Category: Cold War
Soviet 100mm T-12 & MT-12 Anti-Tank Gun
The T-12 was developed as a replacement for the D-48 85mm anti-tank gun, and was the first smoothbore anti-tank gun to enter service, in 1961. The decision to adopt a smoothbore barrel led to improved... Read More
M65 “Atomic Annie” Was Not The Only Nuclear Gun
Recently, I saw a link to an Atlas Obscura article about the M65 “Atomic Annie”. The M65 was a US 280mm artillery gun that could fire nuclear ammunition. The article claims that it was the world... Read More
The Swedish Strv 103 (S-Tank)
Development of the Stridsvagn 103 began in 1958, led by Bofors. A contract was awarded in 1959 for two prototypes, followed by a pre-production order from the Swedish army for 10 vehicles in mid 1960.... Read More
Czech vzor 77 Dana SP Gun-Howitzer
In the late 1970s, Czechoslovakia began development of a wheeled 152mm self-propelled gun-howitzer. The result was the vzor 77 Dana, which entered service with the Czech army in 1981. It had an eight-... Read More
FV4401 Contentious: Britain’s S-Tank?
In the 1950s, the British army investigated the possibility of a main battle tank weighing around 20-30 tons. Named the FV4401 Contentious, it was part of Project Prodigal, which eventually led to the... Read More
Soviet Military Innovation in the Cold War
During the Cold War, there was a tendency in the West to believe that the Soviet system, and in particular the Soviet army, could not innovate. It was sometimes assumed that innovation was the sole pr... Read More
Ghosts of the East: Soviet AFVs that never existed
During the Cold War, both sides did what they could to hide the capabilities of their military equipment. As Sun Tzu advised, “A military operation involves deception. Even though you are compet... Read More
Bridging the Gap: Warsaw Pact River Crossing
During the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact armies studied the disposition of rivers in western Europe. It concluded that they would have to cross water obstacles up to 100m wide every 35 to 60km. Every 100-... Read More