The Germans had the most diverse self propelled artillery branch of all belligerents in the Second World War. Even if it wasn't the most numerous, there were many different types from tank destroyers with bulletproof armour to assault guns. One of the classes that the Germans created was called Waffenträger (Gun Carrier). They could be built on tank chassis, but there were also completely original chassis that used components from production tanks. Waffenträger für 8.8 cm PaK 43 L/71 (Ardelt) in Patriot Park. Patriot Park now contains the world's largest collection of German vehicles ..read more

The IS-3 entered production shortly before Germany surrendered, but how well would it have fought if VE Day was postponed by a few months? Check out my latest video to find out ..read more

Soviet tanks and SPGs during the Battle of Lake Hasan and its impact on Soviet tank development Battle is the main stimulus for development of tank armament and protection. No matter how much technology evolves during peace, only war will give a proper measure of its effectiveness. A conflict where tanks was used could be analyzed to show where to go from here. Even small conflicts like the Rif War yielded valuable experience for its combatants. T-26 crews near Lake Hasan, summer 1938. Soviet tanks first saw battle in the fall of 1929 during the East China Railroad Conflict. The ex ..read more

Many German tank designs allegedly on the brink of going into production were actually borderline fiction, while one new tank that was actually good to go is very rarely talked about. Find out what tanks Germany would have fielded had the war gone on for a year longer in my latest video.    ..read more

British tank building was in crisis in the spring-summer of 1941. The latest Pz.Kpfw.III and Pz.Kpfw.IV tanks encountered in North Africa could only be defeated with the 2-pounder gun at short range. Intelligence reported on heavy and superheavy Pz.Kpfw.V, Pz.Kpfw.VI, and Pz.Kpfw.VII tanks that the 40 mm gun would be completely powerless against. The British were in urgent need of a vehicle with a more powerful gun. Any color the customer wants The British needed to find a suitable gun and a suitable chassis. There were promising weapons: the 57 mm 6-pounder and 76 mm 17-pounder. These guns co ..read more

The interwar period was a time of new technical solutions, and tanks were no exception. Even though tank development was allocated a limited budget, experiments never stopped. The budgets began to swell in the early 1930s, which coincided with a rapid growth of tank characteristics. Various improvements were implemented, including those that improved the crew's working conditions.  T-34 in Crimea, 1944. Factory #112 was the last to keep the turret with a single hatch in production. One of their tanks can be seen in the foreground. One of the characteristic features of Soviet tan ..read more

The T-34 tank might look like it started and ended the Second World War with more or less the same level of armour protection, but things are more complicated than they first appear. In this video, I take a look at how the tank's armour evolved to deal with new threats on the battlefield ..read more

The tank was initially conceived as a mobile fortress; huge and slow. However, the army had to rein in their appetites from a 300 ton monster to just 28 tons. This didn’t mean that the idea of a mobile fortress died off. The mass of tanks continued to grow and the development of the K-Wagen clearly suggested that not only Lebedenko was thinking about Tsar-tanks. Only the prompt end of the First World War stopped these giants from reaching the battlefield. Although, the monstrous projects that were built by 1919 were about as useful as the rest of the Tsar family: a tank that doesn’t fight in a ..read more

The T-34 tank was upgraded with an 85 mm gun in a new enlarged turret in 1944. The true story of how the new gun and turret ended up on a 4 year old chassis is an interesting and complicated one. Find out how it happened in my latest video ..read more

We all know that Scotch was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad, but there were Soviet inventions that had foreign roots and not necessarily the ones you might think. Check out this video to see which of the Red Army's weapon originated abroad and which are surprisingly original.   ..read more