Tanks Encyclopedia Archives

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WW1 - The Great War, where it all started

From mud, barb wire and trenches

WW1 UK and France started development of tanks in order to save the lives of their soldiers. The first idea was to bring them right in eney trenches across the no man's land, but the tank quickly became a killing machine integrated in combined arms operations.

WW2, the Golden Age of Tanks

The armour golden age

Never so many tanks had the occasion to fight. From the Jungles of Guadalcanal to the arid desert of Libya, the icy and windy steppes of Russia and the rainy bocage of Normandy. Tanks with infantry.

The Cold War

Modern Armoured Fighting Vehicles

It takes two diametrally opposed superpowers to make a cold war. The USA and USSR, together with their own alliances, forged a new generation of armoured vehicles learning as it went from numerous proxy wars.

Modern AFVs

Tanks are alive and kicking !

AFV means "Armored Fighting Vehicles". First of an array of acronyms such as MBT, IFV, APC, SPAAG, SPAAML, SPG, SPH, SPRL, ARV, AVLB well known by the military of all nations today. Part of the professional army parlance today.

New entries: SEO Posts pending review

New Entry 25.02.2021: DAF YP 408 (1975)

The DAF YP-408 started as a Royal armoured transporter of the Dutch household guards in case of impending atomic war. From a sturdy 4x6 truck chassis by DAF, its was transformed into a 6x8 APC. From this base, with over 800 manufactured, about eight main variants and six sub-variants of this vehicle was produced and used by the Dutch Army in Suriname and Lebanon, and also used by Portugal, Chile and Suriname.

Former entries

New Trucks Entry 22.02.2021: Ford Marmon Herrington artillery tractor (1936)

The T9 was the main prototype for the 2/M3 half track car of ww2. It was also called in Canadian service the Ford Marmon Herrington tractor, where it was sed by artillery units. Forgotten today, this is the development leading from the acquisition of the Kégresse pattern in 1931 to the M2/M3 half track cars. This is the story of the American half tracks produced by several companies, notably Cunningham, White, Ford, Linn, and GMC.

New Entry 19.02.2021: PHZ-89 (1989)

The type 89 was developed from 1985 to 1989 as the Chinese premier (Self-Propelled) Multiple Rocket launcher System (MRLS), approved in 1989 but entering service in 1990 so it's as much a modern vehicle than a cold war one.

New Entry 14.02.2021: The GMC CCKW Truck (GMC 353/352)

The GMC (General Motors Corp.) CCKW was the most produced truck of WW2 with some 572,000 vehicles and the second most prolific after the Ford GP (The Jeep). It was declined in many types, including the amphibious DUKW, but the most common version by far was the GMC 353. Reliable and dependable beast of burden known also as the 2-1/2 ton 6x6 truck was the classic offroad-capable multi-use medium truck of WW2, the cornerstone of the red ball express which supplied allied armies from Normandy to Bavaria, and was still active in the US national guard in the 1980s (Military Trucks section)

New Entry 10.02.2021: The SdKfz 254 (1936)

Started as a German Experiment, later copied in Austria, and took over after the Anschluss in 1939... by the Germans, the vehicle known as the Saurer RR-7 was quite unique, as the unique wheel-cum track vehicle in service with the Wehrmacht during the war. Under German supervision it was armoured, armed, and a handful were produced, around 170, used as artillery tractors and artillery observation vehicle in north africa and Russia under the waffenamt designation Sd.Kfz.254.

New Entry 06.02.2021: The 2K12 Kub (SA-6 "Gainful" Carrier)

The 2K12 "Kub" was the main tracked armoured carrier for the medium-range anti-aircraft ground-to-air missile SA-6 (NATO codename "Gainful"). In service from 1967, it has been designed by NIIP/Vympel and MMZ (GM chassis) and manufactured by the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant unti 1985 to around 500 vehicles, and declined into the 2K12 Kub, 2K12E Kvadrat (export version), 2K12M3, 2K12M4, exported 33 countries, and seeing action in a dozen conflicts, still in service today.

New Entry 30.01.2021: The M60 Sabra (1993)

The M60T Sabra was an Israeli radical modernization of the M60T, which was the already modified Turkish version of the M60 Patton Main Battle Tanks, of which thousands have been delivered to the Turkish armed forces since the 1980s. The M60T Sabra is derived from the Magach 7 and numerous Israeli versions of the M60 Tank. It has been produced to around 300 vehicles, deployed notably in Syria and Libya among others.

New Entry 26.01.2021: The Landsverk Unimog (1955-58)

The Landsverk Unimog resulted from the marriage of the Unimog SH chassis developed by the company (since 1951 part of Mercedes-Benz), with an armoured body made by Landsverk, developed betwen 1955 and 1957 and manufactured to around 24 vehicles and four prototypes, sold to the Belgians which deployed them in congo in the 1960s, also used there by Ethiopîan troops under UN mandate, and the remainder by irish forces. However the vehicle was slow, underpowered and dangerously overloaded, and it was scrapped in the 1980s. Nine variants, tried or on paper were developed but the technical alliance never went beyond.

New Entry 22.01.2021: The BMD-2 (1985)

The Soviet BMD-2 was the second IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) developed specifically for the paratroopers. It was basically a modernized BMD-1, according to the lessons of Afghanistan, made to operate in such theater of operations. However the collapse of USSR meant the BMD-2, which development started in 1981 had a production run at Volgograd Tractor Plant of about 2,500 vehicles, stopped in 1991. It was modernized since, an the version M is intended to upgrade all vehicles, of which around 850 are in service today, for 1,500 in reserve and a few in Ukraine. They saw action in several conflicts but are now superseded by the larger BMD-3 and are to be replaced by the BMD-4 in the 2020s.

