M47 Patton

The M47 Patton was a US Army main battle tank deployed during the Cold War, between 1950s and early 1960s. It was also fielded by the US Marine Corps. The M47 was developed from the M46 by the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant. It was mass produced by the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and American Locomotive Co, entering service in 1952. More than 8,000 units were built.

The M47 Patton was armed with an M36 90mm rifled gun fitted with an M12 optical rangefinder. The front hull and turret was protected by 100mm-thick steel armor. The M47 was propelled by a Continental AVDS-1790-5B V12, air-cooled, twin-turbo gasoline engine, delivering 810 hp. It was also equipped the M12 stereoscopic rangefinder, which was designed to improve first-round hit probability.

 

As a new main battle tank, the M48, became operational in 1954, the M47 was declared obsolete in 1957. Nevertheless, it remained in service for a few more years in the US Army infantry divisions. The M47 tanks were used by the Reserves for a relatively short time, but was soon replaced by early production M48 Patton series tanks. Thus, most of the M47s were exported in the late 1950s.

Specifications

Type: main battle tank
Weight: 47 tons
Width: 11ft 6.25in (3.51 m)
Length: 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m)
Height: 11 ft (3.35 m)
Crew: 5 (commander, driver, assistant driver, gunner, and loader)
Engine: 810hp, Continental AVDS-1790-5B V12, air-cooled, gasoline engine
Maximum speed: 30 mph (48 km/h)
Range: 100 miles (160 km)
Weapons: one M36 90mm rifled gun; one 0.5 in (12.7 mm) M2 machine gun; two 7.62 mm machine guns

Below, upper and rear view of the M47 Patton in 1952

 

Heinkel He 111

The Heinkel He 111 was a WW2 medium bomber in service with the Luftwaffe from 1935 to 1945. It was massively produced, with more than 6,000 aircraft. The most widely used version was the He 111H. This German bomber first saw combat action in the Spanish Civil War, as part of the arsenal of the Condor Legion. During World War II, it would play an important role in the German Blitz, the bombing of London in 1940 and 1941.

Technical Characteristics

The Heinkel He 111 was designed in 1934 by Siegfried and Walter Gunter under the guise of a fast civil airliner, but which was capable of a quick adaptation for a bombing role. As a matter of fact, the new aircraft was a twin-engine scaled up variant of the He 70, which had entered service with the Lufthansa early in 1934. The bomber versions had accommodation for five crew members.

The Heinkel He 111 was fitted with straight wings, mounted low on the fuselage. They were dihedral, angling upwards and wide at the base. The wings were built around a two-spar structure, which carried through the fuselage fore and aft of the bombays. Meanwhile, the fuel tanks were located inboard and outboard of the engine nacelles. The rear portion of fuselage was empty and it was used as a stowage space for the master compass and the emergency dinghy.

Variants

The Heinkel He 111A-0 and He 111B-0 were the pre-production models, while the He 111C-0 was the 10-seat, airliner variant, which entered service with the Lufthansa in 1936. The He 111B-1 would be the first production bomber, which was shipped to Spain to fight in the civil war. The He 111E featured more powerful engines; Junkers Jumo 211A-1, delivering 1,000 HP. Meanwhile, the Heinkel He 111H-1, 111H-2, 111H-3, and 111H-4 would be introduced in 1940 and they would participate in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. These latter versions were equipped with two 1,100-HP, Jumo 211D engines.

Specifications (He 111H-16)

Type: Medium night bomber/pathfinder

Length: 16.40 m (53 ft, 9 in)

Wingspan: 22.60 m ( 74 ft, 1 in)

Wing Area: 86.50 square meters (931.1 sq. ft)

Height: 4 m (13 ft, 1 in)

Powerplant: two 1,350-HP, Junkers Jumo 211F-2 inline piston engines

Maximum Speed: 435 km/h (270 mph)

Range: 1,950 km (1,212 miles)

Crew: 5

Armament: one 20mm MG FF cannon; one 13mm MG-131; seven 7.92mm MG machine guns. Bombload: 2,500 kg (five 500-kg bombs).

Below, two Heinkel He 111H-3 bombers on their way to the Eastern Front

A color photo of a parked He 111H-7 at an airbase, with maintenance personnel about to load a 500-kg bomb onto the aircraft.

The same German bomber in flight in the skies over France in 1940.

 

Pchela 1T

The Pchela 1T was an unmanned aerial vehicle developed and built by Yakovlev between 1988 and 1990. It had been in service with the Russian Air Force until 2017. This drone was used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions and flew over enemy held territory. It was employed during the Syrian Civil War. Based on the Pchel 1, the export version was marketed as the 'Sterkh' and the 'Shmel'.

