Former entries

29.09.2021: T17 Deerhound (1940)

USA - 250 built.

The T17 Deehound was a specific medum armoured car program intended for armed reconnaissance in 1942. Both Chevrolet and Ford competed but the simpler 4x4 Chevrolet design (future T17E1 Staghound) won. The 6x6 T17 Deerhound sometimes called "M5 medium armoured car" was never standardized, its production of 250 vehicle only meant as a stopgap until the M8 greyhound was mass produced. It was used from 1943 by the United States Army Military Police Corps and a few were given to Brazil. Meanwhile the T17E1 was liked by the British that obtained a mass production, and it made a fine career.

23.09.2021: BA ISH (1941)

USSR - 1-10 built.

The BA ISH was one of the most obscure and less known Soviet armoured cars of WW2 - Basically and improvized model using a spare BA-3 turret. It was created in Izhorsk plant, Leningrad during the longest siege in modern history. This vehicle came alongside many other conversions, inluding a tank hunter and an APC.

22.09.2021: ZIS-6 (1933)

ZIS-6 (1938)

23.09.2021 The light truck ZIS-6 was the 6x4 version of the very common WW2 ZIS-5 soviet utility truck. The 6x4 had the advantage of better off-road performances and to carry heavier loads. It was a base for two armored cars, at least six specialized vehicles and three Katyusha platorms, more common platform for "Stalin's organs".

17.09.2021: Sd.Kfz.10 Gepanzert (1941-44)

Germany - circa 500 built.

The Sd.Kfz.10 was also armoured when used as FLAK (10/4 and 10/5) or more commonly Panzerjager versions armed with the unbiquitous 3.7 cm or 5 cm PAK 38 from 1942. Some, called "gepanzerte" offered a better protection than the usual softskin vehicles, but keeping a potent armament and excellent off-road capabilities. The latter often were used as ersatz in regular panzerjäger (tank hunter) batallions.

16.09.2021: Sd.Kfz.10 (1938)

Sd.Kfz.10 (1938)

16.09.2021 The Sd.Kfz.10 was the smallest German half-track prime mover of WW2 (apart the kettenkrad), the Sd.Kfz.10 revealed itself the most affordable and suitable for mass production, and also able to carry most light to medium weaponry. During the war it proved also capable to carry these weapons directly on its flatbed, creating a very efficient self-propelled fast-firing dual purpose artillery. The chassis was such as success that Demag's vehicle was also reused for the production of the fully armored Sd.Kfz 250 and 251, standard APCs of the Panzergrenadiers and specialists on the frontline. The vehicle was produced until the end of the war and was seen on all fronts.

08.09.2021: Nurol Ejder (2007)

Turkey - 78 built.

The 6x6 armoured personal carrier was the first modern AFV built by NUROL Mashinery and Industry Co Inc. ("Nurol Makina"), partly based on the co-developped RN-94 with Romania. The final vehicle was tested with seven prototypes and eventually not adopted by the Turkish army, but exported to Georgia, it's only current operator. This 6x6 had been replaced since by the much more successful 4x4 Yalçın.

09.09.2021: Jeep CJ series (1942-85)

Willys CJ series (1944-86)

09.09.2021The Willys CJ series (Willys Auverland and then Kaiser Willys, AMC-Willys, etc.) started as "tamed" version of the military "stock" Willys GP of WW2 fame, the acronym standing for "Civilian Jeep". From the experimental J-1 and 2 to the mass-produced CJ-3 to CJ-10, the serie evolved into multiple iterations, each time adapted to, or inspired from, a military one, like the M38 & M38A1, M606, M170, but in some cases used by many armies in stock condition, remilitarized and under licence from Turkey to Japan, Switzerland to Sweden, Brazil, India or South Africa.

03.08.2021: Laffly V15T/V15R (1938)

The Laffly V15T was a common off-road 4x4 light tractor for the 25 mm Hotchkiss antitank gun (VT15T) and VT15R reconnaissance vehicle of the French Army in 1940. Closely related to the W15, its front rollers and towing hook, around 200 were produced by Laffly and Corre La Licorne before the fall of France. Many were also reused by the Germans in WW2.

