The American M113 is a famously flexible workhorse. This platform spawned everything from ATGM carriers to SPAAGs. War Thunder has had plenty of those for years, but the latest update adds something truly unusual to Israel’s tech tree: the Bardelas/60mm HVMS. And yes, Bardelas really does mean “cheetah”. Military naming conventions remain undefeated...
In the mid-1920s, Germany quietly abandoned the Versailles restrictions and began covertly rebuilding its armored forces. In 1933, the army tasked Rheinmetall, whose Grosstraktor was the only 1920s design with any combat value, with developing a new heavy tank. The brief called for a vehicle of about 20 t with three turrets, armed with 75-mm and 37-mm guns plus multiple machine guns. The paperwork labeled the program Panzerkampfwagen Neubaufahrzeug — literally “new-construction fighting vehicle”. The name stuck and was later shortened to Nb.Fz.
After the defeat in World War 2, Japan was in no position to develop or acquire new military aircraft. After the end of the official Allied occupation of the islands, the country adopted a strict policy of non-involvement, vowing never to take part in foreign conflicts and banning all forms of military export. At the same time, given the reality of living in a world divided between two superpowers, Japan also started rebuilding its armed forces for self-defense purposes.
On December 1st, Portugal celebrates Restoration of Independence Day! It was on this date in 1640 that the Portuguese revolted against Spain, which had controlled the country for several decades at the time, and declared independence. Join in with a new video from our Moments of Valor series, dedicated to Portugal!
The heavy tank T-10 entered service with the Soviet Army at a time when heavy tanks were already becoming a thing of the past. Armies around the world — the Soviet Union included — were shifting toward a new ideal: a single, universal tank design that combined speed, protection, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Yet it was during this very transition — as the era of heavy tanks was drawing to a close — that the T-10 entered mass production and went on to serve for decades.
With the Spearhead update, Britain’s aviation tree picked up two interesting additions: two aircraft that share a name and a look but differ in key details. Meet the twin Hawk 200 light multirole fighters! Today we’ll fly both birds in a range of modes. But first, a little history.
From the earliest days of armored warfare, British tank designers earned a reputation for thinking differently. The Chieftain MBT was no exception: it diverged so sharply from its European contemporaries that at home and abroad it was regarded not merely as original, but decidedly controversial. Its 120-mm gun had the headroom to remain relevant for decades. Its powerpack and several other systems, however, drew justified criticism from the start. Bit by bit, the makers worked through the Chieftain’s many issues and, along the way, created what was essentially a new tank on the same foundations — testing ideas that ranged from modest and practical to sweeping and ambitious.
Some aircraft in military history look so strange it’s hard to believe they ever existed. Just think of this: a disc-shaped fuselage that looks somewhere between a pancake and a UFO, two enormous propellers, and landing gear so tall that the aircraft sits on the runway at nearly a 20-degree nose-up angle. And just to make things even more interesting, it was meant to operate from aircraft carriers. Sounds like a fever dream, right? Well, it isn’t. Meet the American experimental fighter XF5U-1!