T-54, T-55, T-62 en T-64 tanks - USSR: boeken - historie en modellen

Centurion vs T-55 - Yom Kippur War 1973 (Osprey)

Conceived at the height of World War II, the British Centurion and the Soviet T-55 were initially expected to counter the formidable Panther and Tiger tanks of Germany. But as the Cold War unfolded, these machines prepared instead for the coming struggle between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Though they never fought in Europe, these two tanks became the mainstay of the Cold War's proxy forces around the world. From Korea to the Middle East and on to Angola, these two armored combatants clashed repeatedly, reaching their crescendo on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War where 177 Centurions of the IDF took on a vastly superior Arab force.

This book compares the design, development and deployment of these classic tanks, and analyses their battlefield performance. Presented with highly detailed digital artwork, this is a tightly focused study of two of the Cold War's first main battle tanks.

Specificaties

M60 vs T-62 - Cold War Combatants 1956-92 (Osprey)

Designed for the battlefields of Europe at the height of the Cold War, the M60 and T-62 were the premier combat tanks of their day. However, it was in the deserts of the Middle East that they finally met in battle.

This title examines the design and development of these main battle tanks, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and describing and analyzing their performance on the battlefield during the Yom Kippur War, the Iran-Iraq War, and the first Gulf War.

Contents: Introduction - Improving the Armored Fist - Chronology - Design and development - Strategic Situation - Technical Specifications - Combat 1: Statistics and analysis - Combat 2: Statistics and analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography.

Specificaties

Soviet T-55 Main Battle Tank

The T-55 is one of the most iconic weapons created by the Soviets during the Cold War and also one of the most widely deployed weapons in history. Like its younger brother, the T-54, the T-55 enjoyed a long career in the Red Army and even into the early days of the reformed Russian Army.
Under their control it saw very little combat use or deployments, but it was widely sold to other nations and participated in many of the wars and combat operations from the mid-1960s to the present.

The T-55 has been employed in almost every conflict in the Middle East and Africa from its introduction into service. Even today the tank is still employed by both sides in the Syrian Civil War, and they are also in service with Kurdish forces in the struggle against ISIS in the northern part of Iraq.

Containing more than 400 stunning contemporary and modern photographs, and written by two experts on Soviet armour, this authoritative book tells the complete story of the T-55, one of the most widely produced tanks of all time.

Specificaties

Soviet T-62 Main Battle Tank

The T-62 is one of the most widespread tanks used by the Soviets during the Cold War. Developed from the T-55, the T-62 enjoyed a long career in the Red Army and even into the early days of the reformed Russian Army. It was the principal tank used by Soviet forces in the Soviet-Afghan War, and went on to see service with Russian forces in Chechnya and South Ossetia.
It has also been employed in almost every conflict in the Middle East and Africa from its introduction into service. It remains in service with many countries throughout the world and has seen a great deal of use in the Syrian Civil War.

Containing more than 400 stunning contemporary and modern photographs, and written by two experts on Soviet armour, this authoritative book tells the complete story of the T-62.

Specificaties

T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944-2004 (Osprey)

The T-54 and T-55 tanks are the most widely manufactured tanks of all time. They have become ubiquitous to wars around the globe since the 1950s, starting with Hungary in 1956, and including the the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967, 1973 and 1982, the Vietnam war of 1967-75, the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88, the Afghanistan conflict, Operation Desert Storm, the Yugoslav Civil Wars, and the recent conflict in Iraq.

This book will examine the roots of this prolific tank family, starting with the Soviet Army's first attempts to replace the legendary T-34 during World War II, and covering the T-43 and the T-44, the more successful T-54, and its ultimate evolution into the T-55.

Contents: Introduction - Design and development - Operation - Active service - In combat - T-54 and T-55 in other theatres - Bibliography - Colour plate commentary - Index.

Specificaties

T-54/55 - Soviet Cold War Main Battle Tank (Tank Craft)

During the Cold War, the T-54/55 series of tanks represented the most serious threat to Nato land forces in Europe. Available in huge quantities, it formed the core of the Warsaw Pact armoured warfare doctrine, which envisaged massed tank attacks against the weakest point in Nato's front-line defences.
Yet the T-54/55 could be stopped by smaller numbers of tanks which had the benefit of better technology and training, as was demonstrated during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 when Israeli tanks dealt out appalling punishment to T-55s of the Syrian army.