01.09.2021: Bedford RL "Pig" (1951)

The Bedford RL was perhaps the original "Pig", an early cold war APC built in Singapore, by 40 Base Workshops in 1951-54, possibly with bodies using armoured plates from the scuttled and recycled Imperial Japanese heavy cruiser Myoko. This foggy vehicle was based on the very common Bedford RL military truck (see previous post) and mostly used for counter-insurgency and police operations in Malaya-Burma (for what it was intended), as well as in Aden.

26.08.2021: Dodge WC 62 (1943)

The Dodge 62 was the stretched-out version of the ubiquitous WC-51/52/55 weapons and troop carrier. The change was requested when US Army doctrine changed in 1942, now asking for twelve men platoon instead of eight. Dodge was asked to add an extra axle aft, and added 1,20 m of chassis to carry out the transformation. About 40,000 of these WC-62 and 63 (the winch-equipped version) rolled out of Dodge plant in Detroit until the end of the war, with around 6,000 also delivered by lend-lease to the French and British.

26.08.2021: PLL-9 (2009)

The PLL-09 is a current Chinese 122 mm self-propelled howitzer also used by China's marines. The vehicle is derived from the ZBL-09 "snow leopard" APC/IFV family, to provide indirect fire support for rapid deployment brigades. These units were developed in concept just after US Stryker brigades. They are equipped only with with lightly armored and all-wheeled, highly mobile 8x8 vehicles, and the PLL-09 is the organic artillery part of it. After the APC, reconnaissance vehicles, 105 mm fire support, command, engineering and other specialized vehicles are used. The PLL-09 SPH is registered for about 550 vehicles, with an alternative Type 96 155 mm howitzer.

17.08.2021: Arjun MBT (2001)

The Arjun Main Battle Tank developed by DRDO and many Indian manufacturers, R&D agencies and laboratories is as of todays India's latest and best ground warfare asset. Only available in small numbers, it is distrubited to a few elite armoured units. It could be considered as India's response to the Chinese PLA ZTZ-99. Its development was a subject of controversy however, spanning for 37 years. In between, the program, with cost overruns and delays, nevertheless integrated ever-changing army specification to answer the latest battlefield threats, like urban warfare. To the Mark 1, operational since the mid-2000s succeeds the current Arjun Mark 1A, 3rd gen. MBT, while the Arjun Mark 2 is in development as well as the light "Tank EX".

18.08.2021: Bedford RL (1953)

The Bedford RL was designed to replace in the 1950s the venerable QL series of WW2 fame. The task was done with a larger ans sturdier medium truck which became the bedrock of the british army during the cold war, with a production of no less than 73,000 vehicles, many of which were exported or licence-built in Australia and New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore, South Africa and Pakistan and withing NATO Belgium, Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Many were still in use in the mid to late 1990s around the world.

13.08.2021: Type 2 SU-Ki (1943)

The Toyota Type 2 Su-Ki was an attempt by the Imperial Japanese Army to replicate the allied General Motors DUKW, standard amphibian truck during WW2. It was smaller as a two-tonner, based on the Toyota 4x4 truck To-Ki with a steel "boat shaped" hull and 2-wheel/4-wheel drive. However production was nothing close the allied vehicle, with a mere 198 delivered from November 1943, sent into the Pacific islands, before production stopped by August 1944, and later from there, the "Toyota LVT" emerged, too late.

MBT 12.08.2021: Shir-1 (1977)

The story of the Iranian Shir Main Battle Tank is one of these private ventures dependent of an oil-rich foreign regime without intel in the equation, which almost ended into an industrial and PR disaster. The state-of-the art Western MBT, an hybrid of Chieftain and Challenger 1 never reached Iran and instead landed in Jordan, as Khalid ("sword"). The Iranian Chieftains previously delivered were ultimately locally modernized as the Mihr and the Mobarez. That's a complicated history for a tank that was also the forerunner of the Challenger I.

