Land Combat & Transport
Tanks, armoured personnel carriers, self propelled artillery and military transport vehicles.
Panzer 38(t)AusfG
Designed in Czechoslovakia, the Pz 38(t) was adopted by Germany after the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938. The type saw service in the invasions of Poland, France and the USSR.
Armour varied between 10 mm to 25 mm and the primary weapon was a 37 mm A7 gun with 90 rounds of ammunition.
Production ceased in 1942 when its 37 mm gun was deemed inadequate, though the chassis continued to be produced for the Marder III and Hetzer tank destroyers.
TNH-Iran-36-37(vf) was the designation of 50 tanks bought by Iran before the Second World War, a further order of 200 was interrupted by the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
AMX-30B2
France’s main battle tank between 1966 and 2011, the AMX-30 series weighed in at 36 metric tons (40 short tons), sacrificing some protection for greater mobility and compact dimensions.
It had a 105 mm gun firing a high-explosive ant-tank (HEAT) shell known as the Obus G and from 1972, the original co-axial heavy machine gun was replaced with the 20 mm auto cannon shown here. This could depress to -8 degrees for use against light armour and elevate to 40 degrees against helicopters.
Variants included an armoured recovery vehicle, an ant-aircraft system, a bridge-layer, the Pluton tactical nuclear missile launcher and a surface-to-air missile launcher.
Bob Semple Tank
The Bob Semple tank was an improvised light tank designed by New Zealand’s Minister of Works during World War II.
At the beginning of the war, New Zealand (and Australia) had no indigenous armoured vehicle industry and it was expected that Britain would supply such weapons. Nevertheless, it was feared that these countries might have to defend themselves from Japanese invasion without external assistance.
The concept was for a large tank superstructure that could be bolted onto a tractor base within a few hours, allowing for a quick transformation and rapid deployment.
Constructed without formal blueprints the mild steel structure was bolted onto a Caterpillar D8 tractor, corrugated manganese armour was intended to deflect bullets. A lack of heavy guns limited armament to six .303 Bren light machine guns.
The resulting tanks were inadequately armoured, very heavy, unstable and slow. These design flaws meant that the tank was never put into production nor used in combat.
B-Type Bus
The B-type served as a military vehicle in World War I. As troop-carriers the buses could carry 24 fully equipped men, and they also served as ambulances for the lightly wounded, wireless equipment centres for the cavalry, covered transport for rations, mobile lofts for carrier pigeons, field kitchens, armoured cars, field workshops and (when fitted with 13 pdr. guns) as mobile anti-aircraft carriages.
This illustration, and its civilian counterpart, was commissioned by Lindsay Collier for the Lea Valley Experience Museum Project as part of the centenary celebrations.
FV4034 Challenger 2
The Challenger 2 is a British third-generation main battle tank currently in service with the British Army, the Royal Army of Oman and Ukrainian Ground Forces.
It has a crew of four: commander, gunner, loader and driver. Main armament is a 120 mm rifled L30A1 rifled gun with 49 rounds of ammunition on board. Secondary weapons are a 7.62 mm coaxial L94A1 chain gun and a 7.62 mm L37A2 machine gun operated by the loader. 4,200 rounds are carried for these guns.
The hull and turret are protected by second generation Chobham armour, the details of which are classified but which is said to twice as effective as rolled steel armour against high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shells.
Char B1 bis
Originally conceived in the 1920s as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull, a 47 mm gun in a turret was added to enable it to operate as a Char de Bataille “battle tank”.
It was initially effective in confronting German armour in 1940 during the Battle of France, but its slow speed and heavy fuel consumption made it ill suited to the speed of blitzkrieg.The main gun could only move up and down, traversing was done by moving the whole vehicle.
Unlike other tanks at that time the Char B1 had only three crew members. The commander, alone in the turret, not only had to command the tank, but also direct other tanks if he was a unit leader while loading and operating the gun.
Despite these shortcomings, the tank was well protected. General Heinz Guderian noted that he fired his own 3.7 cm and 20 mm guns and a captured 47 mm gun at a Char B with no effect.
