Tanks Encyclopedia

The Hotchkiss H39 was an improvement over the previous H35 model, a light infantry tank created for the French 1933 infantry tank program. However, the H35 was rejected by the infantry and ended up being adopted by the French cavalry. The newer H39 model brought a more powerful engine and, from about the 480th tank produced onward, a newer, more potent 37 mm SA 38 main gun was installed. Used widely by the French army in 1940, and then in a secondary role by the German Wehrmacht, a number of H39s were recaptured by the French upon the liberation of the country in 1944. In comparison to other pre-1940 vehicles, the Hotchkiss light tank would see a more extended post-war service, being used by French occupation forces in Germany, in the earliest phases of the Indochina war and exported to the state of Israel upon its creation in 1948.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/hotchk...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

An article by Marisa Belhote 

Video mounted by Jim Zawacki 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by ConeOfArc

In a search to equip its army with modern anti-aircraft vehicles, the JNA (Jugoslovenska narodna armija, Yugoslav People’s Army) High Command decided to negotiate the purchase of over 100 copies of the Soviet ZSU-57-2. These vehicles arrived in the 1960s and would be used to equip armored and tank brigades. The ZSU-57-2 would see action during the chaotic Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. A few vehicles would remain in service up to 2005 in the Serbian Army (Vojska Srbije) and 2006 in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine) before finally being retired from service.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/zsu-57...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

An article by Marko Pantelic 

Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

During the early development of the Panzer IV, nobody involved in the program knew that this vehicle, designed to serve as a support Panzer, would become the Wehrmacht’s backbone for a good deal of the war. While today the Tiger and Panther are better known, the Panzer IV was produced in the greatest numbers and served on all fronts in many bloody engagements throughout the war. In October 1939, the demands for an increasing number of support tanks would lead to the introduction of the Panzer IV Ausf. D version, of which over 200 would be built.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

An article by Marko Pantelic 

Video mounted by Louis Mendoza 

Audio edited by Gabethetanker 

Voicing by Stan Lucian

The G-3 Light Tank Destroyer was the product of the disorganized state of US tank design at the start of WW2. The United States of America formally declared war on Japan, one of the three main Axis powers, on 8th December 1941, following the attack of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii the day before. This was followed, on 11th December, by a declaration of war against Nazi Germany and Italy. The US had been selling arms to the United Kingdom for some time before this though and had started its own military build-up as well, increasing its army strength from just over ¼ million men in 1940 to nearly 1.5 million by the time of entering the war. Nonetheless, it would be some time before the American war machine was in full swing and it had squandered the honeymoon period from the war’s beginning in 1939 to do exactly the development work it needed to deliver an effective tank destroyer. The G-3 Light Tank Destroyer is emblematic of this failure by the US military as the design fails to accommodate the needs of the Army in a new era of tank warfare.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/g-3-li...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

An article by Andrew Hills 

Video mounted by CarlitosSupa 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

After the War, with the removal of the Sherman from British Service, designers began to look for a new flail vehicle based on a new, British-built chassis. Initially, consideration was given to making a flail variant of the FV200 series of universal tanks, then in development as a replacement for the Centurion. However, when development of the FV200 was canceled, the flail version went with it. As such, designers turned to an old faithful – the Churchill, a heavy and obsolete vehicle available in large numbers, and cheap. What would emerge from this became known as the FV3902 Churchill Flail, or as it is more commonly known, the ‘Toad’. Entering service in 1954, the Toad featured one of the most powerful mine flails ever created and became one of the last Churchill types to see service – albeit in a training capacity – with the British Army. It is in the Army that the vehicle gained the name ‘Toad’. Quite why is a mystery, although it may just be because it is a rather ugly vehicle – depending on the eye of the beholder, of course.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/UK/churchill-toad-fv3902-flail-tank/

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Mark Nash 

Video mounted by Jim Zawacki 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

As the Yugoslav Royal Army was in a search of new armored equipment, the Czechoslovak Škoda company was more than willing to offer its armored vehicles products. During the thirties, a few tankettes were presented to the Yugoslav Royal Army but performed poorly on testing so a new vehicle was requested. The following Š-I-D tankette achieved some success and eight were bought, but even this vehicle was deemed insufficient and future improvements were requested. This would lead to the development of the Š-I-j, which was presented to the Yugoslav Royal Army but for unknown reasons was never adopted.  

