Topic: Military history/Military land vehicles
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π Anti Tank Vespa
The Vespa 150 TAP was an anti-tank scooter made in the 1950s from a Vespa scooter for use with French paratroops (troupes aΓ©roportΓ©es, TAP). Introduced in 1956 and updated in 1959, the scooter was produced by Ateliers de Construction de Motocycles et Automobiles (ACMA), the licensed assembler of Vespas in France at the time. Modifications from the civilian Vespa included a reinforced frame and a 75Β mm (3.0Β in) recoilless rifle mounted to the scooter.
The 150 TAPs mounted a M20 75Β mm recoilless rifle, a U.S.-made light anti-armour weapon. It was very light in comparison to a standard 75Β mm (3.0Β in) cannon but was still able to penetrate 100Β mm (3.9Β in) of armour with its HEAT warhead. The recoil was counteracted by venting propellant gases out the rear of the weapon which eliminated the need for a mechanical recoil system or heavy mount.
The scooters would be parachute-dropped in pairs, accompanied by a two-man team. The gun was carried on one scooter, while the ammunition was loaded on the other. Due to the lack of any kind of aiming devices the recoilless rifle was never designed to be fired from the scooter; the gun was mounted on a M1917 Browning machine gun tripod, which was also carried by the scooter, before being fired. However, in an emergency it could be fired while in the frame, and while the scooter was moving.
The "Bazooka Vespa" was relatively cheap: Vespas cost roughly US$500 at the time, and the M20s were plentiful. 600 of them were produced, between 1956 and 1959. It had a cart, and also came with two cans of fuel.
The scooter themselves were original civilian produced VB1T models, 150 cc capacity engine. The engine was two stroke, top speed of 60Β km/h (37Β mph), enough speed to ram any vehicles if needed in an emergency, or move the user from the drop site to the area where the paratrooper was needed.
Discussed on
- "Anti Tank Vespa" | 2023-11-20 | 186 Upvotes 74 Comments
π List of military tactics
This page contains a list of military tactics.
The meaning of the phrase is context sensitive, and has varied over time, like the difference between "strategy" and "tactics".
Discussed on
- "List of military tactics" | 2019-08-23 | 123 Upvotes 81 Comments
π Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar
The Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar was a VTOL aircraft developed by Avro Canada as part of a secret U.S. military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. The Avrocar intended to exploit the CoandΔ effect to provide lift and thrust from a single "turborotor" blowing exhaust out the rim of the disk-shaped aircraft. In the air, it would have resembled a flying saucer.
Originally designed as a fighter-like aircraft capable of very high speeds and altitudes, the project was repeatedly scaled back over time and the U.S. Air Force eventually abandoned it. Development was then taken up by the U.S. Army for a tactical combat aircraft requirement, a sort of high-performance helicopter. In flight testing, the Avrocar proved to have unresolved thrust and stability problems that limited it to a degraded, low-performance flight envelope; subsequently, the project was cancelled in September 1961.
Through the history of the program, the project was referred to by a number of different names. Avro referred to the efforts as Project Y, with individual vehicles known as Spade and Omega. Project Y-2 was later funded by the U.S. Air Force, who referred to it as WS-606A, Project 1794 and Project Silver Bug. When the U.S. Army joined the efforts it took on its final name "Avrocar", and the designation "VZ-9", part of the U.S. Army's VTOL projects in the VZ series.
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- "Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar" | 2022-08-23 | 31 Upvotes 9 Comments
- "Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar" | 2020-08-15 | 35 Upvotes 5 Comments
π Canal Defence Light
The Canal Defence Light (CDL) was a British "secret weapon" of the Second World War.
It was based upon the use of a powerful carbon-arc searchlight mounted on a tank. It was intended to be used during night-time attacks, when the light would allow enemy positions to be targeted. A secondary use of the light would be to dazzle and disorient enemy troops, making it harder for them to return fire accurately. The name Canal Defence Light was used to conceal the device's true purpose. For the same reason, in US service they were designated T10 Shop Tractor.
Discussed on
- "Canal Defence Light" | 2015-10-14 | 33 Upvotes 16 Comments
π Boirault Machine
The Boirault machine (French: Appareil Boirault), was an early French experimental landship, designed in 1914 and built in early 1915. It has been considered as "another interesting ancestor of the tank", and described as a "rhomboid-shaped skeleton tank without armour, with single overhead track". Ultimately, the machine was deemed impractical and was nicknamed Diplodocus militaris. It preceded the design and development of the English Little Willie tank by six months.
Discussed on
- "Boirault Machine" | 2021-04-25 | 40 Upvotes 3 Comments
π Anti-Tank Dog
Anti-tank dogs (Russian: ΡΠΎΠ±Π°ΠΊΠΈ-ΠΈΡΡΡΠ΅Π±ΠΈΡΠ΅Π»ΠΈ ΡΠ°Π½ΠΊΠΎΠ² sobaki-istrebiteli tankov or ΠΏΡΠΎΡΠΈΠ²ΠΎΡΠ°Π½ΠΊΠΎΠ²ΡΠ΅ ΡΠΎΠ±Π°ΠΊΠΈ protivotankovye sobaki; German: Panzerabwehrhunde or Hundeminen, "dog-mines") were dogs taught to carry explosives to tanks, armored vehicles and other military targets. They were intensively trained by the Soviet and Russian military forces between 1930 and 1996, and used from 1941 to 1943, against German tanks in World War II. Initially dogs were trained to leave a timer-detonated bomb and retreat, but this routine was replaced by an impact-detonation procedure which killed the dog in the process. The U.S. military started training anti-tank dogs in 1943 in the same way the Russians used them, but this training exposed several problems and the program was discontinued.
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- "Anti-Tank Dog" | 2022-02-02 | 21 Upvotes 6 Comments