Hello, Commanders.
Today we break with all norms and offer you something rather unusual instead of specials and offers: a fan research tree. Just to be clear, no, there are no plans to bring it into the game, or generally to bring another nation into the game. But sometimes it’s just fun to let your imagination run wild. I’m sure that’s what Mizutayio thought, who is behind this concept for a Swiss research tree. Continue reading “World of Tanks – Fan tech tree: Switzerland”
We have updated the History page, which can be accessed by clicking here or by clicking the „History” button under the site logo. Plenty of great historical articles await. Highlights: new line proposals, Romanian + Hungarian tanks, bizarre Soviet projects, various WoWS line proposals (the Spanish one is the least known about) and many others. Enjoy reading!
I will make this rather personal, as this is mostly letter is dedicated to You, our readers. Continue reading “PSA: Armored Patrol 2.0 Project – Things going forward into 2020.”
You may find the other articles of this serie by clicking here. Enjoy your read!
On May 28th, 1928, General Estienne informed the Ministry of War of the interest of a powerful tank of 40 to 50 tonnes, with 6 or 7 cm of armor, and equipped with a high velocity 75 mm gun. This tank, which would be called “char d’arrêt”, was favorably received as early as July 9th, 1928 by the Minister as part of the defense of fortified areas. A first approach points out that the armor, in order to withstand tank attacks, should be around 10 cm thick. On the 13th of July, General Estienne had the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (FCM) study a project on the following bases :
– Railway transport, similarly to the 2C tank
– Armament: two 75 mm guns (700 m/s velocity), with a rate of fire ranging from 12 to 15 rounds per minute
– Speed : about 5 to 6 km/h in cross-country conditions
– Vertical armor: 10 cm on 3 faces, or 15 cm frontal armor with 6 to 7 cm of side armor
The theoretical study takes place, starting from the tank B1 and the tank 2C, with results in mass greater than or equal to 100 tonnes, with such dimensions that the turning capacities are altered. In July 1928, it’s envisaged to have a vehicle in two unsuspended parts, with 10 cm of frontal and side armor, weighing 70 to 80 tonnes, and with a top speed of 6 km/h: a crawler platform (with two electric engines) with double 75 mm gun turret, and a « factory-vehicle » (two generators and two electric engines) fueling the “turret” vehicle thanks to flexible ropes.
Due to the poor practicability of this concept, a second 60-65 tonnes draft was made in August 1928, this time with a single vehicle armed with just one marine 75 mm gun Mle 1922 CA (850 m/s velocity), in the hull, within the axis of the tank, aimed through the tracks, and powered by a Sauter-Harle engine (250 to 270 hp). The maximal armor was 12 cm, and the top speed was 6 km/h. Continue reading “TAP Special #6 : Chars d’arrêt FCM & STCC”
Source: EU Portal
Reading our articles, you might have come across the terms “autoloader” and “autoloading guns”. But we never took the time to dig into the history of this technology. Fortunately, our latest Top of the Tree, dedicated to the AMX 50 Foch B, is the perfect opportunity to talk about this mechanism and its origins.
As you can probably imagine, loading the gun of a tank takes quite a while, especially when you have to do everything manually. In fact, tank specialists consider that 70 to 75% of the time necessary to fire a shot is spent loading the gun. Consequently, if you want to increase your firepower, one of the first things you can tweak is the reloading time. This question was asked pretty early on in tank history, and one of its answers is automating the loading process. Hence the name “autoloader” which we can define as the complex mechanisms that ensure loading the gun can be done without the participation of a human loader.
Believe it or not, autoloaders are closely connected to the history of tanks in general, and the most essential qualities of these vehicles. Because of the early developments of tanks in World War I, such as the British Mark I and its side-mounted guns, the typical tank became a turreted vehicle. The Renault FT embodied this vision, and aboard this tank, all firing actions, from guidance to the aimed shot, were performed by one person.
The Renault FT (image source: Wikipedia)
This setup remained the same on most vehicles from World War I to early World War II, and was only refined by new mechanisms assisting these actions and their performers, whether that would be one or more persons. However, tank battles of the Second World War revealed the striking capabilities of different types of ammunition. Transitioning from one to the other with ever-increasing calibres confirmed the importance of rate of fire and cemented the need for a change from manual to automatic loading.
As part of a joint project between Sputnik Belarus and Wargaming, celebrities tell military stories of their families.
Continue reading “Frontlines Album – Collaboration between Sputnik and Wargaming to tell military stories of their families.”
Article from warspot.ru translated by comrade Robopon for TAP. It’s his first translation, so please provide feedback.
IS-7 (ИС-7) was born in a strange and difficult time for the soviet tank industry. The Red Flag over the Reichstag brought not only the joy of victory but also problems for all aspects of Soviet post-war industry. Destroyed cities needed to be rebuilt, evacuated factories needed to be brought back, everything needed to be changed.
The Commissariat of Tank Industry was reformed into the Commissariat of Transport Engineering and in early 1946 it was renamed into a Ministry of the same name. Wartime fighting vehicles needed to be upgraded according to a new doctrine for the time of peace. They needed to be more reliable in order to provide longer service, since immediate war losses weren’t a factor anymore. A lot of works on future projects were terminated and others were developed with lesser enthusiasm.
Among those post-war projects was a tank later named “Object 260” («Объект 260»). The works on this one started way back in 1944. It was planned that this vehicle would embody all advancements of Soviet heavy tank design at that time. The project was assigned to the design bureau of Josef Kotin at Experimental Factory № 100.
Other variants of this project were created in the spring of 1945: “Object 257”, “Object 258” and “Object 259”. After all considerations, the final variant of the vehicle was presented and designated “Object 260”, more known as IS-7.
Over 20 institutions and science facilities were assigned for its development. They proposed a lot of unique technical solutions never used before in such machines.
The working blueprints of IS-7 were finished already in September 1945. The frontal armor was made similar to the IS-3, but much thicker, 150 mm of upper front plate (pike nose) instead of 100 mm of its predecessor. The mass of the vehicle was quite impressive at 65 tons.
The Armored Patrol 