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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♆ 20/09/2024
FV 438 Swingfire
The FV438 Swingfire was an armoured anti-tank vehicle derived from the FV 430 series, a conversion of the FV 432 armoured personal carrier to accommodate a twin Swingfire anti-tank guided missiles launcher, with its reload system and 12 more missiles thanks to its two firing bins. It was introduced in the early 1970 in the British Infantry Regiments and Royal Armoured Corps, then after the 1977 reform to the Royal Artillery, then passed onto ATGM troops in Armoured regiments in the early 1980s. The FV 438 never saw action (but the missile was) and was phased out in 1985.
♆ 11/09/2024
RM-70 (1972)
The RM-70 (Raketomet vzor 1970) multiple rocket launcher was developed in the cold war for the Czechoslovak Army as a national replacement for the Russian BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher. Mounted on a national 8x8 truck chassis and featuring proper protection, it was designed for enhanced performance over its parent and better protected, while still being considered as an area-saturation rocket artillery system. The RM-70 was introduced in 1971 and earned the NATO designation M1972. It was also exported to East Germany, Bulgaria and Libya before the end of the cold war and ends today across 21 armies, including North Korea building an unlicenced version.
♆ 27/08/2024
Borgward IV
During World War II, the Wehrmacht had under its disposal three remotely operated demolition vehicles, the small Goliath (Sd.Kfz. 302/303a/303b), medium Springer (Sd.Kfz. 304) and heavy Borgward IV (Sd.Kfz. 301). The latter was not only the largest of the three, it was also capable of being manned directly, not "disposable" unlike the others, to release its explosive charge and retreat for a remote radio-controlled detonation at a larger distance. 1181 were made in three versions, Ausf A, B, C, and 56 of the panzerjäger Wanze with rockets for antitank actions in the street of Berlin in 1945.
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 2024are 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 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: 9P148 Konkurs, 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
2024 Announcement
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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.
18/09/2024 
Kozma Minin, PL-4 AA/Artillery Railcar (1942)
Kozma Minin was a World War II armored train, named for a Russian merchant who helped Prince Dmitri Pozharsky to defend Russia against a Polish invasion in the early 17th century. The armoured train was completed in February 1942 featuring an armoured locomotive, trailer, two AA/Rocket armoured railcars and two twin T-34/76 tank turrets/four light machine guns railcars. This update is about the M-8 rocket launcher plus two M1939 37-mm anti-aircraft guns. Kozma Minin and BP-660 soldiered in 1942-45 from Ukraine to the outskirts of Berlin.
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.
BM-14
14.09.2024 The BM-14 was the name of a weapon system composed of a rocket launcher, either 16 or 17 barrels depending of the type (BM-14-16/17) and improved (M) variants mounted on a veriety of trucks, ZIL-151, 157, 131, GAZ-63A and GAZ-66 for the lighter 4x4 BM-14-17 later variants. It was produced in the thousands to replace the WW2 legacy BM-13 Katyusha systems and replaced gradually in the 1970s by the BM-21 Grad. It was also largely exported and saw combat from the 1960s to in the Middle east to 2013 in Syria, still used by a few countries.
Older Entries:
Dodge D-15 (1941) * Laffly S 35 T (1937) * ZIL-157 * Scammell Pioneer TRCU * AT-L * Scammell Pioneer SV1S/T * Borgward B3000 (1938) * 9K720 Iskander * Scammell Pioneer * Renault TRC-36R * Voroshilovets (1939) * Austin K2/Y * SPA AS.37 * Type 95 Kurogane * ZIL-135 * Land Rover 2a LWB SAS * F.N. AS 24 "tricar/trike" * BM-27(9P140) Uragan * Berliet GBC 8 TK (1965) * Ford Taunus (1963) * Fiat 634NM (1933) * Chance vought M561 1+1/4-ton 6x6 "Gama Goat" (1969) * Mercedes L3000 (1938) * BM-13 Katyusha * Fiat SPA CL-39 (1939) * GMC 353 Bofors * Scania T112 (1981) * Isuzu TSD-45 and HTS 11/12 (1960-80) * 9K33 OSA * Caterpillar D7 * Fiat 508 CM * Komintern Tractor * Morris CS8 * M35 series * Krupp Protze * SPA Dovunque 35 * Citroën-Kégresse P17 * Magirus-Deutz Jupiter * GAZ-51 * M274 Mule * CMP Chevrolet C60S * Toyota Land Cruiser Prado * Autocarreta OM * OTR-21 Tochka * Leyland Retriever * Studebaker US6 * Breda TP 32 * R380 Hades TEL * JSDGF Trucks * Sd.Kfz.7 * GAZ 63
155 mm GIAT Howitzer M1950
