicle was a technological step well ahead of anything the Sheridan offered. The first glimpse of this vehicle came in a competition held by the US Armor Association in 1962, with an entry deadline of August that year.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The respective officials knew that they had nothing in their arsenal capable of potentially combatting the IS-3 that was now in service with an increasingly aggressive USSR. In response, the militaries of these countries began to develop heavy tanks that - they hoped - would be able to combat the IS-3. The United States would develop the M103 heavy tank, while the French experimented with the AMX-50. Britain went in a different doctrinal direction and created a ‘Heavy Gun Tank’. This was a uniquely British designation that was not governed by weight, but the size of the gun. This vehicle was based on the experimental FV200 ‘Universal Tank’ chassis and given the official and somewhat long-winded title of ‘Tank, Heavy No. 1, 120 mm Gun, FV214’. This vehicle would be better known as the ‘Conqueror’.
What followed was the FV215. With its monstrous, 183 mm gun, this vehicle has become something of a legend among enthusiasts of a particular age, largely due to a popular video game. Unfortunately, this has meant a number of falsehoods have been spread about the vehicle. This article will highlight the truth behind this uniquely British vehicle.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/cold-w...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Brian Gaydos
During the early development of the Panzer IV, no one involved in the program knew that this vehicle, designed to serve as a support Panzer, would become the Wehrmacht’s backbone for a good deal of the war. While today the Tiger and Panther are better known, the Panzer IV was produced in the greatest numbers and served on all fronts in many bloody engagements throughout the war.
The development of this tank began in the mid-thirties, leading to the first version being built, the Panzer IV Ausf. A. Being the first version, there was still a lot of space for improvement. The improvement of the Panzer IV Ausf. A version would eventually lead to the development of two nearly identical versions, the Ausf. B and C.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Marko Pantelic
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
There were lots of lessons to be learned from the first Russian experience in Grozny (1994-1996). Among these were the poor performance of Cold War era Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) against modern anti-tank weapons. Often in this conflict, Russian APCs, such as the BTR-70, and even Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), such as the BMP-2, found their protection hopelessly outmatched by weapons such as RPG-7s and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) used by their Chechen adversaries.
The latter lesson did not go unnoticed by the Russian high command either. As a result, the need for increased protection for APCs became more urgent. In response, the Design Bureau of Transport Engineering under the direction of the chief designer of the project, D. Ageev, developed and produced (in conjunction with the State Production Association “Transport Engineering Plant”) a prototype of a heavy armored personnel carrier (BTR-T) based on the T-55 tank chassis, of which there was an abundance in reserves.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Leon 'Sheer' Hammadi
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
In 1989, the initial Indiana Jones trilogy of movies - created by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas - was coming to an end with the final installment; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The film, set in 1938, sees the swashbuckling fictional archeologist, Dr. Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones Jr., race against a band of Nazis in the hunt for the legendary cup of Christ - The Holy Grail.
The film includes an elaborate chase scene featuring a tank owned by the fictional ‘Sultan of Hatay’, the ruler of a republic located somewhere in the region of Turkey. In appearance, it is similar to that of the real-world Tank Mk. VIII ‘Liberty’. While portrayed in the movie as a real tank operated by ‘The Army of the Republic of Hatay’ - with great similarity to a real World War I tank - it is, however, a completely fictional vehicle.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/fictio...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) has, since the early ’80s, equipped the forces of the Ejército Argentino [Eng. Argentinian Army]. Designed and developed by the West German company of Thyssen-Henschel, the TAM’s history is full of inconsistencies and exaggerations, primarily the fact that it is an Argentinian indigenous tank. Whilst some important components have been produced in Argentina and most assembly took place there, too much of it is dependent on foreign companies to consider it fully indigenous.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Gareth Lynn Montes
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
In 1954, the British, of C. A. Parsons Ltd. made history. At a public display of armoured vehicles, they unveiled an odd-looking, silver turretless tank hull. This vehicle was a world first. Inside the engine bay was a new, experimental turbine engine.
