Mosin Suppressor

"This suppressor, designed by comrades Barnas and Glinin, has a cigar-like shape (see photo #1) and consists of two parts, connected with a tread at the point of the suppressor where the diameter is the largest.

Photo #1 shows the suppressor."

Via Andrei Ulanov

Lend Lease Impressions: Bazooka

60 mm rocket launcher AT M1

60 mm rocket

Tractor Trials

"Trials were performed from June 15th to July 10th at the GANIOP. Corps and high power artillery was used in the trials. 

During the trials, the tractors traveled:

• TD-18 tractor, with a B-4 203 mm mod. 1931 howitzer (in armed condition): 100 km
• TD-14 tractor: 200 km, of those:
• With a Br-10 trailer (the barrel of a B-4 howitzer): 100 km
• With a 152 mm mod. 1937 gun-howitzer: 100 km
• HD-10 tractor, with a B-4 203 mm mod. 1931 howitzer (in armed condition): 100 km
• HD-7 tractor: 225 km, of those:
• With a 152 mm mod. 1937 gun-howitzer: 100 km
• With a 152 mm mod. 1938 howitzer: 100 km
• With a Br-10 trailer (the barrel of a B-4 howitzer): 25 km
• D-6 tractor: 225 km, of those:
• With a 152 mm mod. 1937 gun-howitzer: 100 km
• With a 152 mm mod. 1938 howitzer: 100 km
• With a Br-10 trailer (the barrel of a B-4 howitzer): 25 km

T-34 Turrets at Factory #112

"Overall direction of turret modernization during the war

The design of the turret was changed significantly (see fig. 143).

1. In December of 1941, turrets 34.30sb-7 and 34.30sb-8 were cancelled, and turret 34.30sb-12 was introduced.
2. In January of 1942, turret 34.30sb-12 was cancelled and turret 34.30sb-12-1 was introduced.
3. In March of 1942, turret 34.30sb-12-1 was cancelled and turret 34.30sb-12 was introduced.
4. In June of 1942, turret 34.30sb-12-12 was introduced.

This rapid change in turret likely indicated that the type of turret was unsatisfactory, and the design was only deemed satisfactory after introduction of a new turret with a commander's cupola in 1943 (see fig. 145).

Israeli Sandwiches

When Israeli armoured vehicles are mentioned, one often thinks of Merkava tanks first. Without a doubt, these vehicles are a point of pride for Israel. However, the backbone of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) was composed of converted foreign vehicles for a very long time. The Israelis spent several decades fine tuning the art of adapting vehicles to suit their needs. Everything started with improvised armoured cars, which played an important role in the war for Israeli independence.

Necessary Improvisations

The American movie Fury, which came out in 2014, was memorable, in part, due to the unusual exterior of the tank, which effectively became one of the main characters. Even though Fury's equipment was, at best, "based on a true story", and the M4A2E8 never fought with the American army, the creators of the movie managed to capture the overall idea of field improvisations. These modifications of American tanks in Europe were a widespread phenomenon, and came about out of necessity.

GVG Machinegun

The Red Army started WWII with two infantry machineguns: the light magazine fed handheld DP and heavy belt fed mounted Maxim. Both were quite aged designs by the time, so a replacement was considered. The GVG was one such replacement, eventually morphing beyond all recognition into the SG-43.

Photo #1. Magazine fed GVG machinegun in combat position (bipod with limiters)

Photo #2. View from the right. GVG machinegun in transport position.

KS-77: M-8 on T-40 Chassis

"Meeting minutes for the technical meeting on the issue of producing the first batch of the KS-77 vehicle.

Moscow, Compressor factory, October 7th, 1941

Present:

• Factory director, M.I. Boganov
• NKOM TO Chief, P.F. Ostapchuk
• NKOM TO Deputy Chief, I.S. Zakharov
• Deputy director for special production, I.A. Dorozhkin
• Chief engineer, V.P. Barmin
• Chief of the 1st Section, 3rd Department of the GUVMCh, Military Engineer 2nd Class, comrade Kopylov
• Central Committee of the VKP(b) instructor, comrade Volkov
• Military Repersentative from the GUVMCh, Military Technician 1st Class, comrade Usachev

Conclusions:

SG-122 Conversion

"To the Chief of the Red Army GAU, Colonel-General comrade Yakovlev

Report on the SG-122 SPGs

In December of 1942, factory #40 produced 20 SG-122 SPGs on the chassis of German PzIII and StuG vehicles. Production was later stopped due to defects of the gun mount.

Of the overall number produced, 12 SG-122s were passed on to equip the 1435th SPG Regiment. During fighting on the Western Front, all 12 SG-122s were disabled: of them, 3 were lost irreparably and 9 need factory repairs. Out of those that need factory repairs, 6 vehicles arrived at factory #37 on February 8th, 1943.

Reliability and Repairs in the 2nd Tank Army

At the beginning of the 2nd Tank Army's offensive during the Battle of Kursk, on July 16th, the army's technical services performed an inventory of their vehicles' remaining service life.

Type	Number	Of those, functional	Remaining engine hours
			under 50	50-100	150-200	over 200
T-34	276	238	-	167	71	-
T-70	109	92	-	67	25	-
T-60	17	16	-	16	-	-