Tank Encyclopedia's Archives
A sub of Tank Encyclopedia. This is the new archive section, with all former entries, and a search engine. ➀ All single vehicles are accessible by nations and eras in a more consistent and logical way than previously. ADS are needed due to finance better server performances as audience grows. But you can support also it through merchandise here.
➁ New posts weekly. These are mere "entry into matter", for vehicles scheduled on tank-encyclopedia.com, that will be seen in the latter in much more detail. A link from the archive entry will point to the new article when up. There are still circa 2,000 serial armored vehicles to be treated over the years excluding prototypes and paper projects, so tank-afv.com will continue to run until all are treated, and follow the news of armoured vehicles around the world.
☄ About the site name: If a "Tank" is obvious to anyone in this context, "AFV" is an acronym which stands for "Armoured Fighting Vehicle". It is a catch-all definition for all military vehicles armoured (and armed), tracked or wheeled. For soft-skinned vehicles please visit truck-encyclopedia.com. See also The 2015 archive.
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♆ 16/05/2024
M39 armored utility vehicle (1945)
The M39 armored utility vehicle (T41 before standardization) is a US armored vehicle designed during from early 1944 as a prime mover, which saw service only the last days of WW2 in Germany, and after the M5 antitank gun was considered obsolete, as a true utility vehicle and APC in the Korean War. Like a number of vehicles of this type, it was built using an existing chassis, that of the M18 Hellcat. It became also incidentally he first Bundewehr's APC when 32 Schutzenpanzerwagen M39 were in service 1956-1960.
♆ 13/05/2024
Yeramba (1948)
The Australian self-propelled howitzer "Yeramba" was developed in 1948, produced by mounting the 25 pounder gun-howitzer on American M3A5 Grant tank hulls converted by the Ordnance Factory in Bendigo, from 1950 to 1952. The Yeramba was very close in design to the Canadian Sexton and withdrawn from service in 1957, now obsolete compared to newly serviced self propeller howitzers. It remained the only self-propelled artillery introduced into service by the Australian Army before the introduction of the M108. "Yeramba" was a an Aboriginal instrument used to throw spears.
♆ 07/05/2024
BAE Hägglungs Bandvagn Skyddad 10
The BvS10 (Bandvagn Skyddad 10, also known as Bandvagn 410 or BV410 in Sweden, Viking, Warthog and Beowulf for variants in UK) is a tracked articulated amphibious all-terrain armoured vehicle produced by BAE Systems Land Systems Hägglunds of Sweden and by FNSS of Turkey under licence). This vehicle, referred to as the All Terrain Vehicle (protected), ATV(P) or Viking by UK forces, was originally developed as a collaboration between Hägglunds Vehicle AB and the British MoD on behalf of the Royal Marines, developed from 1998 to replace the BV 206 and adopted in 2000. Today more than 700 were ordered, delivered and in construction, for the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany and the US. Ukraine also received 48 in 2023, 15 lost so far.
WW1 Tanks & Armored Cars
Born in the Trenches, when the front became static, the idea of the tank was a resurgence of ...science fiction, when some looked at HG Wells' "land battleships" novel. In UK, development was stirred by Wintson Churchill and the Navy. In France, by an artillery officer, J.B. Estienne. And soon the world took notice. Tanks were rare and few in between still, with grand plans in 1918 that never were realized. When the front was not static, armored cars reigned supreme.
WW2 Tanks & Armored Cars
In 1939, thanks had nearly two decades to evolve at peacetime rate, though the boiling of new ideas of tactics and combined arms, with some armies more acute of these than any others. Ground combat proved absolute masters of these new ideas, the Wehrmacht, with luck and opposite incompetence. After moving to USSR, the fight moved to Africa, then to Italy and back to Western Europe at large, driving fast-paced innovation in a deadly food chain contest.
Cold War Armoured Fighting Vehicles
The atomic age started with the opposition of two superpowers, which developed deterrence but at the same time, always considered conventional warfare. Far from peaceful, this second half century, until 1991, saw gradual improvement, with a gap of twenty years before generations, towards 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation main battle tanks and a cohort of armoured personal carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and many specialized variants, wheeled and tracked.
Modern Armoured Fighting Vehicles
As the recent conflict in Ukraine shows us, the tank is still useful in the frame of a conventional war. However drones unexpectedly showed deadlier as well as artillery. Between 1991 and 2025are we really seeing a radical transformation of ground warfare ? One thing is sure through for all generals: The main battle tank is still king of the battlefield, when well used and accompanied. From city scapes to desert, steppe, rolly hills and mountains, even coming from the sea, the tank adapted and is there to stay.
