|
Improvised Vehicle Armour
Improvised vehicle armour is a form of vehicle armour consisting of protective materials added to a vehicle such as a car, truck, or tank in an irregular and extemporized fashion using available materials. Typically, improvised armour is added in the field and it was not originally part of the design, an official up-armour kit, nor centrally planned and distributed. Improvised armour is used to protect occupants from small arms, crew-served weapons, artillery (or tank gun) fire, and anti-tank mines. Improvised additions have included metal plate, scrap metal, sandbags, concrete, wood, and, since at least the 2000s, Kevlar. These materials vary widely in their ballistic protection. Improvised vehicle armour has appeared on the battlefield for as long as vehicles have been used in combat. Though usually used in military or conflict contexts, improvised vehicle armour has also been used in non-combat contexts, such as to protect the vehicles of strikebreakers. History World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bison Concrete Armoured Lorry
The Bison was an improvised fighting vehicle frequently characterised as a mobile pillbox. Bisons were produced in Britain during the invasion crisis of 1940-1941. Based on a number of different lorry chassis, it featured a fighting compartment protected by a layer of concrete. Bisons were used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to protect aerodromes and by the Home Guard. They acquired the generic name "Bison" from their main manufacturer. Need With the Fall of France in July 1940, the British Government made efforts to prepare for the threatened invasion. One problem was the defence of airfields against airborne troops. An ideal solution for protecting the open space of an airfield was to use tanks and armoured cars. However, the British Army lacked heavy equipment having abandoned much of it during the evacuation of Dunkirk. An alternative was needed which would not compete for resources with conventional armaments. Inception The Bison was the invention of Charles Bernard Mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continuous Track
Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle better than steel or rubber tyres on an equivalent vehicle, enabling continuous tracked vehicles to traverse soft ground with less likelihood of becoming stuck due to sinking. Modern continuous tracks can be made with soft belts of synthetic rubber, reinforced with steel wires, in the case of lighter agricultural machinery. The more common classical type is a solid chain track made of steel plates (with or without rubber pads), also called caterpillar tread or tank tread, which is preferred for robust and heavy construction vehicles and military vehicles. The prominent treads of the metal plates are both hard-wearing and damage resistant, especially in comparison to rubber tyres. The aggressive treads of the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-154-1986-05, Russland, Sturmgeschütz III Mit Seitenschürzen
The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Claudia Roth since 2021) under the German Chancellery, and before 1998, to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. On 6 December 2008, the Archives donated 100,000 photos to the public, by making them accessible via Wikimedia Commons. History The federal archive for institutions and authorities in Germany, the first precursor to the present-day Federal Archives, was established in Potsdam, Brandenburg in 1919, a later date than in other European countries. This national archive documented German government dating from the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867. It also included material from the older German Confederation and the Imperial Chamber Court. The oldest documents in this collection dated back to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are deposited and left to wait until, depending on their fuzing, they are triggered by the approach of or contact with any vessel. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively, to create "safe" zones protecting friendly sea lanes, harbours, and naval assets. Mines allow the minelaying force commander to concentrate warships or defensive assets in mine-free areas giving the adversary three choices: undertake a resource-intensive and time-consuming minesweeping effort, accept the casualties of challenging the minefield, or use the unmined waters where the greatest concentration of enemy firepower will be encountered. Although international law requires signatory nations to declare mined a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slat Armour
Slat armor (or slat armour in British English), also known as bar armor, cage armor, and standoff armor, is a type of vehicle armor designed to protect against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) attacks, as used by anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Operation Slat armor takes the form of a rigid slatted metal grid fitted around key sections of the vehicle, which disrupts the shaped charge of the warhead by either crushing it, preventing optimal detonation from occurring, or by damaging the fuzing mechanism, preventing detonation outright. Although slat armor is effective against incoming missiles, it does not offer complete protection – as many as 50% of missile impacts are unimpeded by the slat design. Slat armor is more likely to be effective if the spacing of the slats is less than the diameter of the incoming high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round, such as RPG rounds which are commonly 85 mm. Combat history World War I Some of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaced Armour
Armour with two or more plates spaced a distance apart falls under the category of spaced armour. Spaced armour can be sloped or unsloped. When sloped, it reduces the penetrating power of bullets and solid shot, as after penetrating each plate projectiles tend to tumble, deflect, deform, or disintegrate; spaced armour that is not sloped is generally designed to provide protection from explosive projectiles, which detonate before reaching the primary armour. Spaced armour is used on military vehicles such as tanks and combat bulldozers. In a less common application, it is used in some spacecraft that use Whipple shields. Against kinetic penetrators Tank spaced armour has been fielded since the First World War, when it was fitted to the French Schneider CA1 and Saint-Chamond tanks. The late variants of Panzer III had frontal spaced armour: a thick face-hardened steel layer in front of the thick main armour. Impacted projectiles were physically damaged by the 20 mm plate, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antitank Weapon
Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and has since become a fundamental component of land warfare doctrine. Over time, anti-tank warfare has evolved to include a wide range of systems, from handheld infantry weapons and anti-tank guns to guided missiles and air-delivered munitions. Anti-tank warfare evolved rapidly during World War II, leading to infantry-portable weapons. Through the Cold War of 1947–1991, the United States, anti-tank weapons have also been upgraded in number and performance. Since the end of the Cold War in 1992, new threats to tanks and other armored vehicles have included remotely detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, drones and loitering munitions have attacked and destroyed tanks. Tank threat Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms Race
An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and the aim of superior military technology. Unlike a racing, sporting race, which constitutes a specific event with winning interpretable as the outcome of a singular project, arms races constitute spiralling systems of on-going and potentially open-ended behavior. The existing scholarly literature is divided as to whether arms races correlate with war. International-relations scholars explain arms races in terms of the security dilemma, engineering spiral models, states with Revisionist state, revisionist aims, and Deterrence theory, deterrence models. Examples Pre-First World War naval arms race From 1897 to 1914, a Anglo-German naval arms race, naval arms race between the United Kingdom and German Empire, Germany took place. Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landmine
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, which are designed to disable tanks or other vehicles; and anti-personnel mines, designed to injure or kill people. Land mines are typically pressure activated, exploding automatically when stepped on by a person or driven over by a vehicle, though alternative detonation mechanisms are sometimes used. A land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both. Land mines are typically laid throughout an area, creating a ''minefield'' which is dangerous to cross. The use of land mines is controversial because of their indiscriminate nature and their potential to remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming civilians and the economy. With pressure from a number of campaign grou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandbag
A sandbag or dirtbag is a bag or sack made of Hessian (cloth), hessian (burlap), polypropylene or other sturdy materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification in trenches and bunkers, shielding glass windows in war zones, buoyancy compensator (aviation), ballast, counterweight, and in other applications requiring mobile fortification, such as adding improvised additional protection to armored vehicles or tanks. The advantages are that the bags and sand are inexpensive. When empty, the bags are compact and lightweight for easy storage and transportation. They can be brought to a site empty and filled with local sand or soil. Disadvantages are that filling bags is labor-intensive. Without proper training, sandbag walls can be constructed improperly causing them to fail at a lower height than expected, when used in flood-control purposes. They can degrade prematurely in the sun and elements once deployed. They can also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
