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BT Tank
The BT tank (, lit. "fast moving tank" or "high-speed tank") was one of a series of Soviet light tanks produced in large numbers between 1932 and 1941. They were lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for their time, and had the best mobility of all contemporary tanks. The BT tanks were known by the nickname ''Betka'' from the acronym, or by its diminutive ''Betushka''. The successor of the BT tanks was the famous T-34 medium tank, introduced in 1940, which would replace all of the Soviet fast tanks, infantry tanks, and light tanks in service. Design The BT tanks were "convertible tanks". This was a feature that was designed by J. Walter Christie to reduce wear of the unreliable tank tracks of the 1930s. In about thirty minutes, the crew could remove the tracks and engage a chain drive to the rearmost road wheel on each side, allowing the tank to travel at very high speeds on roads. In wheeled mode, the tank was steered by pivoting the front road wheels. According to histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Tank
A light tank is a Tank classification, tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller with thinner vehicle armour, armor and a less powerful tank gun, main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility (military), mobility and ease of transport and military logistics, logistics. They are primarily employed in the screening (tactical), screening, armoured reconnaissance, armored reconnaissance, skirmishing, artillery observer, artillery observation, and supplementing landing operations in a fire support role of expeditionary warfare, expeditionary forces where larger, heavier tanks are unavailable or have difficulties operating safely or efficiently. The fast light tank was a major feature of the pre–World War II army buildup, where it was expected they would be used to exploit breakthroughs in enemy lines created by slower, heavier tanks, with the goal of disrupting communications and supply lines. Numerous sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DT Machine Guns
The Degtyaryov machine gun ( literally: "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27/DP-28 is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was primarily used by the Soviet Union, with service trials starting in 1927, followed by general deployment in 1928. Besides being the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun (LMG) during World War II, with various modifications it was used in aircraft as a flexible defensive weapon, and it was equipped on almost all List of tanks of the Soviet Union, Soviet tanks in WWII as either a flexible bow machine gun or a Weapon mount#Coaxial, co-axial machine gun controlled by the gunner. It was improved in 1943 producing the DPM, but it was replaced in 1946 with the RP-46 which improved on the basic DP design by converting it to use belt feed. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern RPD (weapon), RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s. Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gun Turret
A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in some degree of azimuth and elevation (cone of fire). Description Rotating gun turrets protect the weapon and its crew as they rotate. When this meaning of the word "turret" started being used at the beginning of the 1860s, turrets were normally cylindrical. Barbettes were an alternative to turrets; with a barbette the protection was fixed, and the weapon and crew were on a rotating platform inside the barbette. In the 1890s, armoured hoods (also known as "gun houses") were added to barbettes; these rotated with the platform (hence the term "hooded barbette"). By the early 20th century, these hoods were known as turrets. Modern warships have gun-m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christie M1931
The Christie M1931, known as the Combat Car, T1 in US Cavalry use and Medium Tank, Convertible, T3 in Infantry branch, was a wheel-to-track tank designed by J. Walter Christie for the United States Army using Christie's ideas of an aero-engine and the novel Christie suspension to give high mobility. The M1931 was Christie's first tank to be accepted for production by the US Army and was used briefly by experimental tank units. Christie's design had more influence in Europe, with the USSR and the UK developing Christie's ideas in the form of ''Bystrokhodny'' (fast) tanks and cruiser tanks respectively. Development The Christie M1931 originated as the M1928, which used Christie's suspension, and had the ability to run on its tracks or the wheels. The M1928 was demonstrated unofficially to the US Army by traversing a route at an average speed of ; by contrast the US Army's T1E1 tanks – expected to replace their WWI-era M1917 light tanks – averaged over the same route. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amtorg
Amtorg Trading Corporation, also known as Amtorg (short for ''Amerikanskaya Torgovlya'', ), was the first trade office, trade representation of the Soviet Union in the United States, established in New York City, New York in 1924 by merging Armand Hammer's Allied American Corporation (Alamerico) with Products Exchange Corporation (Prodexco) and Arcos-America Inc. (the U.S. branch of All Russian Co-operative Society, ARCOS, also known as "Russia House" or "Soviet House" in Great Britain). History Formally a semi-private joint-stock company and American corporation, Amtorg occupied a unique position in the market as the single purchaser for a communist state. Even though it did not officially represent the Government of the Soviet Union, Soviet government, it was controlled by the Foreign trade of the Soviet Union, People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade and, prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and the USSR in 1933, served as a de facto trade delegation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christie Tank
