Undercover Gun Runners

Czech anti-tank rifles fell into German hands after the annexation of Czechoslovakia, but the Germans got their hands on similar weapons designed in another European country in a different way. When it comes to Swiss (and other European) arms makers, the question of who made the order, who produced it, and who it was sold to often does not have a simple answer.

New Shermans

 "#540431
January 30th, 1944

To L.P. Beria

On the topic of track slipping of modernized American M4A2 tanks in snow, I report that:

1. Modernized M4A2 tanks began arriving in the USSR in the fall of 1943. These tanks have metallic tracks, while all earlier tanks had rubber-metallic tracks with special spurs that could be attached in the winter.

SU-152 Practical Accuracy

The topic of accuracy and precision of Soviet guns comes up a lot. Stereotypically, these guns are depicted in media as being unable to hit the broad side of a barn. Records of trials show otherwise. Here is a record of one such trials at various distances.

The Fight for Sight

Optics often come up in discussions that compare Soviet and German tanks. The famous "Zeiss optics" are often invoked by those who are not very well versed in the subject matter. The issue was not in Soviet sights. Plenty of them survived to this day, and any who wish can evaluate their quality on their own. German tanks were first and foremost superior in their observation devics. Their visibility was better than that of Soviet tanks, which was often a deciding factor in victory on the battlefield. However, the evolution of German observation devices is an interesting topic for discussion.

Warspot Article: Panther's Ins and Outs

The Panther was arguably the most dangerous German tank of WW2, available in greater numbers than the Tiger and equipped with a higher penetrating gun and greater frontal armour. The British dedicated considerable resources to finding out its weaknesses, starting long before they had to face a Panther tank in combat. Read about what they found in my latest article on Warspot.net.

SU-76M Experience

 "Report by the Commander of the Armoured and Mechanized Forces of the Leningrad Front
#0174917
July 31st, 1944

The SU-76 shows itself well in battle, but the open top and rear as well as a lack of machine gun in a ball mount are significant drawbacks.

In battle, the SU-76 fights alongside infantry among its ranks within range of enemy machine gun fire and grenades. The SU-76 crews are completely open and singular submachine gunners can come up from the flank or rear and destroy the crew with submachine guns and grenades. This is characteristic of battles in forests.

Balls of Soviet Tanks

Tank protection is developed based on information about anti-tank weapons of the potential enemy, physics of interaction between those weapons and a tank's armour, and the conditions in which tanks are used and that they fight in. An analysis of anti-tank weapons is a necessary step towards designing tank armour. In the 1950s it became clear that further improvement of tank protection simply through improving the characteristics of steel alloys is impossible. This was primarily true when protecting the tanks from HEAT warheads. The idea to use fillers to protect from HEAT ammunition appeared during the Great Patriotic War, but was not developed until after its conclusion.

Tiger Weak Spots

The Tiger is a pretty iconic tank and is mentioned pretty frequently in Soviet anti-tank manuals, but penetration diagrams for the big cat are hard to come by. The one in the collection I posted earlier is very simplistic and does not really give a lot of details. Fortunately, this diagram provides a little bit more information, if only for the 76 mm ZIS-3 gun.

As in the Panther diagram, red represents APCR, blue is AP, and green is HE. 

As can be expected, the front of the Tiger is a pretty tough target. The only hope with AP is to penetrate either the driver's viewport or to jam the turret. APCR also points at the turret ring. The maximum range for this kind of attack is 500 meters. At 800 meters, you can hope to knock off the tank's tracks with HE.

From the sides there are more options. The side of the turret and hull are vulnerable to AP and APCR from 800 meters, which matches some instructions I've seen. At this range you can also use AP or HE to hit the idler or drive sprocket, immobilizing the tank.

Future of SPGs

"Prospective development of Red Army self propelled artillery
July 25th, 1945

The Red Army's self propelled artillery branch was born during the Great Patriotic War and evolved considerably during this period. Experimental work on SPGs was done before the war, but the vehicles produced at that time were not well received and were not developed further. The necessity of having self propelled artillery became obvious during the fierce fighting. The main aim of self propelled artillery was to fight alongside tank units and support them in combat against enemy tanks.

Eternal Proving Grounds in the Middle East

Throughout the various Arab-Israeli wars of 1948-1982 Israel, Egypt, and Syria received foreign military vehicles in large amounts. The Middle East was an excellent proving grounds to compare the performance of Soviet and Western military vehicles in real combat. Let's see which vehicles Israeli and Arab tankers got their hands on and how they performed over the decades of conflict.