Totally Tanked podcast

Between the Siegfried Line and the Soviet IS3 the western powers put a lot of thought into heavy tanks in the late war period.

Totally Tanked is here to figure it all out with you!

What could have been an incremental improvement on the legendary T-55 instead became a revolutionary tank as a string of weird co-incidences and sliding doors moments lead to a the end of cannon rifling and the invalidation of steel armour.

Todays western tanks with their composite armours and smooth bore cannons are the response to the Soviets development of the T-62, a tank we're going to get to know a whole lot better in this episode!

In this episode we have the extraordinary tale of the little Czech tank that humbled the France.

This episode also features a chat with Jack Bowsher the author of Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in Burma.

Romania has its own tank program, and in this episode we unpack just why that might be as we look at the TR-85!

Also we talk to a Romanian about Romania, some thoughts on new Leopard variants, western tanks performance in Ukraine, and God's lager doesn't taste as sweet as it did when we wore younger men's clothes.

In the dark days of the First World War captain of industry Louis Renault looked on the tank building efforts of the allies and decided it could be done better.

In the process he created the tank as we know it today.

Few tanks have seen as much combat as the M48 Patton, and few men have had as much to do with tanks as George Patton. 

This podcast takes on the legacy of both the tank and the man.

So what have the Italians wrought with their strange little orphan fleet of tanks?

It's got issues...

Britain spent years getting their big tank ready for D-Day, but in the end one greedy industrialist de-railed the best of plans and gave them a sadly crappy tank.

This is the story of Cromwell.

(Note: This episode was recorded on 18 Feb 2024, we got confused about the year at the start)

Totally Tanked gives you the rundown on China's premier tank, the Type 99A.

We also take a look at what reccent developments in Ukraine, Gaza, and Yemen mean for Chinese tank deployments, particularly surrounding Taiwan.

Possibly the best light tank of the second world war, the M24 Chaffee would take its big gun and low logistics requirements all around the world blazing a lightly armoured path through the hottest moments of the Cold War.

The halftime interview features Hugh Cullimore talking about the Murrayville Tank Graveyard.