New Entry 18.01.2021: The Type 90-II MTB

The Chinese PLA Type 90 Main Battle Tank represented an evolutionary step, proceeded from the T-85, which in turn was a Chinese copy of the T-72. But if the Type 90 shared most of its components with the Type 85, the turret was heavily modified to house a brand new 125 mm smothbore autoloaded main gun. Known in its variant II, derived from the Type 85-IIM, it also introduced ERA semi-active protection. The Type 90-II was refused for production by the PRC but its development went on for export solely, leading to the VT-1 and Al-Khalid, for which 550 had been built for six customers.

New Entry 15.01.2021: The SU-122/54

The Soviet SU-122/54 was a tank hunter developed in 1948-1954 with many delays, on the ever changing basis of the T-54 medium tank, to carry the 122 mm D49 tank gun, and to perform the role of US/British heavy tank destroyer. The gap bewteen the first three roadwheels made some NATO experts believed it was base don the T-62 chassis. Since priorities changes however during production, it was cut to just 77 vehicles, and their service lasted until the 1970s.

The Land Rover is one of the most iconic British vehicle of the post-war period, created at first to save Rover from banckrupcy in very difficult context, and met such a success it became its own brand in time. The military was quick to be interested in this rugged 4x4 vehicle able to carry seven men in a short space. The vehicle and all its series and variants were widely exported through a production spanning from 1948 to the 1980s, before the Defender took over. It was also produced in Australia, Belgium (Minerva), Spain (Santana) and declined into the armoured Shorland, also widely exported as a security vehicle. This is the first post of the Trucks section.

The Italian VBM Freccia ("VBM" roughly translates into "Infantry Fighting Vehicle" is today's standard Italian 8x8 modular infantry fighting vehicle, developed from the Centauro wheeled tank and used as an APC, IFV, mortar carrier, ampbulance and recovery vehicle, with also an NBC reconnaissance variant. Introduced in 2006, it is currently ending its production, pending replacement by the new Freccia EVO developed from the Centauro II wheeled tank, by the Iveco-Oto-Melara Consortium (CIO).

New Entry 24.12.2020: The Ford GPA ("SEEP") (1941)

The Ford GPA was the result of an US Army Ordnance specification for the "QMC-4 1/4 Ton Truck Light Amphibian", via the Motor Transport Board, an amphibious Jeep. Ford was chosen to produce about 12,000 vehicles as its "Government ('G') Amphibious, 80-inch wheelbase ('P')" or "GPA". But in service the "Seep" was never popular and its production was quickly terminated, although the numerous lend-lease vehicles given to the Soviets inspired a cold war equivalent, the GAZ 46 MAV.

New Entry 20.12.2020: The M35 Prime Mover

The "Fully Tracked Prime Mover, M35" was created by the US Ordnance as a stopgap measure before the fast tractor M6 was available. The M33 and M34 declared "substitute standard" were converted from the M32 and 33 ARV, derived from the M3 Lee and M4 Sherman, but the now obsolete M10 was requisitioned to be converted as tracked prime movers, artillery tractors for the M1 Howitzer and M1 8-inch gun "Long Tom". They soldiered on in Italy and Northern Europe until it was retired, including in an enclosed cabin version.

David's Tank Encyclopedia

7,000,000 visitors and counting since 2011

History

Tank Encyclopedia started quietly as a SEO experiment by me with a scratch-built php website, well coded and lightning fast. The tank subject a that time was covered by already a dozen of websites, but there was room for a different concept. Being both an illustrator and webmaster specialist by trade was a gift for technical and aesthetic aspects, less so for the content itself, not being a tank nerd or native speaker. The team quickly took care of that and brought quality to a whole new level. The initial challenge was completed as in three years as the website's pages arrived on top of google, just behind wikipedia. It could have stopped there. But this story is obviously not over. The goal is still to cover ALL models, and in the long run, military vehicles at large, lass than the tanks prototypes covered on the homepage.

Legendary Illustrations

2000+ dedicated illustrations has been made since at least 2009, one of the most proficient collection of that genre on the planet. What makes them so special is the use of photorealitic patterns and elements on photoshop and a method that allow reuse of elements and "mass production". The aim of each page is to bring to modellers all possible references of sub-types and variants deduced from photos and references, with accuracy in mind, and a constant quality and style for easy comparison.
Did your knew military cars and trucks, TELs and other vehicles than tanks were covered ? Discover the military vehicle section

For Modellers

There was no particular angle taken by the author on tank encyclopedia, at first less for historians/nerds and more for modellers. These illustrations made their way in edition, from National geographic, to the World @ war series, Pen & sword, Amber books, and many other publishers, as well as in video and table games. But hold on, the final reference book for modellers is currently on the works. Schedule will depend of the current events (COVID curfew). This book will present perhaps three thousand color references for all armoured vehicles from WWI to this day, covering all nations. The absolute bible on this matter.

2015 archives

In 2015, now six years ago, the static php side was converted into a dynamic CMS with wordpress. Appearance was still quite striking by then. Click the image.

E-BOOK: Tank Encyclopedia's catalog

Catalog - Tank Encyclopedia by David Bocquelet on Scribd

Enjoy the 2017 edition. A much larger 2020 edition is brewing, coming in December...

Archives WW1 & interwar

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