06.08.2021: GAZ/UAZ 69 (1953)

The "Kozlik", GAZ-69 was the main cold war utility military car of the Soviet Army, it's much beloved "Jeep" for two decades. Derived from WW2 models, and the postwar 1949 GAZ-67B, it was influenced by the lend-lease Jeep and took the same concept forward in terms of off-road handling caracteristics. The GAZ-69 became the most produced light 4x4 softskin vehicle to that point, produced from 1949 to 1972 for a staggering total of 600,000, inundating the export market and seeing pently of action throughout the world. Although replaced by the 469 in the 1970s, this story is not over yet, as many are still in use in many countries, and it mades the delight of private owners and collectioners.

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02.08.2021: 2A3 Kondensator 2P SPH (1957)

The 2A3 Kondensator, with the 2B1 "Oka" was one of the two self-propelled super-heavy artillery developed in response to the US 1952 US M65 cannon better called the "atomic gun". The idea was to bring tactical atomic strike on the battlefield. To not to be undone, two self-propelled howitzer were developed in 1955-56 and publicly revealed on the red square in 1957 making an international sensation. However only four were produced, never really operational as many issues has to be cared for. In 1960 however, a change of policy cancelled the program in favor of tactical missiles.

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27.07.2021: FORD BB

The Ford BB was a well known civilian truck from the late 1920s to WW2, not only in the USA but also south america. This truck lacked off-road capabilities and was however never adopted by the US Army, but others did. Using the same mass-production techniques he pioneered, Henry Ford procured the United States, Europe and the rest of the world with the truck equivalent of the Ford T: A simple, rugged, dependable utility truck, that became an integral part of the civilian life in the US. The BB was adopted in many military branches, especially in south america. The Ford BB was also the main inspiration for the GAZ AA, the legendary soviet "polutorka", and continued to soldier on in south america or asia well into the late 1950s. It was built in France (Matford), Germany (Modell 1932) and Sweden as well.

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26.07.2021: Mistubishi/Komatsu Type 82 CV (1982)

The Mitsubishi Type 82 C2 (command & control) built by Komatsu since 1982 is the main JSDGF dedicated command vehicle, operating during the late cold war and modern era, in fact, to this day. Fitted with powerful radio sets and SATNAV/SATCOM, 231 vehicles has been provided so far, modernized, or in the process to be so.

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20.07.2021: 9P149 tank hunter (1979)

The versatile MT-LB armored tractor (1959) was declined into a multitude of variants. Among them, the 9P149 "Shturm" armed with the 9M114 ATGM was a missile tank hunter, of which about 900 to 1,000 vehicles were produced. The NATO AT-6a SPIRAL missiles carried were able to pierce up to 600 mm behinf ERA at 5 km. Each vehicle carried 12 missiles in a barillet inside the hull, a reload roof trap and spare tubes. Although superseded by better models, the 9P149 is still in sevice today in the Russian and Armenian armies among others, and fought in Chechnya.

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12.07.2021: Opel Blitz, Part II (1937-44)

The Opel Blitz was the most famous product from the Opel Company, which logo was basically the "blitz". This truck was developed from 1936 for the Army as Kfz.305 in several main types and many sub-types standardized as the largest production of any Military truck in Germany (130,000 since 1934, 82,000 for the all-wheel drive Model 1937). Production ran also during wartime, in several facilities, notably the Blitz 2.5. produced in Rüsselsheim. Albert Speer reorganized the production around this model in 1943, while allied bombing severely disrupted it, notably swapping the Mercedes L3000 for the Blitz at Mannheim plant. The Opel Blitz really fought with the wehrmacht on all fronts until 1945 and was declined into a multitude of variants, including the famous half-track Sd.Kfz.2 Maultier. This post is a second part, with more data and the whole list of Kfz. variants.

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New Tank: 21.06.2021: So-Da Tankette (1941)

The small Type 98 So-Da was a bit of equivalent to the British mass-produced Vickers Universal Carrier, based on the Type 97 Te-Ke tankette. It was a troop carrier capble of towing light artillery and portars as well. The Type 100 Te-Re artillery observation tankette was developed as a main variant. Production numbers are unknown and the vehicles mostly served in China and Burma-Malaya during WW2.

