Tag: Cold War
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
Artillery of the Warsaw Pact now available
I’m happy to announce that Artillery of the Warsaw Pact, the third book in my Weapons and Equipment of the Warsaw Pact series, has been released. Artillery of the Warsaw Pact provides a compelli... 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
Remembrance Day 2017
Today is Remembrance Day in the UK. I have a red poppy, and I shall be observing the two minute silence at 11:00. For me, Remembrance Day is a time to remember everyone that has been harmed ... 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
RIP Stanislav Petrov
Yesterday, I found out that Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov has died. He was not well-known. In fact, he died in May, but the news only came out by chance, and even then, news outlets didn’t... Read More