Equipped with a TV reconnaissance camera, the Pchela 1T had performed its first test flight on September 28, 1989. In the course of the trials, it logged a total of 50 flight hours between them. The test flights did not always worked fine, because a total of six prototypes got lost in crashes. It would first be shown to the public during the Moscow Aerospace Exhibition in 1990.

Technical Characteristics

The Pchela 1T was fitted with straight, cantilever, shoulder-mounted wing of rectangular shape, with ailerons. It featured a recovering parachute, which was stowed in the dorsal area housing above the wing. It was powered by a 440cc, two-stroke engine, delivering 35.5 HP. Each cylinder had its own carburettor and fuel pump.

The Pchela 1T autopilot consisted of a computer, into which the flight program was loaded, a compass, a vertical gyro, and a yaw/pitch/roll sensor. It was also fitted with electric servos for the control surfaces and engine throttle. For the reconnaissance missions, its TV camera had a zoom lens. Under the nose, it also had a thermal imager installed on a gyrostabilized platform.

Specifications

Type: tactical, reconnaissance, aerial vehicle.

Length: 2.78 m

Wingspan: 3.25 m

Launch Weight: 138 kg

Combat Radius: 60 km

Flight Altitude: between 100 to 3,100 m

The Pchela 1T with its green-grey camouflage paint.

Below, the Pchela 1T being launched in 1993.

Heinkel He 114

The Heinkel He 114 was a coastal patrol floatplane used during World War II. It was in service with the German Luftwaffe in limited number between 1939 and 1945. It was not produced in large numbers as most of them were exported to European countries before the war. Three basic versions were built; the He 114A, 114B, and 114C.

The main combat use of the the Heinkel He 114 took place in 1941 when the aircraft was utilized in coastal patrol off the coast of the Black Sea during Operation Barbarossa. At that time, it was part of the 1.SAGr-125 of the Luftwaffe. It could carry out this type of mission in that area until 1943. During this German offensive, it was also employed by the Rumanian Air Force.

Technical Characteristics

The the Heinkel He 114 was a two-seat, single-engine biplane. The two decks of the wing were joined by pairs of "V" shaped struts. The landing gear consisted of two fixed floats to land on sea. The aircraft was powered by one BMW 132K, 9-cylinder, radial engine, which delivered 960 horsepower.

Specifications

Length: 11.65 m (38 ft, 2 in)

Wingspan: 13.60 m (44 ft, 7 in)

Wing Area: 43.27 square meters (455 sq. ft.)

Height: 5.23 m (17 ft, 2 in)

Maximum Speed: 335 km/h (208 mph)

Range: 920 km (570 miles)

Ceiling: 4,900 m

Below, the Heinkel He-114B in the Summer of 1941

Chieftain Tank

The Chieftain tank was the most powerful armored combat vehicle in the arsenal of the British Army during the first part of the Cold War. It was also the first main battle tank in the world to feature a 120-mm gun, long before the emergence of the Abrams and the Leopard 2. The rest of the tanks at that time, such as the American M60 Patton, the French AMX-30, and German Leopard 1, were fitted with a less powerful 105-mm gun.

The Chieftain had originally been designed in 1951 under the blue-print designation Medium Gun Tank No 2 as a replacement for the Centurion main battle tank. However, the prototype would be produced several years later, in 1959. Having undergone troop trials with a batch of 40 vehicles, this impressive British tank was finally accepted for service in 1963 as the Chieftain Mk I.

Below, the Chieftain Mk 6 in 1986.

This reliable British main battle tank first saw combat action during the Iraq-Iran War, in the 1980s, and during the 1991 US-led Operation Desert Storm. Due to its big-caliber gun, it turned out to be an excellent tank destroyer. During the Cold War, Chieftain Mk 2, Mk 6, and Mk 11 versions were deployed in West Germany with the British Army of the Rhine. The British exported this tank to Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Oman. In British service, it would be replaced by the Challenger 1 and 2.

Specifications

Type: Main Battle Tank

Weight: 56 tons

Hull Length: 7.5 m (24 ft, 7 in)

Width: 3.66 m (12 ft)

Height: 2.9 m (9 ft, 6 in)

Armor: Steel: 127-mm-thick on the glacis; 350-mm on the front of tower.

Armament: one L11A5, 120-mm rifled gun; two 7.62-mm machine guns, one on top of turret, the other a coaxial one.

Powerplant: one Leyland L60, 750 HP, diesel engine

Maxium Speed: 43 km/h

Range: 500 km

Below, the Chieftain Mk 2 at a military base.

