Tank Encyclopedia's Archives
A sub of Tank Encyclopedia. This is the new archive section, with all former entries, and a search engine. ➀ All single vehicles are accessible by nations and eras in a more consistent and logical way than previously. ADS are needed due to finance better server performances as audience grows. But you can support also it through merchandise here.
➁ New posts weekly. These are mere "entry into matter", for vehicles scheduled on tank-encyclopedia.com, that will be seen in the latter in much more detail. A link from the archive entry will point to the new article when up. There are still circa 2,000 serial armored vehicles to be treated over the years excluding prototypes and paper projects, so tank-afv.com will continue to run until all are treated, and follow the news of armoured vehicles around the world.
☄ About the site name: If a "Tank" is obvious to anyone in this context, "AFV" is an acronym which stands for "Armoured Fighting Vehicle". It is a catch-all definition for all military vehicles armoured (and armed), tracked or wheeled. For soft-skinned vehicles please visit truck-encyclopedia.com. See also The 2015 archive.
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♆ 20/08/2026
Leopard 2A4M CAN (2010)
The Leopard 2A4M CAN is a Canadian variant of the famous 1978 Main battle tank by KMW. After lessons learnt by the Canadian Army with the Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 in Afghanistan they directed upgrades like the "M" mine protection armor and in general much better protection agains IEDs, mine and RPGs as well as a new electrical drive, new engine cooling, and improved air conditioning. Thus is born the "Leopard 2A4M CAN" not only the most advanced Main Battle Tank in the Canadian Army but also of all Leo 2 Upgrades before the 2A7 and today's 2A8 in R&D.
These remained essentially re-conditioned Leopard 2A4 with additional upgrades and put to the standard of the 2A6 and beyind. Right back at the front, it successfully supported ISAF Forces in Afghanistan War from 2010 onwards. After the first 20 ordered, and delivered on October 2010 by KMW, 5 were indeed deployed to Afghanistan from December 2010 and validated the whole package unril early 2011 and the end of the Canadian deployment there. The twenty Leo 2A4M CAN are still on park alongside the Leo 2A6M CAN today.
♆ 13/08/2026
Flakpanzer V coelian (1945)
Officially known as the 3.7-cm flakzwilling auf panther fahrgestell 341, or "Flakpanzer 341" for short, the Flakpanzer Coelian was a prototype of medium AA tank named after Oberleutnant Dipl.Ing von Glatter-Götz involved in the Flakpanzer Program. It proceed from the idea of a fully enclosed turret, armed with two powerful anti-aircraft guns based on the Panther to protect Panther-equipped Divisions or the few heavy Abteilungs with precious Tigers from allied aviation with better firepower and protection. The project however was cancelled in early 1945 due to inadequacies in the design and more pressing demands at the time.
♆ 07/08/2026
Maresal (1943)
The Mareșal tank destroyer was a small, light armored fighting vehicle designed by Romania between 1942 and 1944.Design: It featured a low profile and sloped armor to counter heavy Soviet tanks. Only a few prototypes were built before production halted, but its innovative low-casemate layout influenced the German Hetzer tank destroyer design.
WW1 Tanks & Armored Cars
Born in the Trenches, when the front became static, the idea of the tank was a resurgence of ...science fiction, when some looked at HG Wells' "land battleships" novel. In UK, development was stirred by Wintson Churchill and the Navy. In France, by an artillery officer, J.B. Estienne. And soon the world took notice. Tanks were rare and few in between still, with grand plans in 1918 that never were realized. When the front was not static, armored cars reigned supreme.
WW2 Tanks & Armored Cars
In 1939, thanks had nearly two decades to evolve at peacetime rate, though the boiling of new ideas of tactics and combined arms, with some armies more acute of these than any others. Ground combat proved absolute masters of these new ideas, the Wehrmacht, with luck and opposite incompetence. After moving to USSR, the fight moved to Africa, then to Italy and back to Western Europe at large, driving fast-paced innovation in a deadly food chain contest.