The vehicle was a testbed, serving to illustrate the future possibility of mounting a turbine engine in an armoured vehicle. Other countries, notably Nazi Germany in the Second World War, had considered turbine technology in a tank, but it was this British tank which was to make history as the first armoured vehicle in the world to be propelled by a turbine engine. However, despite proving that the technology worked, the project ended without adoption by the British Army and it was not until a generation later, with the appearance of the Swedish Strv 103 'S-Tank' and the later American M1 Abrams or Soviet T-80, that this engine type would be seen in a production vehicle.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/uk-col...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The Tiger I and the Tiger II are some of the most famous tanks in the whole history of armored warfare. These behemoths of World War Two have captured the imagination and attention of many generations of tank lovers and armor researchers. However, while the Tiger was the product of a rushed development following the lessons of Operation Barbarossa, the German quest for a heavy breakthrough tank stretches back to 1935, with the design a 30 ton Panzer that would become the Durchbruchswagen.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-ge...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Stan Lucian
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
When the Republic of France entered World War 1 on 3rd August 1914 against the German Empire, few could have had any concept of the scale and duration of the war which was to follow. Having already fought the nascent German Empire in 1870-1871 and lost the territory of Alsace-Lorraine in a humiliating defeat, France was determined not to repeat its failures, yet entered WW1 unprepared for a new type of warfare dominated by artillery and rapid-fire machine guns. Just as other nations soon found, the men of their respective armies, regardless of personal heroism, were no match for a well prepared defence or machine gun fire. Machines were to be a key to victory, new armored machines carrying guns to meet the enemy and, to this end, France developed a tank which was to shape their future designs for many years and become an icon of WW1 – the Renault FT.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1-fr...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
To quote Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery - in not so few words - “the REME keeps the punch in the Army’s fist”. To do this, the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) utilize specially adapted versions of existing vehicles. The Churchill Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV), developed in the middle of the Second World War, was one of the first of these REME-specific vehicles.
The Churchill ARV was one of the first tank-based ARVs to serve in the British Army. The vehicle first appeared in 1942, the same year that the REME was created. The initial ARV was simply a turretless Churchill outfitted with various pieces of towing equipment - this became known as the Mk. I. A second version, equipped with a faux turret, lifting jibs, and a powerful winch, appeared in 1944 - this became the Mk. II.
Both the Mk. I and Mk. II ARV served until the end of the Second World War, with the Mk. II’s service continuing into the Korean War of the early 1950s. It wasn’t long after this that it was finally replaced by the FV4006 Centurion ARV.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-uk...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The story behind the construction of the 4-tonne reconnaissance tank in Poland dates back to 1932. The Plan for the Expansion of Armored Weapons, Anti-Tank Weapons and Motorization developed at that time provided for the commencement of work on a modern vehicle of this type in Poland. The 4-tonne tank of the British Vickers company was to be used as a reference for it.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-po...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Escodrion Baker
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
The ‘Tank, Medium Gun, FV221’, otherwise known as ‘Caernarvon’, appeared in the early 1950s and was a mating of an FV200 series chassis and the turret of an Mk. III Centurion. It was designed as an interim vehicle to fill the gap while Britain’s first Heavy Gun Tank, the FV214 Conqueror, was in the final stages of development. Decades later, in 2018, and despite the real FV221 Caernarvon already being present, the popular online game World of Tanks (WoT) - published and developed by Wargaming (WG) - was looking for a new premium tank (a vehicle bought with real money that provides special in-game benefits) to add to the British ‘tech tree’. The result was a ghastly blend of 4 separate parts (engine, turret, armor plates and hull), all to create a fake tank with a double fake name. It is known in-game as the Caernarvon ‘Action X’. While all of the constituent parts used to make this tank did exist in one form or another, they were never put together in this way.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Mark Nash
Video mounted by Jim Zawacki
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian
Following the failure of the MBT-70 joint project, the need for a new tank for West Germany and the USA had not gone away. One of the main points of value for those projects was the interchangeability of parts and, even after the joint project had been terminated, the desire for more interchangeability continued. In 1974, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the USA and West Germany in which the USA would test the German Leopard 2 with the goal of standardizing as much as possible between the two tank programs. This was followed, in 1976, by an addendum in which the components to be standardized were identified. It was here that the decision was made to select the German 120 mm smoothbore gun for both tanks, although it was apparent that the first series M1 entering production would have to be armed with the M68 105 mm gun instead, as the 120 mm was not ready. In 1976, the project to upgun the M1 with this 120 mm smoothbore gun was already set out, naming this first variant as the M1E1.
Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwa...
If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund
Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...
Email: tanks.encyclopedia@gmail.com
An article by Andrew Hills
Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...
Audio edited by Kraiger
Voicing by Stan Lucian