PIAT: An Odd Fellow

The British PIAT grenade launcher, a combination of a medieval crossbow and a modern HEAT grenade, became one of the more unusual examples in its class. Heavy and uncomfortable to use, the PIAT went through many fronts of the Second World War in the hands of Allied soldiers. However, its subsequent career was not long. The weapon did not survive competition from the simpler and more reliable RPG.

M1 Carbine vs Mkb.42(H)

The precision of the MKb 42(H) at ranges of 100, 300, and 500 meters is 1.5 times worse than that of the American M1 carbine.

In automatic fire, the precision of the MKb 42 (H) is unsatisfactory (a burst doesn't fall inside a 1.5 x 1.5 meter target at 100 meters).

The reliability of the automatic mechanism has not been determined.

The design of the sample is complex, but the widespread use of stamped parts deserves attention.

Via kris_reid.

Sd.Kfz.222 Under Fire

A while ago, I posted how German armour fared under fire in Soviet trials. Recently, I found information on a similar British test. This time it was a hatch from an Sd.Kfz.222 being fired upon, but the conclusions were largely the same: German armour is too brittle and has a tendency to flake and crack. The test plate broke into four large pieces under fire from the 15 mm Besa at a velocity matching a range of 1500 meters at an angle of 30 degrees. The quality of the armour was worse than British armour made to I.T.70 requirements.

Upgunned T-38 Trials

"Results of trials of a T-38 tank armed with a ShVAK gun from March 15th to 29th, 1944

T-38 tank #4216 armed with a ShVAK gun converted at factory #105 on January 13th 1944 was presented for trials. The engine ran for 2 hours since the last medium repairs.

After arming it with the ShVAK gun, the tank's weight increased by 400 kg. The tank was tested at 100% of combat weight with a crew of 2 men.

The route and trial conditions are described in the attached journal. 910 km were travelled during the trials (402 km on a highway, 508 km on a dirt road, off-road, and over obstacles). The engine worked for 48 hours and 40 minutes.

KV-85 Turret Upgrade

"To the Chief of the GBTU Tank Directorate, Major-General of the Tank Engineering Service, comrade Afonin

The senior military representative of the GBTU at the Kirov Factory, Engineer-Lieutenant-Colonel Markin reported the following to me on August 31st over radio, 1943 (via comrade Davidenko).

A number of mistakes were made in the KV-85 blueprints, which resulted in the following:

Heavy Trophy

The German heavy Tiger tank left a mark on tank building worldwide. Even though propaganda and memoirs are largely to blame for its fame, the Tiger did really have nearly no competition on the battlefield among the tanks of the Allies. It's not surprising that the tank was thoroughly studied in the USSR, USA, and Great Britain. This article tells the story of how Tiger tanks were studied in the USSR and what conclusions were made, as well as the use of these tanks in the Red Army.

T-45

"To Lieutenant-General Fedorenko

Factory #37 in Sverdlovsk installed a 45 mm gun on the T-60 tank without widening the turret ring, but in a new turret. The positioning is the same as on the T-70. 

The loading conditions are the same as on the T-70.

The weight of the vehicle increased by approximately 400 kg. Ground pressure increased by 0.03. 

Top speed dropped by 5-8 kph (used to be 45 kph, now 38-40 kph). Range not affected.

IS-3, Take One

"Report on experimental work at factory #100 for the first 10 days of June, 1943

Most effort at the factory was directed towards production and assembly of IS-3 components according to altered blueprints and continuation of factory trials of IS-1 and IS-2 tanks, bringing the total distance travelled to 2000 km.

Pershing: Heavy by Necessity

The British Churchill tank was the only one supplied to the USSR by the Western Allies en masse. The US had bad luck with heavy tanks. Work on the Heavy Tank M6 hit a dead end. Nevertheless, heavy tanks did arrive in the American army by the end of the war. These were Heavy Tanks T26E3, standardized as M26 Pershing. However, the T26E3 was rather arbitrarily classified as heavy. In practice, this was a medium tank. Only its mass made it a heavy, and even then, it returned to medium after the war. This article is dedicated to the trials of the T26E3 in the USSR, during which it was compared to heavy tanks.

Last Request

"Report on the requests of imported armoured vehicles as a part of the 5th protocol