Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank 1965–95

Author: Michael Jerchel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1846037468
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
Development of the Leopard 1 can be traced back to November 1956, when the operational requirement for a new battle tank was formulated by the Federal German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Originally a Franco-German project, the tank under design was named the 'Standard-Panzer'. The French later dropped out, however, and on 1 October 1963 the 'Standard' tank was officially named 'Leopard', an appropriate choice considering Germany's wartime pedigree with the formidable Tiger and Panther. This book traces the development and service record of the Leopard 1, detailing its control systems, modifications and variants.

Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank 1979–98

Author: Michael Jerchel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782006958
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 111

Book Description
In 1963 West Germany and the United States signed an agreement to develop the best tank in the world the MBT/KPz-70. Though by 1970 this project was stopped, West Germany used the components created for the MBT/KPz-70 to develop a new main battle tank the Leopard 2. Since 1979, when the first Leopard 2 rolled off the production line, the Leopard 2 has undergone various modifications, and has been exported to various European countries. Enhanced by Osprey's signature colour plates and cutaway artwork, this book examines the development of the Leopard 2 from the first batch to its evolution into the improved Leopard 2 A5, detailing its features and variants.

T-72 Main Battle Tank 1974–93

Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805550
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The Russian T-72 Ural tank is the most widely-deployed main battle tank of the current generation. Used by the armies of the former Warsaw pact and Soviet Union, it has also been exported in large numbers to many of the states in the Middle East. This book reveals the previously secret history behind the tank. Steven J Zaloga examines the conditions under which the T-72 was designed and produced. Technical aspects of the weapon are also discussed, including its EDZ reactive armour which, when it first appeared in December 1984, gave NATO a nasty shock.

Cold War Gone Hot

Author: Ambush Alley Ambush Alley Games
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849085374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Book Description
"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.†? – Ronald Reagan, 1984. With these words, spoken as a sound check to a radio broadcast, President Reagan came dangerously close to igniting the long-simmering Cold War. Although Soviet forces were placed on alert following reports of this comment, the full-scale conflict between the West and the Soviet Bloc did not break out. Cold War Gone Hot, the latest companion volume for Force on Force, looks at the 44-year history of the Cold War and asks: "what if?†? With the orders of battle, vehicle stats and missions included in this volume, Force on Force players can simulate the advance of Soviet tanks across Western Europe, a thrust into Alaska, or any number of other plausible scenarios where history took a slightly different path.

British Battleships 1914–18 (1)

Author: Angus Konstam
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780961685
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 changed the face of naval warfare. The first half-dozen dreadnoughts were all improvements of the basic Dreadnought design, all carrying ten 12-inch guns. It was only in 1911, with the launch of HMS Neptune that the layout of this powerful armament was altered as a result of practical experience. Two more versions of the Neptune entered service later that same year. These nine improved dreadnoughts formed the core of the British High Seas Fleet. They would soon, however, be outclassed by a new breed of “super dreadnoughts”, the subject of the second volume in this two-part story. While these new battleships carried larger 13.5-inch guns, they proved less successful as all-round battleships than their more lightly-armed predecessors. One last 12-inch gun dreadnought entered service in 1914, when a seven turret battleship being built for the Turks was commandeered by the Royal Navy, and re-named HMS Agincourt. This New Vanguard title, the first of two covering these famous warships will uncover the full story of the British battleships of World War I. The book will look at their revolutionary design, the 12-inch guns that provided them with their firepower, and the way these guns were fired in anger.

Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 (1)

Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849089868
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
This volume will detail the history, weapons and tactics of the Japanese destroyers built before the war. This includes the famous Fubuki class (called “Special Type” by the Japanese, which were, when completed in the late 1920's, the most powerful class of destroyers in the world. This design forced all other major navies to follow suite and provided the basic design for the next many classes of Imperial Navy destroyers. This book will also cover the three classes built before the Special Type which were based on a German World War I design as well as two classes built after the advent of the Special Type. All of these ships had a rich history as they fought from the first battles of the Pacific War up until the very end when several accompanied the superbattleship Yamato on her death sortie. The final part of the book will be an analysis of the destroyer designs covered in the book which will include an examination of their strengths and weaknesses. The success (or lack of success) of these designs will be discussed and they will be compared to comparable Allied destroyer designs.

M103 Heavy Tank 1950–74

Author: Kenneth W Estes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1849089833
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The T43 design represented the pinnacle of U.S. Army tank engineering of the late 1940s. The heavy tank proved fairly popular with its crews, who above all respected the powerful armament it carried. The outbreak of war in Korea brought a rush order in December 1950 which led to a complete production run of 300 vehicles. After 1951, the Marine Corps alone retained confidence in the heavy tank program, investing its scarce funds in the improvements necessary to bring about its fielding after a hurried production run in midst of the 'tank crisis' of the year 1950-51. The eventual retirement of the M103 in 1972, over 20 years after manufacture and after 14 years of operational service, demonstrated the soundness of its engineering. It may have been the unwanted 'ugly duckling' of the Army, which refrained from naming the M103 alone of all its postwar tanks. For the Marine Corps, it served the purpose defined for it in 1949 until the automotive and weapons technology of the United States could produce viable alternatives.

M4 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank 1943–65

Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805577
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The M4 Sherman tank was the mainstay of the Western allies between 1942 and 1945. Fast and modern it was a big success and was transported as far afield as Russia and North Africa. The American Chief of Staff claimed in November 1943 it was 'hailed widely as the best tank on the battlefield today...'. However, by the Normandy invasion of June 1944 this was not the case: the new German heavy tanks such as the Panther and Tiger were completely outclassing the Sherman. This title covers the M4 version armed with the 76 mm gun, examining developments such as the HVSS suspension, using much new archive material.

T-34/76 Medium Tank 1941–45

Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805542
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The T-34 was the most influential tank design of World War 2. When first introduced into combat in the summer of 1941, it represented a revolutionary leap forward in tank design. Its firepower, armour protection and mobility were superior to that of any other medium tank of the period. This superiority did not last long. While the T-34 underwent a series of incremental improvements during 1943, it was being surpassed by new German tank designs, most notably the Panther. This title traces the life of the original T-34 through all its difficulties to eventual success.

T-34-85 Medium Tank 1944–94

Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805569
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Book Description
The T-34-85 tank is one of those rare weapons that have remained in service for more than half a century. First introduced in 1944, it has seen combat in nearly every corner of the globe. Steven Zaloga and Jim Kinnear look at this long-serving tank at length. Although long obsolete in Europe, it has proven a reliable and potent weapon in many Third World conflicts, and is still in service with more than a dozen armies around the world.