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Mil.Truck 21.06.2021: IFA G5 (1965)

The IFA G5 was an East-German truck from IFA (Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau), a conglomerate created in 1948 from Vomag and other east german manufacturers under Soviet supervison. This large company delivered any kind of vehicles, including army trucks, until the reunification of East Germany. The G5 was not the most successful of the medium trucks delivered. It was adopted in marginal quantities by the NVA (East German Army) as dump truck, airfield cleaner truck by the air force, the Alert police and People's Police (Volkspolizei or "vopo"). Its most iconic version remained the Wasserwerfer SK5 deployed during the events of the Berlin crisis of 1961.

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16.06.2021: DRDO Ajeya MBT (1982)

The Indian Government after the war of 1971 realized the Vijayanta and Centurion were of the first generation MBT and wished to start its own demotsic 2nd generation tank, which development started in 1972. In 1978, as it developed too slowly competition was open and British and French designed considered, then Soviet when policy changed. Eventually, Indian obtained a licence to produce the T-72M, which became the Ajeya. Large numbers were procured until the DRDO Arjun came into service, but as the elite Indian MBT. Now, the Ajeya in undergoing a full modernization program.

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16.06.2021: Soviet GAZ AA truck (1931)

The GAZ AA, nicknamed the "Polutorka" was the most common truck in service in the Red army when the war started with about 155,000 for one million produced, used by the civilian services of USSR. It was a licence-production version of the famous Ford AA, and in 1938 was declined into the simplified GAZ MM and 6x6 GAZ AAA. They were also the base for numerous utility vehicles and gained fame during the siege of Leningrad

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New Entry 07.06.2021: Raketenjagdpanzer Jaguar 1 (1978)

The RktJpz 3 (Better known as "Jaguar 1") was a late cold war conversion of the Raketenjagdpanzer 2 to the Hot missile. About 312 were so converted in 1979-82, and again in 1993-95 with the latest HOT missile system and thermal sight, communication systems and add-on armor and Leopard 1 skirts, called Raketenkagdpanzer Jaguar 1A3. They stayed in service until mothballed in the 2010s.

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New Truck Entry 07.06.2021: AEC Matador (1938)

AEC was a British specialist of trucks and buses before the war. In 1938, it introduced a 10 tons 4x4 medium truck answering an army specification for towing the three common howitzers of the British army, the 4-in, 4.5 in and 6 in. Nearly 10,000 were manufactured until the end of the war and its sturdy chassis was declined into three armored vehicle, the AEC Armored Car, heaviest in service in the British army, the Mark I gun carrier and the AEC Dorchester armoured command car. A truly legendary British truck of WW2.

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New Entry 31.05.2021: Leichte Radschlepper laffly W 15T(f) (1944)

This rare armored vehicle of the Wehrmacht was one of the few built for Schnelle Brigade West, mostly using recuperated and often modified French vehicles. It was found in action in Normandy in June-July 1944 and Paris in August.

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New Truck Entry 31.05.2021: Laffly W15T (1939)

The Laffly W15T is one of the most interesting light vehicles of the French Army in 1940. It was a 6x6 designed by Laffly with additional rollers for dealing with rough terrain, built by Hotchkiss in 1939-40. About 500 were ordered by only a fraction were delivered before France fell. It was designed for towing the standard 47 mm APX 37 French antitank gun, as well as lighter AT and AA guns or mortars. A significant numbers fell into German hands and some were later fully armored to meet the demands of Schnelle brigade West in 1943-44.

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New Truck Entry 24.05.2021: Dodge WC-series, 3/4 tons 4x4 (1942) - Part II

The Dodge G-502, WC series, Part II: WC 56-64. With 255,000 delivered to US Forces and via lend-lease, This was a tremendously important vehicle during WW2 for the US Army and the allies, second after the legendary Jeep. Best known for the weapons carrier WC-51/52 which formed the bulk of the production, nicknamed the "beep", the Dodge G-502 fought all on all fronts until 1945, Korea, and many years after in several cold war armies. It was a dependable beast of burden also declined into ambulance, radio and reconnaissance vehicles and even a tank hunter, the M6.

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New Entry 27.05.2021: M50 Ontos (1959)

The M50 Ontos was a second try of the US Army in 1950 for having a potent airborne armored support after the half-baked M56 Scorpion. The result was Allis-Chalmers's tankette armed with six recoiless rifles. Standardized as the "Ontos" of "thing" in greek, the strange looking vehicle was rejected by the army eventually, but adopted by the US Marines, which put it in good use during the Vietnam war.

