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Abteilung
(; abbrv. ''Abt.'') is a German word that is often used for German or Swiss military formations and depending on its usage could mean detachment, department or battalion; it can also refer to a military division. In German, it is used both for military and civilian departments (as in "office department"). In the military of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Wehrmacht (during World War II), the term was generally a battalion equivalent in the armoured, cavalry, reconnaissance and artillery arms of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. For example, ''Schwere Panzerabteilung'' refers to German heavy tank battalions. However, when the term was used for large military formations, it generally meant "detachment". For example, translates to "army detachment" and '' Korpsabteilung'' to "corps detachment".Walter Dunn, ''Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943'', 1997, p. 61. The German term is used in the same sense as the Russian term ''divizion'' (''дивизион'') or the Polish t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
East German Air Force
The Air Forces of the National People's Army ( [], ) was the air force of East Germany. As with the , the , and the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic, Border Troops, it was a military branch of the National People's Army (NVA). At the end of November 1953, a reorganisation of air units saw air units transferred from the Ministry of the Interior directly to the Deputy Minister and Chief of the Volkspolizei, People's Police. The air regiments were reorganized into the Aero Club 1 (Cottbus), 2 (Drewitz) and 3 (Bautzen), which in turn were divided into two sections. Starting in 1954, additional Z-126 and M-1D from Czechoslovak production were made available. On 1 March 1956 the air force was officially established as part of the National People's Army, following the GDR's entry into the Warsaw Pact alliance. Initially the air force (LSK), with its headquarters at Cottbus, was separate from the (Air Defence, headquartered at Strausberg. It was intended to establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Korpsabteilung
''Korpsabteilung'' ({{Translation, Corps Detachment) was a division-size infantry formation established by the German ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. History During summer and autumn 1943, ''Wehrmacht'' suffered heavy losses in men and materiel at the hands of the Red Army on the Eastern Front. Simultaneously, it had to build up military strength in France prior to the expected invasion and to reinforce the Italian theatre, where the Allies had crossed the Strait of Messina and landed on the Italian mainland at Salerno and Termoli in September 1943. Therefore, the Replacement Army could no longer generate the replacements to bring up to strength formations that had been depleted in the Eastern Front battles.Scherzer: ''Deutsche Truppen im Zweiten Weltkrieg'', S. 277 In order to preserve the cadres and lineage of the divisions that had suffered heavy losses, to economise on supply and support effort, and probably to give an image of greater strength than really existed, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
German Heavy Tank Battalion
A German heavy tank battalion ( was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army during World War II, equipped with Tiger I, and later Tiger II, heavy tanks. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities required it to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad hoc '' Kampfgruppen'' (battlegroups). The German heavy tank battalions destroyed a total of 8,100 enemy tanks for the loss of 1,482 of their own, an overall kill/loss ratio of 5.47 though individual unit ratios ranged from 1.28 to 13. The German losses also include non-combat tank write-offs. – citing http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html which itself cites ''Tigers in Combat I'' by Wolfgang Schneider, ''Tigers in Combat II'' by Wolfgang Schneider, ''Red Army Handbook'' by Steven Zaloga Formation Early formation units experimented to find the corr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the (OKW, "High Command of the Armed Forces"), with some units being subordinated to the (Command Staff ''Reichsführer-SS'') directly under Himmler's control. It was disbanded in May 1945. The grew from three regiments to over 38 division (military), divisions during World War II. Combining combat and police functions, it served alongside the German Army (1935–1945), German Army (''Heer''), ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police), and other security units. Originally, it was under the control of the (SS operational command office) beneath Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Initially, in keeping with the raci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Swiss Alps, Alps and the Jura Mountains, Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's Demographics of Switzerland, 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts List of cities in Switzerland, its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, and Lausanne. Switzerland is a federal republic composed of Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern. It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh language, Romansh. Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
National People's Army
The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Border Troops). The NVA belonged to the Ministry of National Defence (East Germany), Ministry of National Defence and commanded by the National Defense Council of East Germany, which was headquartered in Strausberg - east of East Berlin. From 1962, conscription was mandatory for all DDR males aged between 18 and 60 requiring an 18-month service, and it was the only Warsaw Pact military to offer non-combat roles to conscientious objectors, known as "construction soldiers" (). The NVA reached 175,300 personnel at its peak in 1987. The NVA was formed on 1 March 1956 to succeed the (Barracked People's Police) and under the influence of the Soviet Army became one of the Warsaw Pact militaries opposing NATO during the Cold War. The majority of NAT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
