Tanks (since 1945) - USA: Books - History, Types and Construction

US Cold War Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

To counter the Soviet threat and that of their client States during the Cold War years 1949-1991, the American military deployed an impressive range of main battle tanks (MBTs) and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs).
The Patton series of medium MBTs (including the M46, M47 and M48) supplemented by the M103s Heavy Tank initially formed the core of the US tank fleet. In 1960 the M60 MBT with its British designed 105mm gun entered service and, in turn, was replaced by the M1 Abrams in 1980.

In support were armoured reconnaissance vehicles, progressively the M41 Bulldog (1951); the M114 (1961), the M551 Sheridan (1967) and M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (1981). The armoured personnel carrier (APC) range included the ubiquitous M113 and its replacement the M2 Bradley, cousin of the M3.

Expert author Michael Green covers all these vehicles and their variants in this informative and superbly illustrated Images of War series work.

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Encyclopedia of Modern U.S. Military Tactical Vehicles

In the past two decades the modern U.S. Army underwent an enormous and unprecedented transition from a Cold War doctrine towards counter-terrorism assymetrical warfare. Within this transition the vehicle pool of the U.S. Army changed constantly since the NATO mission of defending Central Europe in the late 1980s to the ongoing U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan 2007.

This publication grants a full overview over the U.S. tactical vehicle fleet in service during USAREUR days in Europe up to the present Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing a never before published comprehensive survey into the motor pool of the world's leading superpower.

Chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Light Tanks and Main Battle Tanks
3. Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Armored Personnel Carriers - Tracked
4. Armored Personnel Carriers - Wheeled
5. Amphibious Vehicles
6. Light Trucks
7. Medium Trucks
8. Heavy Trucks
9. Engineer Vehicles and Mine Protected Vehicles
10. Armored Recovery Vehicles, Cranes and Material Handling Equipment
11. Artillery and Air Defence
12. Special Forces and All-Terrain Vehicles
13. Miscellaneous Vehicles
14. Camouflage and Markings.

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US-Panzer - nach 1945 (Typenkompass)

While the USA had bought its tanks from Great Britain and France in the First World War, it had already become the main producer itself by the Second World War.
Due to the subsequent Cold War, it remained so. The battle tanks that the United States built from then on were always among the best in the world. This has not changed to this day.
Alexander Lüdeke, an expert in the field of tanks, presents all the models that have appeared in the USA from 1945 to today in this Typenkompass - from the M4 Sherman to the M48 Patton to the M1 Abrams, their current "Main Battle Tank".

Each type is presented with a photo, a historical description and a technical data sheet.

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