Flakpanzer Gepard
The Gepard “Cheetah” is an all-weather self propelled anti-tank gun based on the Leopard 1 tank hull. Two radar systems are installed with a Siemens MPDR 12 S-band search radar mounted behind the turret and a K band tracking radar mounted between the guns at the front of the turret. There is also back-up optical sighting system and a laser rangefinder.
The two Oerlikon GDF cannon are chambered for the NATO standard 35×228 mm round and have dual feed belts for two different ammunition types, a typical load being 320 rounds anti-aircraft and 20 rounds armour piercing.
The Gepard was phased out of service in late 2010, Germany favouring missiles for anti-aircraft defence, but 52 Gepards were delivered to Ukraine in December 2023. These have apparently been used to great effect against the Iranian-made Shaheed-136 drone and the Russian Kh-101 cruise missile.
This makes the Gepard more effective than some more expensive systems as well as being less politically sensitive due to their limited range.
Grille (Ausf.H)
The Grille was a Second World War German self-propelled gun based on the Pz38(t). The 15 cm schweres Infanteriegeschütz (heavy infantry gun) was mounted in a 35 mm thick armoured compartment mounted on a 50mm thick hull.
Having limited space for ammunition storage, a dedicated variant dedicated to carrying ammunition was built as Munitionspanzer 38(t) (Sf)Ausf.K.
Jagdpanzer 38
Often referred to as Hetzer, this was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War and, again, was based on the Pz38(t). The sloped armour and low profile gave it better defensive ability than other self-propelled guns.
Primary armament was the 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 gun and a remotely controlled 7.92 mm MG 34 or 42 (“Spandau”). They entered service in July 1944 and became Germany’s main tank destroyer in the last year of the war due to its ease of production, more than 2,800 being built.
LAV-25
The LAV-25 (Light Armoured Vehicle)is an eight-wheeled amphibious armoured reconnaissance vehicle and is intended to provide protection only from small arms fire.
It is armed with a 25 mm M242 Bushmaster auto cannon, two 7.62 mm M240 machine guns, and two four-barrel smoke launchers on the left and right sides of the turret.
Operating crew is a vehicle commander, gunner and driver; with seating for four fully equipped combat soldiers.
M1A2 Abrams
A third-generation main battle tank, the Abrams is one of the heaviest tanks in service at 66.8 metric tons (73.6 short tons). It features a multifuel turbine engine, Chobham armour, NBC protection and separate ammunition storage in a blowout compartment.
Main armament is a 120 mm L/44 M256 smoothbore gun with 42 rounds. Secondary armament consists of a .50 calibre M2HB heavy machine gun with 900 rounds and two 7.62 mm M240 machine guns with 10,400 rounds. One of these is co-axial, the other is pintle-mounted.
M3A2 Bradley CFV
Very similar to the M2 Bradley IFV (infantry Fighting Vehicle), the M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle) is an armoured reconnaissance vehicle manufactured by BAE Systems Platforms & Services.
Both vehicles carry the 25 mm M242 Chain Gun with 1,500 rounds, co-axial 7.62mm M240C machine gun and dual TOW (tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided) anti-tank missile launchers, with 12 rounds.
M4 Sherman
This was the most widely used medium tank by the Western Allies in World War II. Reliable, relatively cheap and manufactured in great numbers, it was supplied through Lend-Lease to the British Commonwealth and Soviet Union.
Initially, the main armament was the 75 mm M3 gun, later a more effective 76 mm M1 gun was incorporated. British Shermans were refitted with the Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun and were known as the Sherman Firefly.
There were seven main sub-designations, but these represent production differences rather than improvements. The M1A1 differs from the others in having a fully cast steel hull with a distinctly rounded appearance, those with a welded hull were designated M4.
M67A1 “Zippo”
This American flamethrower tank was briefly used by the U.S. Army and later by the U.S. Marine Corps. It was developed by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and based on a modified M48 tank chassis.
It was intended to be used primarily against infantry in “mopping up” operations, the flamethrower being fired in quick bursts. It remained in service until 1974 when it was retired without being replaced.
M548A1 Tracked Cargo Carrier
The M548’s light weight allows the use of a relatively small engine, a 6V53 Detroit two-stroke diesel straight six. Nevertheless, it can carry a large payload cross-country and can be transported by aircraft and helicopters.