Despite these limitations, the T-54/55 was one of the most successful tanks ever produced, and this volume in the TankCraft series by Robert Jackson is the ideal introduction to it. As well as tracing the history of the T-54/55, his book is an excellent source of reference for the modeller, providing details of available kits and photographs of award-winning models, together with artworks showing the colour schemes applied to these tanks. Each section of the book is supported by a wealth of archive photographs.

Specificaties

T-54/55 : The Soviet Army's Cold War Main Battle Tank (Images of War)

The Soviet T-54/55 is probably the best-known tank of the Cold War, and it was produced in greater numbers that any other tank in history. It first went into service just after the Second World War and over 70,000 were made, and its design was so successful that it even outlasted its successor the T-62.
For a generation it formed the backbone of the armoured forces of the Warsaw Pact and it was exported all over the world, remaining in the front-line until the 1990s.

In over 150 archive photographs and a detailed analytical text, this photographic history traces the design and development of the T-54/55 and records its operational history. The book describes how it was conceived as a main battle tank, an all-rounder, contrasting with the light, medium and heavy tanks produced in the past, and it proved to be extraordinarly effective.

It was as adaptable as it was long-lasting, different versions being produced by China, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Romania. Its relatively simple design also meant it was easy to maintain even in difficult conditions and it was used by armies across the Third World, in particular in wars in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Somalia.
Anthony Tucker-Joness history of this remarkable armoured vehicle will be absorbing reading for tank enthusiasts and a valuable source for modellers.

Specificaties

T-62 Main Battle Tank 1965-2005 (Osprey)

The Soviet Army hastily developed the T-62 in a struggle to compete against the rapid proliferation of NATO tanks in the 1960s. It was essentially a modification of the widely-manufactured T-55 tank with the addition of a new 115mm gun.

Within the USSR itself, the T-62 was quickly superseded, but it was widely exported, becoming a critical component of the Egyptian and Syrian armies in the 1973 Yom Kippur conflict and heavily influenced later designs of the M1 Abrams and Challenger tanks.

In the first English-language history of this tank, Steven Zaloga examines the development of the T-62 using detailed combat descriptions to bring to life the operational history of this tank from the deserts of the Sinai to the harsh terrain of Afghanistan.

Specificaties

T-64 Battle Tank : The Cold War's Most Secret Tank (Osprey)

The T-64 tank was the most revolutionary design of the whole Cold War, designed to provide the firepower and armour protection of a heavy tank in a medium-weight design. It pioneered a host of new technologies including laminate armour, stereoscopic tank rangefinders, opposed-piston engines, smooth-bore tank guns with discarding sabot ammunition, and gun-fired guided projectiles.
These impressive features meant that the Russians were loath to part with the secrets of the design, and the T-64 was the only Soviet tank type of the Cold War that was never exported.

Written by an armour expert, this detailed technical history sheds light on the secrets behind the Cold War's most controversial tank, revealing how its highly advanced technologies proved to be both a blessing and a curse.

Specificaties

Walker Bulldog vs T-54 : Laos and Vietnam 1971-75 (Osprey)

During the Vietnam War, both the United States and the Soviet Union supplied all manner of weapon systems to the opposing sides, including tanks and armoured vehicles. Two tanks in particular took momentary prominence in the later years of the conflict. On the South Vietnamese side, it was the US M41 Walker Bulldog; for the communist North Vietnamese, the Soviet-supplied T-54 main battle tank was the core of their armoured power.

In their first major engagement, during Operation Lam Son 719 (February-March 1971), it was the Walker Bulldog in the ascendant, but in later battles the T-54s inflicted heavy losses on their lighter opponents, taking the advantage through their superior manoeuvrability and gunnery.
Illustrated with full-colour artwork as well as rare and revealing photographs from both sides, this book studies these two iconic tanks in Vietnamese service, examining how their differing designs and fighting doctrines affected their performance in this unique theatre of combat.

Specificaties