TNT 45

The new edition of the famous French magazine is as always full of valuable informations for those of you that have interrest for AFV vehicles.

First article: VBTP-MR Guarani – Un nouveau blindé au pays de la Samba (VBPT-MR Guarani – A new AFV for Samba’s country) presents the new AFV that will become the standard AFV for Brasilian armed forces EE-11 Urutu (6×6 transport vehicle) but also the EE-9 Cascavel (reconnaissance vehicle). More than 2000 Guarani’s will be ordered by Brasil; first ones are in delivery phase. Argentina ordered also for 14, and other countries seem to have some interest for the Guarani (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador). (4 pages, 8 photos, 2 technical drawings)
Graffiti of war: Blindés américains au Vietnam (American AFV’s in Vietnam): it’s an old tradition to paint some names or sentences on aircrafts, but also on AFV’s! That article describes some names and sentences indicated on AFV (M113, M51, M48, M109) by American soldiers. Some of them are war sentences; others are more “peaceful” or have some anti-military connotations… Instructive! (6 pages, only one photo but no less than 18 profiles)
Flakpanzer IV (3,7cm Flak 43) Möblewagen: during WWII and after the victorious beginning of the war, Germans face the rise of allied airforces (Allied from West but also Soviets) and the Luftwaffe was no more able to protect ground troops, being also involved in the protection of factories that were bombarded. So the need of a Flakpanzer was big. As always for their material during WWII, Germans tried some bad solutions and lost time before to prepare a good flak vehicle… That came too late to be very useful… (16 pages, 13 photos, 2 technical datas, 5 pages of drawings, 4 profiles)
Autotransporto Blindato Fiat 665NM: At the beginning of the war, Italian army owned essentially hippotracted vehicles for their troop transport. First battles against France, but essentially against British troops in North Africa revealed the urgent need of a motorized transport vehicle. Some existing vehicles were transformed, but in 1942 Fiat is asked for the building of a specialized transport vehicle. 110 Fiat 665NM were constructed but too late for Africa: they served in ItalY… (2 pages, 1 photo, 2 drawings)
ZiS-30: le Marder soviétique (the Soviet Marder) : on 22th of june 1941, the Germans encountered for the first time the very effective Zis-2 57mm gun that destroyed no less than 15 Panzers in a few time. Effectiveness of that gun was so great that Soviet Union decided to place it on a mobile platform. The possibility to place it on truck was rapidly abandoned and the gun was placed on a transport tankette, the T-20 “Komsomolet “. 101 were built and used, amongst other things, to protect Moscow. (5 pages, 4 photos, drawings, technical drawings, technical datas)
Le Panther face au Sherman (Panther versus Sherman): the M4 Sherman was used in combat for the first time in North of Africa, 1942; the Panzer V Panther appeared at Kursk, in july 1943. That’s only one year later that those two tanks will meet in a big engagement: the Normandy. The Panther take advantage on the Sherman but tactical bombardments from Allied air forces destroyed the Panthers. Second big struggle rised during the “Wacht Am Rhein” operation and this time even if that can sound strange, the Sherman was the winner. How was that possible? It’s the subject of a long analysis made in that article… (24 pages, 29 photos, 5 pages of drawings)
Buffalo: mine protected clearance vehicle: l’arme anti-terreur (the anti-terror weapon): anti-tank and anti-personal mines are a big menace in Afghanistan and Irak, so the United States Marines acquired specialized vehicles that can resist to mines and that can neutralize them. So is the Buffalo, also used by the French army. (8 pages, 12 photos, technical drawings)
Etude opérationnelle du Jagdpanzer 38(T) : le Hetzer, un si mauvais chasseur de char? (Operational study of the Jagdpanzer 38(T) : the Hetzer, so bas as tank hunter ?) : the Hetzer was previously analyzed in an article in TnT#3 (august-september 2007). It was a technical analysis; this time the article explains why a so rustic tank hunter was developed. (6 pages, 8 photos, drawings)
Cruiser Tank Mk.VI Crusader MK.II (A15) versus Panzer III Ausf. L: analysis and comparison of those tanks on tne specific theatre of operations of North Afrika. (no photos but drawings, s-datas and technical drawings)