Tank Encyclopedia's Archives

tank afv 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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New Entries

♆ 12/02/2025
T17E1 Staghound (1943)
The T17E1 Staghound was on in the long line of "hounds" which were manufactured in WW2, most often in small series of evaluation prototypes. The only one that was mass-produced became the M8 Greyhound. The alternative T17E1 Staghound, which lost the contract however interested Britain, and was produced in lend-lease to cover the needs in armored cars of the Allies during the North African campaign. This Ford alternative for for reconnaissance and patrol vehicle was based on a British requirement and produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1942 to 1944, mainly used by Britain and its allies with nearly 4000 built as well by many other countries postwar and even until recently. It was declined also into multiple variants.
Merkava II
♆ 06/02/2025
MERKAVA II Merkava II (1982)
The Merkava Mk 2 Main Battle Tank was a successor to the Mk 1, initiated after the long search for a new modern tank for the IDF, led by Israel Tal. It entered service with the Israeli Defence Force in 1983 and was produced more as lanufacturing capabilities increased with a total of 580 from 1982 to 1989. This was the last Merkava of the cold war, with gradual improvements to its protection from lessons of the 1982 Lebanon War. It has been upgraded and re-designated since entering service wit the latest being the Mk2D as of 2023, tasked with training units but still mobilizable in case of war.
Pansarvarnskanonvagn M/43
♆ 31/01/2025
Swedish tanks Pansarvarnskanonvagn M/43 (1943)
The Pansarvärnskanonvagn m/43 (Pvkv m/43) was a tank destroyer developed by Landsverk. Based on Strv m/42 EH Bild-Lago medium tank, this tank hunter inspired by the German Jagdpanther and Soviet SU-85 was ready for an order in 1942 but production was delayed to early 1946, missng WW2. With the advantage of an adapted 75 mm AA gun, the first version was originally built without a roof in 1946, but the Army Equipment Administration rebuilt these in the 1950s mainly to protect the crews from shrapnel. From 1963 their unreliable engines were replaced by those of reformed m/41 light tanks, with a new transmission to stay active until the 1970s.
ww1

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

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

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

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:

Nissan Crocodile Rhodesia 1980s

South Africa: Bosvark, MRAP Samil-50 Kwevoel RV, Ribbok, Hippo
Israel: Merkava II, 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: FV 433/438 swingfire, Lloyd carrier, 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, M136 VADS, M108 SPG, LAV-300, M113 FIST, M106 MortarCarrier, M577 Command, M730 MIM-72 Chaparral, M103, M110 howitzer
USSR/Russia: 2S7M Malka, 9M317 BUK-M2, 9K330 Tor, 1S91-kvardat, 9K37M1 buk-M (SA-17-Grizzly), 2S35 Koalitsiya, Kamaz Typhoon, 9P148, BTT-1, MT-55, 9P157-2_Khrizantema-S, 9P163M-1-Kornet, 2S23-Nona-SVK, 9P148-Konkurs, 9K31-Strela-10, BMO-T, BMP-2M, BPM-97-Vystrel, BTR-T, Ural Typhoon, VPK7829 Bumerang, R-381T-Taran, R-145BM, PTS-II, 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, GAZ-3937 'Vodnik', M120 Rak (base Rosomak), ShKH vz. 77 DANA, RCH-155, AHS Krab, ShKH Zuzana, 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

Announcement German Tanks
catalog of tanks

Centennial.
Hundreds of pages, for free

The full catalog: All AFVs of the world by country and eras, 2017 Edition.

armoured trains encyclopedia

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.

14/02/2025 l Panzerträgerwagen ATG-7 des BP42/42 (1942)
The Panzerträgerwagen ATG-7 was an armoured flatcar designed for the tail end of a BP 42 or BP 44 class German broad gauge standard armoured train. It was housing generally a Panzer 38(t) as the only mobile component of the armoured train, outside the schienenpanzer that remained on tracks. The system was also used to carry Somua S35 tanks and a prototype self propelled gun on Lorraine chassis. The BP 44 kept the Panzer 38(t) as standard as it was good enough to combat partisans.
trucks

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.
Laffly S15 T
09/02/2025 The Laffly S15 was a family of all-terrain military vehicles sharing the 6x6 drive chassis and anti-ditching rollers. They were built in the late interwar as a light artillery tractor, used by French forces during World War II. But also declined into specific variants such as the S15R personal carrier, the low-profile W15T, the S15C ambulance, the W15 TCC tank hunter and its armoured sub-variant prototype of 1940 as well as the S15 TOE colonial armoured car.

Older Entries:

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) *
antitank encyclopedia

The Antitank-Encyclopedia.
All the means to destroy a Tank.

From early antitank cannons and rifles to missiles, mines and RPGs.

soviet gunZPU-4 (1949)

➾ gun produced in unknown quantities
ZPU-4
The ZPU-4 is a quad 14.5 mm heavy machine gun AA mount somewhat inspired by WW2 Flakvierling and a staple of Soviet AA defence, placed on four wheel chassis supported by four jacks. A popular system produced for many decades it was quite popular albeit a bit less than the lighter ZPU-2, often mounted on "technicals" in low intensity conflicts. The only self propelled variant was the ZTPU-4 based on the BTR-152. It could still defeat 32 mm RHA armour at 500 m thanks to the API (BS.41) Full metal jacket bullet round with a tungsten carbide core and helped to create a high volume of fire with four times 150 rpm in practice (600 rpm cyclic per barrel).