Cold War Armoured Fighting Vehicles
The atomic age started with the opposition of two superpowers, which developed deterrence but at the same time, always considered conventional warfare. Far from peaceful, this second half century, until 1991, saw gradual improvement, with a gap of twenty years before generations, towards 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation main battle tanks and a cohort of armoured personal carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and many specialized variants, wheeled and tracked.
Modern Armoured Fighting Vehicles
As the recent conflict in Ukraine shows us, the tank is still useful in the frame of a conventional war. However drones unexpectedly showed deadlier as well as artillery. Between 1991 and 2026are we really seeing a radical transformation of ground warfare ? One thing is sure through for all generals: The main battle tank is still king of the battlefield, when well used and accompanied. From city scapes to desert, steppe, rolly hills and mountains, even coming from the sea, the tank adapted and is there to stay.
Armored Trains.
The New section in development
The same database as for tanks: Railroad networks developed in the XIXth soon found a military use. Before even WWI, train attacks led to armed and armored trains. This had going on for more than a century now. This will cover all WW1, WW2, but also cold war and even recent armoured trains on the long run.
03/08.2026 
MBV D-2 (1931)
A total of 31 production-model D-2 armored railcars were manufactured (plus one D3 and one D6) in 1932-39. During the fighting in the summer of 1941, NKVD railway security troops lost seven D-2 units; after repairs, the Germans incorporated them into their own armored trains. The remaining D-2s continued to be used by NKVD units until the end of the war and were decommissioned in the late 1940s. Full story.
Trucks
Military Trucks and staff cars.
A dedicated section for softskin vehicles, from WWI to this day: Trucks, staff cars, reconnaissance vehicles, and artillery tractors: Truck-Encyclopedia.com.
M116 Husky (1961)
17.08.2026
The M116 Husky was a tracked amphibious cargo carrier or marshy terrain vehicle produced for the United States Marine Corps. It was based on the M113 chassis and shared a lot of parts but with a brand new hull. It was an unarmoured, lightweight and low-silhouette, usable for cargo or personnel with a low ground pressure. It was designed by Pacific Car and Foundry as replacement for the WW2 M76 Otter and after 4 prototypes produced by Blaw-Knox for a total of 197. There was a variant, fully armoured and thus belonging here, called the M733 with Pacific Car and Foundry producing 93 from 1966. Both vehicles saw extensive action in Vietnam. Another was briefly used as part of the "Pentomic Army" just before the reform, capable of launching the M28 Davy Crocket atomic tactical rocket.
2026 Entries:
Kasukha 4 (2010) * MAZ-630308-224 ("KN-13") * Leyland Hippo Mark II (1943) * LARC LX (1952) * Panhard K125 * GAZ-53 (1946) * Radschlepper Ost (1942) * PZInz-222 (1938) * AT-T (1946) * Fordson WOT * Renault AHR * 5P85TE2 TEL and S-400 Triumf (2007) * Henschel Type 33 (1928) * Kaiser Jeep M715 (1965) * Hotchkiss M201 (1954) * Kamaz Palantin-K Truck (2002) * SG-10 (1949) * Isuzu Type 94 (1934) * BAZ-6909 (1990) * White 704S (1939) * Morris Tilly (1939) * Kamaz Murmansk BN (2014) * UNIC P107 * DOK-M Heavy Dozer (1967) * 9A82 TELAR (1983) * M548 (1959) * Jackal (2007) * Podlet 1K (2015) * Vw.Typ.87 Kommandeurswagen (1940) * Bedford OY (1939) Horch 108 (1934) * Alfa-Romeo 6c 2500 Coloniale * Renault AHS * Zoljanah Truck * Centurion C-RAM (2004) * Morris C4 (1942) * Steyr 640 (1935) * Polski-Fiat 621 (1935) *
The Antitank-Encyclopedia.
All the means to destroy a Tank.
From early antitank cannons and rifles to missiles, mines and RPGs.
85mm 52K AA Gun
➾ Antitank/Field Gun produced 1939-1945, 5,000+ manufactured.