Chieftain Prototype in 1961

Convair B-58 Hustler

The Convair B-58 Hustler was an American supersonic bomber of the Cold War years. It was the first strategic bomber to fly faster than the speed of sound. Developed and produced by Convair, its prototype performed its maiden on November 11, 1956. More than two months later, on December 30, 1956, this new aircraft would break the sound barrier, flying above Mach 1.

Convair manufactured 116 B-58 Hustlers, which would be in service with the US Air force from 1960 to 1970; a very short career, if we compare it with the B-52 or B1, which are still in service. Although it was an advanced aircraft in the 1960s, this strategic bomber never saw combat action as it was never deployed in Vietnam.

Technical Characteristics

The Convair B-58 Hustler was a three-seat, strategic, supersonic bomber. It was fitted with fixed delta wings, which were mounted on the middle of fuselage. The crew sat in individual cockpits, with the navigator sitting right behind the pilot, and the defensive system operator in the rear cockpit.

The bomber was equipped with a powerful attack radar system, which was mounted in the nose of aircraft. The landing gear used 16 tires, which were filled with high-pressure nitrogen. The aircraft was powered by four General Electric J79-GE-5B turbojet engines.

Specifications

Type: long-range strategic bomber

Length: 29.49 m (96 ft, 9 in)

Wingspan: 17.32 m (56 ft, 10 in)

Wing Area: 143.35 square meters (1543 sq. ft.)

Height: 9.58 m (31 ft, 5 in)

Maximum Speed: 2218 km/h (1376 mph)

Range: 8,250 km (5,126 miles)

Armament: bombload of 8,823 kg (conventional and nuclear bombs and air to surface missiles)

Below, the Convair B-58 Hustler in flight in 1963.

Panzer IV Ausf G

The Panzer IV Ausf G was the first version of the PzKpfw IV that featured the 7.5 cm KwK 40 long-barrel gun. This weapon was a powerful, high muzzle velocity anti-tank gun, which could destroy any Allied tank from a distance of 1,500 m, using the Pzgr Ptr 40 shell. This long-barrel 75mm L/48 gun was introduced at the end of 1940, replacing the short-barrel 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 tank cannon, which had been used as close support weapon for infantry troops. However, this new version would first see combat action at the beginning of 1942, on the Eastern Front.

Technical Characteristics

The Ausf F2 designation was only provisional as it would be replaced by the Ausf G designation by mid 1942. However, they were basically the same improved model. This upgraded version not only featured a much longer gun barrel but also a new gun mantlet and cradle. Its armor was also reinforced with the addition of a 30mm-thick steel plate welded on the hull front (glacis), totalling 80mm in thickness. It also featured new optic sights. The PzKpfw IV Ausf G would be used during Case Blue in the Summer of 1942. Employing the armor-piercing ammunition Pzgr Ptr 40, its new gun had the impressive muzzle velocity of 940 m/s.

The Ausf G on the Eastern Front, right before the Battle of Kursk.

M3 Stuart

The M3 Stuart was a light tank used by the Allied forces during World War II. Being produced from July 1940, it entered service with the US Army in 1941, with approximately 23,000 units being made by 1945. It was also employed by the Canadian, the British, the Soviet, and the Free French Army on every front of this armed conflict. Despite of its weight and underpower gun, it was a mechanically reliable armored vehicle. It first saw combat action in late 1941, in Operation Crusader, during the Allied North African Campaign. It would still be used during the Cold War as an excellent anti-insurgent weapon in Third World countries against communist guerrillas.

Technical Characteristics

The M3 Stuart was a light tank, which was developed from the M2, whose armor was improved with the addition of thicker steel plates.  The M2 height was reduced with the removal of the commander’s cupola. In the M3, welding replaced riveting as it offered better protection for the crew, as rivets dangerously flew inside the tank when hit by enemy rounds. It was fitted with two 2-wheel bogies on each side, with spring suspension, plus the front sprocket wheel and the back idler wheel. It was powered a 7-cylinder Continental W-670 gasoline engine that delivered 250 HP. A later version would be powered by a twin V-8 Cadillac gasoline engines. This armored vehicle was equipped with a 5-speed automatic transmission, with 4 forward and 1 backward.

Armament

The M3 light tank was fitted with a 37-mm gun, which was a towed field anti-tank gun mounted in the small turret of the vehicle. It was also armed with three 7.62-mm Browning M1919 machine guns.

Specifications

Weight: 15.2 tons

Length: 4.8 m (15 ft 10.5 in)

Width: 2.3 m (7 ft 6 in)

Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 5 in)

Maximum Speed: 58 km/hour

Range: 160 km

Crew: 4

Below, the M3A3 version in Europe, in July, 1944.

Below, the M5 Stuart, which was an upgraded variant of the M3. It incorporated a larger box-like bulge at the back of the turret to house modern radio equipment as it was powered by twin 8-V Cadillac engines.