About tracks, thick steel and more
Looks can be deceiving and perhaps all the more in the case of this half-track. You’d be forgiven for thinking this is a German-built SdKfz 251, but in reality we are looking at a post-war Czechoslovak half-track. In this article I will lay out the history of both vehicles and introduce you to some of the telltale signs which will
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Hah, yet another Leopard 2 prototype! I stumbled upon these images of a Leopard 2 prototype waaay back when I administrated a site solely about the development of the Leopard 2. The original author of the photos was so kind to let me post them. This specimen was found at the Sennelager Truppenübungsplatz, Germany. Photos below courtesy of Peter van
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Last weekend, 24 & 25 August, the Nationaal Militair Museum (NMM) in Soesterberg held its annual summer event dubbed ‘Zomeroffensief’. Last year’s summer event focused heavily on aircraft. This year, too, many aircraft could be admired along the runway in a static-show format. Among the jet fighters were a McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II as well as Lockheed TF-104 Starfighter,
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In the last week of February a new exhibition was opened in the Nationaal Militair Museum, Soest, The Netherlands. This exhibition, dubbed “When the Russians come”, is dedicated to the Cold War and tells the tale of rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union as well as the tense situation in Europe that resulted. An audio tour leads the
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In this interesting video from the German Bundeswehr Classix series, the “new” Leopard 2 Kampfpanzer is introduced. The video begins by showcasing the Leopard 2 Austere Version (AV) and in particular the combination PT 20 / T 21. It is very likely that this video was created when Leopard 2 series production had just commenced as only prototypes are shown. In 1979,
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What we have here is what I first presumed to be a Leopard 2A4FIN: the Finnish variant of the Leopard 2. It is, however, some sort of hybrid as it seems to lack all features that are typical to a Finnish Leopard. In 2002 Finland procured some 124 Leopard 2 tanks of the A4 standard from the German army’s surplus
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In this post I’ll look at another Leopard 2 prototype (yes, again!). This one can be found in the Musée de Blindés in Saumur, France. In contrast to the prototype I discussed on this site earlier (you can find that post here) this specimen is equipped with a 120 mm gun. During the design and trial period for the Leopard
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In a recent post I showed you a Leopard 2 prototype and explained how the turret of this tank was a very special one since it could mount an overhead weapon system. In the summer of 2012 I visited the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung in Koblenz, where the very weapon system that was designed to be mounted on this turret is on
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Never could I have guessed that one of the barrels pointing out from this bunker actually belonged to a tank. Upon closer inspection I found a complete T-34/85 embedded in the bunker. This bunker has been reconstructed as part of the bunker museum at the Würzenpass, Austria. In 1955, as part of an aid package, Austria received some 19 battle
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In July 2014 I was able to visit Försvarsfordons museum Arsenalen in Strägnäs, Sweden. Number one reason for me to visit this museum was that I had heard that a Leopard 2 prototype is on display there. After I roamed the museum and admired its collection I still hadn’t found any sign of this Leopard 2 prototype however. The happier I
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Today we’ll have a look of one of only two Leopard 2A4NL tanks the Dutch army still owns. This specimen was captured on film back in 2012 at the Caveleriemuseum Amersfoort located in the Bernhartkazerne. This is one of the 180 Leoaprd 2A4NL tanks that were not upgraded to the 2A5NL standard. It is interesting that the army chose to
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