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-yu... 

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Marko Pantelic 

Video mounted by Louis Mendoza 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

In the early thirties, the German army showed interest in the adoption of new types of armored cars. At that time, the German economic situation was dire, having entered a crisis due to the Great Depression, and for this reason a temporary and cheap solution was needed. This would eventually lead to the adoption of the Kfz. 13 and 14 as temporary solutions until properly designed armored cars could be produced in sufficient numbers. Nevertheless, due to a lack of more modern armored cars, the obsolete Kfz. 13 and 14 would see combat up to the end of 1941.  

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/na... 

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Marko Pantelic 

Video mounted by Jim Zawacki 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

In 1962, the US Armor Association launched a competition for the design of a next generation of Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to replace the M60 Gun Tank in light of advanced Soviet vehicles which were being developed. The goal was to gather ideas as to how people thought the tanks of 1965-1975 might look and left the various designers a lot of freedom in terms of armament and propulsion. Many designs were sent in from around the world but one very close to home came from a serving US soldier, David Bredemeir, based at Fort Knox, the home of the US School of Armor at the time. This design was to eschew conventional suspension, layout, and armament and produce a missile carrier capable of destroying any future Soviet threat. Named the ‘M-70’ (no connection to the MBT-70), presumably for the anticipated in-service date, this vehicle provides a semi-professional glimpse at some of the thinking of the era.  

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/m-70-m...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Andrew Hills 

Video mounted by Alexe 'Carpaticus' Pavel 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos

The concept behind the AS42 "Sahariana" appeared in the minds of Italian designers in 1942, when the famous British and Commonwealth Long Range Desert Groups (LRDG), with their distinctive heavily-armed and unarmored long-range vehicles, were breaking far behind Axis lines, creating havoc in refilling bases or airfields. At the same time, their large-scale reconnaissance tasks were very valuable to Allied intelligence. The Regio Esercito (Italian Royal Army) tried to emulate these units by using a project that SPA-Viberti had proposed a year before based on the chassis of the AB41 armored car, itself derived from the chassis of the Fiat-SPA TM40 medium artillery tractor.  

The AS42 “Sahariana’ was a reconnaissance car, initially unarmed. However, under pressure from the Italian Royal Army's high command, the vehicles received heavy armament. The SPA-Viberti AS42 was rapidly developed at the beginning of 1942. The prototype was presented to the army on July 9, 1942, passed all tests and was put into production in the SPA-Viberti factory in Turin as early as August 1942.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/it...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Arturo Giusti 

Video mounted by Big Turn: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Dt...

Audio edited by Gabethetanker 

Voicing by Lucian Stan

The British FV214 Conqueror Heavy Gun Tank was developed in the early 1950s in answer to the increasingly hostile Soviet Union, and its newly developed heavily armored tanks, such as the IS-3. The 120 mm gun-armed Conqueror was the first and last Heavy Gun Tank produced and operated by the British Army. It had a short service life of just 11 years, from 1955 to 1966. While the Conqueror was based on a hull that was designed to be adaptable, no Self-Propelled Gun was ever built using this hull. Decades later, the popular online game World of Tanks (WoT) – published and developed by Wargaming (WG) – was preparing a new British tank line. Due to poor research or possibly completely intentionally, the top of the artillery tech tree appeared as the ‘Conqueror Gun Carriage’ or ‘GC’, a completely fictional adaptation of the Conqueror chassis which utilizes an archaic 9.2 inch (234 mm) ‘siege gun’ placed in a fixed superstructure.

Article: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/conque...

If you liked this video, please consider donating on Patreon or Paypal! 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tankartfund

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/tankartfund

Our website: http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanksencyclo...

Email: [email protected]

An article by Mark Nash 

Video mounted by Louis Mendoza 

Audio edited by Kraiger 

Voicing by Brian Gaydos