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New Entry 19.05.2021: M5 High speed tractor (1942)

The M5 High Speed Tractor (Prime Mover) was the smallest of the three models ordered in 1942 by the ordnance and quartermaster division. It was built by International Harverster, together with the heavier M4 tractor by Allis-Chalmers. Both entered service in 1943, to gradually replaced the US first generation, improvized Prime Movers such as the M33 and M34. Several variants of the M5 were made, from A1 to A4, diverging by many details and more than 5,500 were delivered, used on all fronts during WW2 (including by the Soviets) and well after the Korean War in other user nations.

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Nation Entry 13.05.2021: The Nationale Volksarmee (East German tanks)

The East German Army had the reputation to be the best of the Warsaw pact, shaped by ex-Wehrmacht veteran generals in the 1950-60s. With an excellent industry East Germany also devised many local produced specialized vehicles. Here is the history of the Nationale Volksarmee, its units, deployments and complete overview of its armored vehicles and tanks.

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08.05.2021: BTR-90 (1994)

The GAZ-ATZ BTR-90 was designed in the 1990s an unveiled in 1994 as the prossible successor of the BTR-80, armed with the same turret as the BMP-2. However a few were produced for evaluation but it was never accepted for production so far by the Russian MoD. Instead it is used only by the Russian Internal Forces.

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Truck Entry 10.05.2021: Sd.Kfz.8 (1938)

The Sonderkraftfahrzeug 8 ("special motorized vehicle 8") was a German half-track widely used during World War II, as a prime mover for heavy guns like the 21 cm Mörser 18, 15 cm Kanone 18, or 10.5 cm FlaK 38. It was also used to carry their crews and ammunitions, but also as a standalone troop carrier. The Sd.Kfz.8 wasalso the first heavy utilitarian half-track in service with the Wehrmacht. Powered by a large Maybach engine, it derived from a serie of prototypes by Daimler Benz in 1931, until Wa Prüf 6 ordered to combine the features of its DB.7 with the ZD.5. The resulting DB.8 was adopted in 1937, followed by the DB.9 in 1938, the main production version, and the wartime DB.10. In all, about 4,000 of these vehicles were used for towing the heaviest artillery pieces in the German arsenal until 1945. Two were modified for frontline offensive roles, the armored tank hunter "bunkerflak" and the DB.10 gepanzert for towing a 88 mm gun. It was also used in every campaign of the Wehrmacht, from the invasion of Poland to the the Battle of France, Balkans Campaign, Africa, Eastern Front, Normandy and Italy.

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05.05.2021: M44 SPH (1953)

Designed to replace the M41 "Gorilla" based on the M24 Chaffee used during the Korean war, the M44 was based on the new M41 light tank, caitalized on its larger chassis. It carried the M45 Howitzer into a fully enclosed compartment. Production armounted to circa 600 vehicles, and it was largely distributed among NATO countries as well. Too late for the Korean war, it was replaced by the M109 when the Vietnam was started and gradually discarded in the 1970s apart for the Turkish M44T, completely modernized by Rheinmetall in the late 1980s.

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29.04.2021: Cambridge Carrier (1952)

The FV401 Cambridge Carrier (1952) was a more developed version of the Oxford Carrier. It was notably using a brand new, modern suspension system, drivetrain and engine, a Rolls-Royce B80 Mk.2F coupled wit a Brown-Merrit transmission. Larger than the Oxford, it was still cramped for an APC and left the crew largely unprotected, although it was latter fitted with foldable panels at the front. The FV402 was the mobile observation post for he Royal Artillery, which differed by an enclosed casemate, new engine and transmission and radio equipment. Only a few were built and evaluated before it was decided to develop the more promising FV420 series.

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21.04.2021: Oxford Carrier (1946)

The Morris CT20 Oxford Carrier was the first British cold war APC (Armoured Personal Carrier), derived from the WW2 Universal Carrier, the most produced tracked vehicle up to that point. The CT20 had a Cadillac engine, and a version was created to serve as mobile Observation post. The main vehicle was designed for towing the 17 pdr gun. Its baptism of fire was in Korea, but its career was short.