Upcoming:
South Africa: Bosvark, MRAP Samil-50 Kwevoel RV, Ribbok, Hippo
Israel: Merkava, III, IV, M109A5 Doher/Rochev, Magach 5 Golan, M113 Golan/Zelda Toga (IDF service), MAR 290/90, M3 HT in IDF service, M50 AGM launcher, Haviv MLR, Eshel HaYarden, M2310 shilem
Britain: Vickers Mk.I MBT, Centurion AVRE, Light Mk.IV Colonial Pattern, Light Tank Mk.II, Wasp Carrier, Bren Carrier (update), FV430 Bulldog, FV105 Sultan, FV103 Spartan
USA: M548, M728 CRV, M40 155mm HMC, T12E1 CGMC, M15 Combination GMC, M13 MGMC, M12 155mm SPG, M14 MGMC, M17 MGMC, M39 Carrier, T1 Cunningham, M22 Locust, M3 HMC-75mm, M4 sherman flail, Marmon CTLS, Sherman-MkV-Crocodile, M108 SPG, LAV-300, M113 FIST, M106 MortarCarrier, M577 Command, M103, M110 howitzer
USSR/Russia: 9M317 BUK-M2, 9K330 Tor, 1S91-kvardat, 9K37M1 buk-M (SA-17-Grizzly), 2S35 Koalitsiya, BTT-1, MT-55, 9P157-2 Khrizantema-S, 9P163M-1-Kornet, 2S23 Nona SVK, BMO-T, BMP-2M, BMP-97 Vystrel, BTR-T, Ural Typhoon, R-381T-Taran, R-145BM, STZ-5 tractor/BM-13-16(Ni tank), Pioneer(Komomolets), T26T/BNSP reco vehicle/TP26, Ya12 tractor(T60/70), GT-MU soviet airborne APC, GAZ-2330 Tigr
China: Type 63G mod. light tank, VT4, Yitian-SPAAML, PLZ-07, PLZ-52, PGZ-07, PTL-02, Type 63C APC amphib Ukraine ready: BMP-1U, Varta MRAP, BTR-60M Khorunzhy APC , BTR4 MV1, 2S22 Bohdana
And also: TAB-77, LAV-6, M120 Rak, Archer, T-155 Fırtına, RODEF-4, Pereh-tank-destroyer, T34-D30-SPH, Iranian Rakhsh-APC, Patria II AMV, Light Tank Mark II, Mark III, Spanish AFVs interwar, TAB 77+ B33 Zimbru, Ford Lynx, Rhodesian Crocodile, Serge CDS, Jordan Khalid MBT, Jordan Al Hussein, Leonardo-M60 , wasserwerfer-SK2, BTR-152 vz53 SPAAG, MT-55, BTS-4A, BTS-2, M47M_AVLB, Renault FT command, 370-Recoiless-GunsSPG, TC5000XYB
2025 Announcement
Centennial.
Hundreds of pages, for free
The full catalog: All AFVs of the world by country and eras, 2017 Edition.
Armored Trains.
The New section in development
The same database as for tanks: Railroad networks developed in the XIXth soon found a military use. Before even WWI, train attacks led to armed and armored trains. This had going on for more than a century now. This will cover all WW1, WW2, but also cold war and even recent armoured trains on the long run.
17/05/2025 
Panzerzug BP.42 (1942)
The The BP 42 (long form: "Behelfsmäßiger Panzerzug 1942" where Behelfsmäßiger means "makeshift") was a German armored train class in the Second World War, used by the Wehrmacht. It represented several armored trains produced to be used mosty on the eastern front at the end of December 1942 and replaced by the BP-44. The history, composition, design, organization, tactics, and specific elements of the train will be seen here over the next months with regular updates. First entry: The Kommandowagen. Note that the Panzerträgerwagen ATG-7 already had been covered.
Trucks.
Military Trucks and staff cars.
A dedicated section for softskin vehicles, from WWI to this day: Trucks, staff cars, reconnaissance vehicles, and artillery tractors: Truck-Encyclopedia.com.
YAG-10 (1934)
11.05.2025 In the early 1930s, the Soviet Army realised the need for mobile anti-air defence to protect troops from air attacks, which were becoming increasingly dangerous, and commissioned various SPAA projects. One of these was the 29K, a simple SPAA based on the hull of the Yaroslavl YaG-10 truck, equipped with the 76 mm M1931 AA gun mounted on its reinforced bed. The 29K was created as a cheaper conversion of the cancelled SU-8, which was based on the T-28 tank and armed with the same gun. Between 40-61 YaG-10 trucks were converted into the 29K, and they were deployed for both anti-air and anti-tank duties during the opening stages of World War II. The 29-K was modified to mount a 76 mm AA M1931 gun usable as anti-tank, featuring fast reload rate, high shell velocity, and good anti-tank capability. However, much like any other trucks, the 29K relies entirely on its crew of 6 to survive and is extremely vulnerable to any kind of incoming fire. As such, combined with its average overall mobility, the 29K is a pure sniper and should only be used as such. Due to its configuration, the 29K can deliver precise shots at unsuspecting enemies from behind cover, only leaving its rear half exposed to retaliation.
Older Entries:
MAN SX-45 Sky Sabre (2000) * Pinzgauer 710 (1971) * Ursus A (1925) * Citroën Type 23 (1935) * SAMIL 50 * Bedford MW * Iveco Eurocargo * Dodge M37 (1951) * GAZ-60 (1938) * Land Rover Perentie * 2S43 Malva * Laffly S15 T * MAN SX * BM-21 Grad * M87 Orkan * Albion WD FT15 * Pacific M25 Tank Transporter "Dragon Wagon" * C2P Tractor (1936) * Autocarro Unificato Pesante O.M. URSUS (1939) * ZIL-131 * Faun L900 D567 (1937) * Mack NJU 5-ton 4x4 * KrAZ-6322 * BM-30 Smerch * Isuzu Type 97 * FSC Lublin 51 (1951) * Ford G8T (1942) * SU-12 * Mercedes Benz 250 GD & G class (1978) *
The Antitank-Encyclopedia.
All the means to destroy a Tank.
From early antitank cannons and rifles to missiles, mines and RPGs.
Breda 20mm/65 M1935The Cannone-Mitragliera Breda da 20/65 Modello 1935 was the main Italian light anti-aircraft gun during the Second World War. The gun was developed as an anti-aircraft gun but was also used against light armored vehicles, especially if mounted on the numerous Italian autocannoni (truck mounted artillery), both on captured trucks and Italian produced vehicles. It was the main armament of the Carro Armato L6/40 light tank and of many models of the AB armored car series.