2K11 Krug
The 2K11 ''Krug'' (; English: 'circle') is a Soviet Union, Soviet and now Russian medium-range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The system was designed by NPO Novator and produced by Kalinin Machine Building Plant. Its GRAU designation is "2K11." Its NATO reporting name is SA-4 ''wiktionary:ganef, Ganef'', after the Yiddish (originally Hebrew language, Hebrew) word meaning 'thief'; the name was used because the system resembled the Bloodhound (missile), Bristol Bloodhound. Development and service Development of the Krug ZRK-SD (2K11) air defense system started in 1957 by the Lyulev OKB design bureau. It was first displayed during a parade in Moscow in May 1965. The system started to be fielded in 1967 and became fully operational in 1969. It was used by the Soviet Army as a long-range SAM. The early version of the Krug entered service in 1965. The first operational deployment version, the Krug-A, entered service in 1967, with extensively modified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
OTR-23 Oka
The OTR-23 Oka (; named after Oka River) was a mobile theatre ballistic missile () deployed by the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War to replace the obsolete SS-1C 'Scud B'. It carried the GRAU index 9K714 and was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-23 Spider. The introduction of the Oka significantly strengthened Soviet theatre nuclear capabilities as its range and accuracy allowed it not only to strike hardened NATO targets such as airfields, nuclear delivery systems, and command centers, but moving targets as well. It also had a fast reaction time, being able to fire in approximately five minutes, and was nearly impossible to intercept, thereby allowing it to penetrate defenses. Development During the mid-1960s the Soviets began developing a replacement for the R-17 Elbrus (NATO reporting name: SS-1C Scud B), which had some serious drawbacks including slow launching time, dangerous fuel, and poor accuracy. After starting with some design concepts in 1965−1971, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Scud Missile
A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11 (the first version), and the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus (later developments). The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design. Scud missiles have been used in combat since the 1970s, mostly in wars in the Middle East. They became familiar to the Western public during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Iraq fired dozens at Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Russian service, it has been replaced by the 9K720 Iskander. Development The first use of the term ''Scud'' was in the NATO name SS-1b Scud-A, applied to the R-11 Zemlya ballistic missile. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
OTR-21 Tochka
OTR-21 ''Tochka'' () is a Soviet Union, Soviet tactical ballistic missile. Its GRAU designation is 9K79. Its NATO reporting name is the SS-21 Scarab. One missile is transported per 9P129 vehicle and raised prior to launch. It uses an inertial guidance system. The OTR-21 forward deployment to East Germany began in 1981, replacing the earlier 9K52 Luna-M, Luna-M series of unguided artillery rockets. The system was scheduled to be decommissioned by the Russian Armed Forces in 2020 in favour of the 9K720 Iskander, but they have been observed in use against Ukrainian targets during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Description The OTR-21 is a mobile missile launch system, designed to be deployed along with other land combat units on the battlefield. While the 9K52 Luna-M is large and relatively inaccurate, the OTR-21 is much smaller. The missile itself can be used for precise strikes on enemy tactical targets, such as control posts, bridges, storage facilities, troop concentratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
100 Mm Anti-tank Gun T-12
2A19 or T-12 is a Soviet-designed 100-mm anti-tank gun. It was the first anti-tank gun to adopt a smoothbore barrel, and to introduce modern armor piercing shot, like the APFSDS. It uses long projectiles that are more powerful than its caliber suggests. The T-12 served as the primary towed anti-tank artillery in the Soviet and Bulgarian armies from the early 1960s to the late 1980s. History The T-12 was designed by the construction bureau of the Yurga Machine-Building Plant as a replacement for the BS-3 100 mm gun. The first serial examples were produced in 1955, but the T-12 entered service only in 1961. Its special feature was the use of a smoothbore gun. The T-12 was typically deployed in the anti-tank units of armored and motor rifle regiments to protect flanks against counter-attacks during rapid advances. In 1971, a new variant was introduced, T-12A or MT-12 "Rapira" (2A29). This has the same barrel, but has a redesigned carriage and gun shield. This allows the MT-12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
ATGM
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems. Earlier man-portable anti-tank weapons, like anti-tank rifles and magnetic anti-tank mines, generally had very short range, sometimes on the order of metres or tens of metres. Rocket-propelled high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) systems appeared in World War II and extended range to the order of hundreds of metres, but accuracy was low and hitting targets at these ranges was largely a matter of luck. It was the combination of rocket propulsion and remote wire guidance that made the ATGM much more effective than these earlier weapons, and gave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
