Under Pressure

HEAT is a much more complicated armour penetration mechanism than traditional kinetic penetrators, and thus leads to more interesting experiments. For example, in this one, the objective of the test was to determine how effective ERA was at disabling the heat blast, but more importantly, what an ERA block detonation would do to the crew.

The trials were performed on a model simulating a tank with ERA. Rabbits inside the model simulated crew.

Fig. 29. Overall view of model #2 with a U-5TS gun barrel installed.

CKD Export Tanks: An Offer You Can't Refuse

Czechoslovakian tank manufacturing caught up to world standards in the mid-1930s. The P-II, CKD's first light tank and the first mass produced domestically designed tank, was close to the world's leading designs. The LT vz. 35 that won the tender for a new cavalry tank caught up with the rest of the world's leaders. It's not surprising that Czechoslovakian tanks were considered for purchase in countries without a domestic tank design program. This caused the design of the CKD TNH and LTP (Tanque 39); excellent tanks that became the backbone of the Iranian and Peruvian tank fleets.

SU-85 Light

"Installation of an 85 mm D-5 gun in a light SPG

The Gorky Automotive Factory is building an experimental 85 mm SPG using T-70 tank and SU-76M SPG components

Tactical technical characteristics of the prototype:

1. Mass: 12,000 kg
2. Full length with the barrel: 5500 mm
3. Bore axis height: 1670 mm
4. Maximum speed: 35 kph
5. Muzzle velocity: 782 m/s
6. Armour piercing shell mass: 9.2 kg
7. Vertical range: -5° to +15°
8. Horizontal range: +/- 12°
9. Sights:
1. Mechanical with Hertz panorama: 1
2. TSh-15 telescopic: 1
10. Ammunition capacity: 40 shells
11. GAZ-203F engines: 2
12. Total engine power: 170 hp"

CAMD RF 38-11369-492

D-10 CIA Intel

The following are penetration and ballistics tables for the D-10 gun mounted in a T-54 tank recovered by the CIA from a Soviet manual. 

PzI Trials

"Conclusions

After concluding trials of tank #1, it's possible to make the following conclusions:

1. The tank has the following mobility characteristics:
1. Maximum speed on a paved highway in packed snow: 39.96 kph
2. Average speed:
1. On paved highway in packed snow: 25 kph
2. On dirt road covered in loose snow, 200-300 mm deep: 9-10 kph
3. Off road with snow 300-450 mm deep: 6-7 kph
3. The dirt road and off-road performance of the tank in 200-450 mm of snow is satisfactory.

American Ergonomics

Ergonomics in tanks is an important factor, one that I touched on previously in some detail. It turns out that despite certain prevalent stereotypes, the ergonomics of various tank schools are more complicated than many people believe. Having already applied Soviet ergonomics standards to a German design, let us hop across the pond and see what the Americans thought about the topic.

Thankfully, this time, the Fort Knox Medical Research Laboratory report "Adequate Head Room in Tanks" provides us proper measurements, which makes my job a lot easier. The adequate head room for a sitting crewman, excluding the upper and lower 5% of men, is stated as 34" to 38.25", or 86-97 cm. The Soviet "dimensions of an average man" define the same measurement to be 90 cm (35.4"), which falls pretty well in the middle of that range. The American tank helmet adds a whole 1.5" to the height of a tanker by his crash helmet, a thickness that is found to be excessive. At the time of the study (November 27th, 1942), a thinner helmet was already being tested.

Let's see how well average people could fit into American tanks.

Pz.Sfl.IVb: Halfway to the Hummel

German wartime SPGs are well known. However, it took some time to develop the "selbstfahrlafette" concept of a large open casemate, like the one used on the Hummel. Initially, the idea was to built medium SPGs instead of light ones, and their layout differed noticeably from the vehicles that showed up on the battlefield in 1943. Even though German SPGs developed along a different path, the Pz.Sfl.IVb was built and even got to fight.

02SS Aerosan: A Tank in the Snow

The history of the aerosan in Russia and then the USSR is old and varied. The first mass produced aerosans were built in 1912, were actively used in WWI and then the Russian Civil War. Development of aerosans received great attention due to the geographical features of our country. It was not surprising that the Red Army had the largest aerosan fleet in the world during the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, the widely used NKL-26 reconnaissance aerosan was a pale shadow of what was initially planned for production. The wishes of the Soviet military materialized as the 02SS battle aerosan which had no equivalent in any country in the world.

New KV-2 Turret

On May 6th, 1940, the deputy chief of Kirov factory's SKB-4 design bureau proposed a modernized turret for the KV-2 tank.

This new turret was 2000 kg lighter than the old one due to reducing the height by 370 mm and length by 300 mm. The turret would retain 360 degree rotation with a gun elevation of 15 degrees and gun depression of 7 degrees. However, this turret could not be used until the gun recoil length was decreased from 900 mm to 650-750 mm. This was considered unacceptable and the turret was not produced.

Tank Costs, 1943

"To the Deputy Chair of the Council of People's Commissars, comrade Malyshev

I present to you a report on the cost of KV-1S, KV-8S, T-34, and T-70 tanks, their armament and optics.

Type	Cost w/o armament or optics	Cost of armament and optics	Cost of radio	Cost of hull and turret	Cost of engine	Cost of track links
KV-1S	225,000	32,287.95	12,000	65,000	27,000	Link: 105 Pin: 8
KV-8S	234,000	27,033.03	12,000	65,000	27,000	Link: 105 Pin: 8
T-34	135,000 (#183) 162,000 (##112, 174, UZTM, Kirov)	25,589.09 with PT-K 25,614.07 with PT-4-7	3,300	45,000	27,000	With tooth: 51.75 W/out tooth: 36.80 Grousers: 18.60 Pin: 2.40
T-34 (radio)	139,500 (#183) 166,500 (##112, 174, UZTM, Kirov)	25,589.09 with PT-K 25,614.07 with PT-4-7
T-34 (flame-thrower)	139,500 (#183) 166,500 (##112, 174)	31,711.84 with PT-K 31,836.82 with PT-4-7
T-70	61,300	7,702.80		12,500	7,000	Link: 22 Pin: 1
T-70 (radio)	63,800