The 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) was a 3.3 inches Soviet gun developed under led designers M. N. Loginov and G. D. Dorokhin in 1936-38 and successfully used throughout the Second World War against level bombers and high/medium-altitude targets. Accepted in 1939 it was already deployed in many units by the summer of 1941. By 1942 it appeared in emergency they could be used as anti-tank guns, so specialized AP and APCB/R were distributed after reports. The barrel was the basis for the family of 85-mm Soviet tank guns. Too large for the T-34/85 turret, it was used however on the SU-85 tank hunter with success. It became also the cornerstone of air defense in the Warsaw pact postwar. It is often compared 88-mm Flak 18/36/37 and certainly played a big role in the returnment of the situation on the eastern front in 1943.
Upcoming:
South Africa: Bosvark, MRAP Samil-50 Kwevoel RV, Ribbok, Hippo
Israel: Merkava, III, IV, M109A5 Doher/Rochev, Magach 5 Golan, M113 Golan/Zelda Toga (IDF service), M3 HT in IDF service, M50 AGM launcher, Eshel HaYarden, M2310 shilem
Britain: Vickers Mk.I MBT, Centurion AVRE, Light Mk.IV Colonial Pattern, Light Tank Mk.II, Wasp Carrier, Bren Carrier (update), FV430 Bulldog, FV105 Sultan, FV103 Spartan
USA: M548, M728 CRV, M40 155mm HMC, T12E1 CGMC, M15 Combination GMC, M13 MGMC, M12 155mm SPG, M14 MGMC, M17 MGMC, M39 Carrier, T1 Cunningham, M22 Locust, M3 HMC-75mm, M4 sherman flail, Marmon CTLS, Sherman-MkV-Crocodile, M108 SPG, LAV-300, M113 FIST, M106 MortarCarrier, M577 Command, M103, M110 howitzer
USSR/Russia: 9M317 BUK-M2, 9K330 Tor, 1S91-kvardat, 9K37M1 buk-M (SA-17-Grizzly), 2S35 Koalitsiya, BTT-1, MT-55, 9P157-2 Khrizantema-S, 9P163M-1-Kornet, 2S23 Nona SVK, BMO-T, BMP-2M, BMP-97 Vystrel, BTR-T, Ural Typhoon, R-381T-Taran, R-145BM, STZ-5 tractor/BM-13-16(Ni tank), Pioneer(Komomolets), T26T/BNSP reco vehicle/TP26, Ya12 tractor(T60/70), GT-MU soviet airborne APC, GAZ-2330 Tigr
China: Type 63G mod. light tank, VT4, Yitian-SPAAML, PLZ-07, PLZ-52, PGZ-07, PTL-02, Type 63C APC amphib Ukraine ready: BTR-60M Khorunzhy APC , BTR4 MV1
And also: LAV-6, M120 Rak, Archer, RODEF-4, Pereh-tank-destroyer, T34-D30-SPH, Iranian Rakhsh-APC, Patria II AMV, Light Tank Mark II, Mark III, Spanish AFVs interwar, TAB B33 Zimbru, Ford Lynx, Rhodesian Crocodile, Serge CDS, Jordan Khalid MBT, Jordan Al Hussein, Leonardo-M60 , wasserwerfer-SK2, BTR-152 vz53 SPAAG, MT-55, BTS-4A, BTS-2, Renault FT command, 370-Recoiless-GunsSPG, TC5000XYB
XMas Special !
Fill your basket, offer and delight your friends/family with brand new posters* of iconic tanks of WW2 to this day:
First of this new serie: All Tiger tanks liveries. See the free web version (10x smaller) and the Panther poster available here
More to come soon !
*Also available: Photo print, metal and canvas prints, postcards, mugs, bucket or dad hats, desk mat, baseball cap, t-shirts, tops, latptop or ipad/iphone skin, sleeves, cases, snap cases, but also acrylic blocks and wood mounted prints, taperstry, clocks, coasters, comforter, duvet, shower curtain, throw blanket, pillow, drawstring bag, tote or duffle bag, backpack, pin, scarf, socks, zipper pouch, hardcover journal and spiral notebook, apron and this Xmas 2023 novelty: A Jigsaw puzzle...
