The Illustrated Guide To Military Vehicles

The story of the development and production of the military vehicle, from the first basic trucks, through the advances made in the inter-war years, to the specialized vehicles in World War II and beyond.

Provides an illustrated history of military land vehicles and describes how they operate.

This volume presents a cross-section of the most common transport vehicles produced and used by the German army. Tanks plus auxiliary vehicles such as cars, motorcycles, vans, ambulances, trucks and tractors made it possible for the troops to keep moving. These lightly armored or unarmored vehicles--aka "soft skins"--operated behind the front lines, maintaining supply lines, connecting armies with their home bases, and ultimately determining the outcome of battle. Beginning with the development of military vehicles in the early 1930s, this volume discusses the ways in which this new technology influenced and, to some extent, facilitated Hitler's program of rearmament. Nomenclature, standard equipment, camouflage and the combat roles of the various vehicles are thoroughly examined. Individual vehicle types are arranged and discussed by the following classifications: cars and motorcycles; trucks and tractors; half-tracks and wheeled combat vehicles. Accompanied by well-researched, detailed line drawings, each section deals with a number of individual vehicles, describing their design, manufacture and specific use.

Covers the cargo/troop-carrying trucks, wreckers, tankers, ambulances, communications vehicles and other specialized types that provide technical support to the front-line troops. The book puts each vehicle into the context of the key battles and campaigns in which they played a role, such as the Somme, Cambrai, Blitzkrieg, El Alamein, Kursk, D-Day, Korea, Vietnam, and the Iran-Iraq, Arab-Israeli and Gulf wars. It includes Little Willie, Sherman, Panther and Challenger tanks; and the Jeep, DUKW, Kubelwagen, Land Rover and Humvee. Specification boxes provide complete information about each vehicle's country of origin, date, crew, armament, powerplant, transmission, suspension, brakes, electrical system, dimensions, weight and performance.

This fully illustrated reference book provides an authoritative overview of the fascinating history of these essential military vehicles. It begins with the first motorized cars, lorries and trucks that enabled a reduction in the amount of horse transport used, then covers specialized vehicles, including powerful atillery tractors, missile transporter-erector-launchers, tank transporters, bridging vehicles and amphibious vehicles. With its wealth of 200 archive and museum photographs, the book is a rich guide to a fascinating subject, suitable for enthusiasts, historians and modelmakers.

In World War I the American motor vehicle industry was tested by the sudden appearance of vast transport challenges. The nation’s immense manufacturing capabilities and abundant natural resources combined with increased standardization and mass production to enable the industry to meet the military’s needs. Motor vehicles and aircraft were quickly cemented as the most influential military tools of the early twentieth century. This book both describes the development and use of a wide range of specialized motor vehicles during World War I and analyzes how their advent indelibly altered modern warfare and transportation.