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15.04.2021: Fiat 6614 (1972)

The FIAT Tipo 6614 was a 4x4 armoured personal carrier developed in the 1970s to answer some Italian Army specifiications for a cheap vehicle, that was to be use later by the Italian police and Carabineri units as well as the Air Force or the army in peace-keeping deployments. It was also widely exported. It was also declined into the FIAT 6614 infantry fighting Vehicle and South Korean KM-900.

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10.04.2021: M31 TRV (1941)

The early standard T2 Tank Retreiver (TRV) became the M31 ARV when standardized in late 1942. It was produced or converted from existiing M3 Lee and Grant Medium Tanks. They were the first purpose tracked recovery armoured vehicles used by the US Army, also sent to the Soviets and Free French as lend-lease as well. They were used until the very end of the war, despite their sucessor, the M32, was based on the M4 Sherman, declared standard in October 1943 already.

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05.04.2021: Canadian Armoured Autocar (1914)

The Armoured Autocar was an armoured vehicle, more a mobile, motorized armoured machin gun nest than an armoured personal carrier or even a regular armoured car as it had no turret. Initiated by French Canadian captain Raymond Brutinel, this vehicle was funded by him and with the support of the Minister for the Canadian militia in 1914, resulting in the creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, world's first motorized unit of that kind anywhere in the world. Although the static nature of the Western front did not gave them much occasions of sustained action, the German spring offensive in 1918 saw them used in active defense and later, taking part in the last offensives, when mobility returned to the battlefield.

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31.03.2021: ZIS-5 (1934)

The ZiS-5 was the second most common Soviet Truck of WW2, after the GAZ-AA family. This 4x4 lorry was built to around 500,000 in various plants, and declined into a multitude of variants. It emerged in 1934 and production stopped in 1948, while it never was really replaced before or during WW2. From late 1941, industrial priorities urged its mass production and in partular the simplifed model V, whereas parallel developments were terminated. Some variants like the 6x4 ZiS-6 never really enjoyed the same success. Many were also captured and served in the German Army and axis allies on the eastern front.

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26.03.2021: 7.62cm Pak-36 r-Auf 5t Zugkraftwagen Selbstfahrlafette ausf SdKfz.6/3 "Diana" (1940)

The 7.62cm Pak-36 r-Auf 5t Zugkraftwagen Selbstfahrlafette ausf SdKfz.6/3, more commonly known "Diana" was a rare conversion (only nine) of the Sd.Kfz.6 troop transport and artillery tractor half track of the Wehrmacht, first designed in 1936 and initially produced by Büssing-NAG, and Mercedes from 1942. It was a tank-hunter conversion featuring a Russian 76.2 mm F-22 universal gun, protected by an armoured box. They were all used (and lost) in North Africa with the Deutsche Afrika Korps and 605 Pzabt.(mot), together with the Panzerjäger-I, also using a captured gun.

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22.03.2021: BTR-D (1974)

The BTR-D was Soviet's airborne troops armoured personal carrier (APC). It was developed following reports of the limitations in the field of the BMD-1 airborne IFV, too cramped to carry effectively four soldiers. In effect, the BTR-D reused much of its IFV brother, but with no turret and a much larger compartment, and longer wheeltrain. Armed with just two PKT bow machine guns, it is a pure APC able to carry three paratroopers in addition to its crew of three. The BTR-D was accepted in 1974 and deployed in all soviet airbone units in the 1970-80s. It also saw service in several conflicts and had been upgraded and declined into a multitude of variants, like the "Nona" self propelled gun. Still active with the Russian, Ukrainan armies and others today.

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17.03.2021: Karl Gerät (1939)

The Karl Gerät self-propelled howitzer was the largest ordnance ever deployed by any belligerent during WW2, outside railway guns. Its caliber was larger than the Sturmtiger, and its range superior, and it was given tailored 60 cm caliber bunker-busting shells to deal with Belgian and French fortifications. However, the wesstern campaign ended before it could be deployed. In all seven of these were built, named after Nordic deities. They served mainly on the Russian Front, dealing with massive fortifications as Sebastopol and elsewhere, even taking part in the battle of the bulge, the warsaw uprizing, or attempting to destroy the bridge at Remagen.