Designed in 1960, it is still in service and has seen action in the Vietnam War, Yom Kippur War, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War, Iraqi Civil War and the Israel-Hamas War.
M923-A2-OIF Gun Truck
The M923 is the standard cargo version of the M939 series of 5 ton 6×6 trucks. A “gun truck” has one or more crew served weapons and has improvised armour such as scrap metal, concrete or sandbags.
During the Gulf War, the 518th Transportation Company acquired 35 humvees and five M923s and modified them with armour and .50 calibre heavy machine guns. The use of improvised armoured vehicles led to accusations of service personnel being given inadequate equipment.
Consequently, a standardised gun truck was designed, the resulting “Hunter box” was composed of high-grade steel plate, fibreglass and ballistic glass.
Marder III
Armed with either the captured Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 Model 1936 divisional field gun, or the German 7.5 cm PaK 40 , the Marder III tank destroyer was based on the Panzer 38(t) hull.
The guns were effective against enemy tanks, but the Marder series had relatively thin armour and would not be expected to survive an exchange of fire and were best used in defensive roles.
Merkava Mk IV
Merkava (“chariot”) is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israeli Defence Forces of which the Mark IV Barak is the latest.
The IMI 120 mm smoothbore gun can fire almost all western 120 mm smoothbore ammunition as well as the LAHAT (laser homing anti-tank) missile. A remotely controlled .50 calibre heavy machine gun is most often used against technicals (improvised fighting vehicles such as pickup trucks with mounted heavy weapons).
Modular armour allows damaged tanks to be quickly repaired, as the rear armour is relatively thin, a curtain of ball and chain is attached to detonate projectiles before they hit the hull.
T-62
This was the first Soviet tank to use a 115 mm U-5TS smoothbore gun which could fire APFSDS (armoured piercing fin-stabilised, discarding sabot) rounds at higher velocities than before.
A coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun is mounted to the right of the main gun and a 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun is mounted on the loader’s hatch.
40 rounds are carried for the main gun, two in the turret ready-for-use and the remainder in the front of the hull next to the driver. Curved handrails around the turret help infantry to mount and dismount when performing the typical Red Army tank desant.
T-90
A third generation main battle tank, the T-90 features a 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, steel and composite armour, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour and an infrared anti-tank missile jamming system.
The main gun is fed with an autoloader, reducing the crew to three. 22 ready-to-fire rounds are carried in a carousel within the fighting compartment.
The NSV 12.7 mm anti-aircraft heavy machine gun can be operated from within the turret, has a range of 2 km and a cyclic rate of 700-800 rounds per minute.
A PKMT 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun is also fitted.
Warrior MCV-80
The MCV-80 “mechanised combat vehicle” would eventually become the FV510 series of infantry fighting vehicles currently in service with the British Army.
The crew comprises a driver in the hull, with the commander and gunner in the turret. Seating for seven fully equipped infantry soldiers is in the rear of the hull accessed via an electric ram operated door at the rear of the hull.
Sufficient supplies and weapons are carried for a 48-hour battlefield “day” in nuclear/biological/chemical conditions. The turret carries a L21A1 30 mm RARDEN cannon and an L94A1 7.62 mm Hughes Helicopters chain gun.
Willys MB “Jeep”
One of the most iconic vehicles, not just of World War II, but all of automotive history, the Jeep is also known as the Ford GPW and the Standard Army vehicle supply number G-503.
Tough, reliable and versatile, at a stroke it replaced horses, pack animals and motorcycles in every combat role and became the world’s first mass-produced four-wheel-drive car.
For reconnaissance and infantry support roles, a .30 calibre M1919 Browning machine gun or .50 calibre M2 heavy machine gun could be mounted on the M31 pedestal between the front seats.
The British SAS (Special Air Service) favoured twin .303 Vickers K machine guns on the passenger side during its desert raids in 1942.
As shown here, the driver’s personal weapon was stowed in a metal scabbard above the dashboard. The long stick shift is for the three-speed gear box, to the right of that is the lever to select four-wheel drive and to the right of that, the high/low range selector.