The Christie suspension is a suspension (vehicle), suspension system developed by American engineer J. Walter Christie for his tank designs. It allowed considerably longer movement than conventional leaf spring systems then in common use, which allowed his tanks to have considerably greater cross-country speed. The system was first introduced on his M1928 design, and used on all of his designs until his death in 1944. History Christie advocated the use of lightweight tanks with long range and high speed, designed to penetrate enemy lines and attack their infrastructure and logistics capabilities. A major problem with tanks in World War I was tracked suspension failure. Christie's first tank design of 1919 could be driven on its wheels to get to the starting point and then the tracks fitted before it went into action. The US Tank Corps ordered a single tank from Christie's company based on this design. The tank, known as the Christie M1919, M1919, was delivered in early 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blitzkrieg
''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with artillery, air assault, and close air support. The intent is to break through an opponent's lines of defense, dislocate the defenders, confuse the enemy by making it difficult to respond to the continuously changing front, and defeat them in a decisive : a battle of annihilation. During the interwar period, aircraft and tank technologies matured and were combined with the systematic application of the traditional German tactic of (maneuver warfare), involving the deep penetrations and the bypassing of enemy strong points to encircle and destroy opposing forces in a (cauldron battle/battle of encirclement). During the invasion of Poland, Western journalists adopted the term ''blitzkrieg'' to describe that form of armored warfare. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Offensive Plans Controversy
The Soviet offensive plans controversy was a debate among historians as to whether Joseph Stalin had planned to launch an attack against Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941. The controversy began with Soviet defector Viktor Suvorov with his 1988 book '' Icebreaker: Who started the Second World War?'' In it, he claimed that Stalin used Nazi Germany as a proxy to attack Europe. The thesis by Suvorov that Stalin had planned to attack Nazi Germany in 1941 was rejected by a number of historians, but at least partially supported by others. The majority of historians believe Stalin sought to avoid war in 1941 because he believed his military was not prepared to fight German forces, though historians disagree on why Stalin persisted with his appeasement strategy of Nazi Germany despite mounting evidence of an impending German invasion. Suvorov's main argument, that the Soviet government was planning to launch an offensive campaign against Nazi Germany, has been widely discredited as a hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chain Drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. Most often, the power is conveyed by a roller chain, known as the drive chain or transmission chain, passing over a sprocket, with the teeth of the gear meshing with the holes in the links of the chain. The gear is turned, and this pulls the chain putting mechanical force into the system. Another type of drive chain is the Morse chain, invented by the Morse Chain Company of Ithaca, New York, United States. This has inverted teeth. Sometimes the power is output by simply rotating the chain, which can be used to lift or drag objects. In other situations, a second gear is placed and the power is recovered by attaching shafts or hubs to this gear. Though drive chains are often simple oval loops, they can also go around corners by placing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infantry Tanks
The infantry tank was a tank classification, tank concept developed by the United Kingdom and French Third Republic, France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily vehicle armour, armoured to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy fire. The extra armour came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow-moving foot soldiers. Once an attack supported by infantry tanks had broken through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines, faster tanks such as cruiser tank, cruiser or light tanks were expected to use their higher speed and longer range to operate far behind the front and cut Line of communication, lines of supply and communications. The infantry tank was superseded by the "Universal Tank" concept which could adequately perform the roles of both infantry and cruiser tank, as represented by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-34
The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank weapons. The T-34 had a profound effect on the conflict on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front, and had a long-lasting impact on tank design. The tank was praised by German generals when encountered during Operation Barbarossa, although its armour and armament were surpassed later in the war. Its main strength was its cost and production time, meaning that German panzer forces would often fight against Soviet tank forces several times their own size. The T-34 was also a critical part of the mechanized divisions that formed the backbone of the Deep operation, deep battle strategy. The T-34 was the mainstay of the Soviet Red Army armoured warfare, armoured forces throughout the war. Its general specifications remained n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each word in all caps with no punctuation. For some, an initialism or alphabetism connotes this general meaning, and an ''acronym'' is a subset with a narrower definition; an acronym is pronounced as a word rather than as a sequence of letters. In this sense, ''NASA'' () is an acronym, but ''United States, USA'' () is not. The broader sense of ''acronym'', ignoring pronunciation, is its original meaning and in common use. . Dictionary and style-guide editors dispute whether the term ''acronym'' can be legitimately applied to abbreviations which are not pronounced as words, and they do not agree on acronym space (punctuation), spacing, letter case, casing, and punctuation. The phrase that the acronym stands for is called its . The of an acron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
