Evolution of the Landship
At the outset of World War I, the British Army possessed a motley collection of motor vehicles including staff cars, trucks and a handful of artillery tractors. The early fighting on the Western Front compelled the British to hastily deploy rudimentary armored cars. And as the front lines became... Read more
Germany Still Loves Its Leopard Tanks
Germany has begun the process of upgrading 103 out-of-service Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 tanks to the latest model, the Leopard 2A7V—an upgrade that will cost the state the equivalent of 760 million euros. The big news is that by revamping and deploying these new vehicles, the Bundeswehr is expanding... Read more
The Media Laughed, But Bob Semple Stood by His Tank
New Zealand wasn’t at risk of a direct attack during World War I. That would change nearly three decades later during World War II with the onset of rapid Japanese conquests in the South Pacific. As New Zealand faced the possibility of a Japanese landing, industrialist and conscription minister... Read more
The U.S. Army Is Repainting Its Tanks Green—Hint Hint
American tanks returned to Europe to deter Russian military adventurism in 2014, and the war machines are there to stay. But the speed of the deployments, coupled with the crews’ busy schedules, left little time to repaint hundreds of M-1 Abrams still colored in desert tan. Their appearance was a... Read more
One Tank to Rule Them All
War nerds love tanks. The battlefield behemoths drove onto the scene in the middle of World War I, replaced the cavalry and became synonymous with war. This week on the show, author Steven Zaloga walks us through the ins and outs of armored vehicles. He explains how the French... Read more
In 1965, U.S. and Dominican Tanks Fought Brief, Violent Skirmishes
Tanks have rarely been used in battle in the Western Hemisphere — and fights between tanks are even rarer. But the Dominican Republic in 1965 was one of the exceptions, when Constitutionalist rebels fought the armored vehicles of invading U.S. Marines in the streets of the capital city, Santo Domingo. Stranger yet, the... Read more
What a T-90 Tank Looks Like After Being Hit by a TOW Missile
For all the videos coming out of the Syrian civil war, a one minute, 31-second clip of a U.S.-made TOW missile slamming into a T-90 tank got more attention than most. In the video uploaded in February, Russia’s most advanced operational battle tank met one of the United States’... Read more
3D Print a Russian Tank!
The Russian defense industry has been using 3D printing technology to create prototype components for the T-14 main battle tank and the rest of the Armata family of combat vehicles. Eventually, Russian industry hopes to be able to build production standard tank components for the Armata and other armored... Read more
Obama to Reinforce Europe With More Troops, Tanks and Artillery
After a week of escalating tensions, Russian tanks and paratroopers, backed by artillery, helicopter gunships and fixed-wing warplanes, flood across the Estonian and Latvian borders. Despite NATO’s best efforts, Russian forces encircle the capitals of both countries in less than three days. Thankfully this is not reality … at least not yet. It’s... Read more
Paraguay Brings Back Sherman Tanks
Paraguay is putting World War II-era M3 Stuarts and M4 Sherman tanks back into service. The country is thought to have three Sherman medium tanks and up to 14 Stuart light tanks in its inventory. The venerable tanks — which are now over 75 years old — were originally designed to... Read more