The Staghound was a unique World War II armored vehicle - designed and manufactured in the US, but intended solely for the British army. This book examines the development of this category of armored cars and offers a detailed analysis of the extensive combat use of the Staghound in British service as well as in the service of other Allied countries including Canada, New Zealand and Poland. Usually armed with a 37mm gun, it weighed 12 tons and could reach speeds of 55mph carrying a crew of five. Since its combat debut in Italy in 1943 until the end of the war it had performed particularly valuable service in a reconnaissance role where its speed and armor ensured that it was able to extricate itself from trouble as required without additional support. The book also includes a brief description of post-war use from NATO countries including Denmark to far-off battlefields such as Lebanon providing a comprehensive and accessible coverage of a vehicle that is particularly popular with private collectors....

The Soviet T-80 Standard Tank was the last tank fielded before the Soviet collapse, and the most controversial. Like the US M1 Abrams tank, the T-80 used a turbine power plant rather than a conventional diesel. Although the design was blessed with some of the most sophisticated armament, fire controls, and multi-layer armor ever fielded on a Soviet tank, its power plant remained a source of considerable trouble through its career. It saw very little service in the Chechen War, though T-80 tanks were used in some of the regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s.

Although the collapse of the Soviet Union might seem the end of the story, the T-80 lived on in Ukraine where one of its tank plants was based. A diesel powered version of the T-80 was developed, the T-84, which was successfully exported, including a major sale to Pakistan to counterbalance the Indian Army's Russian T-90 tanks. Steven J Zaloga charts the little-known history of the T-80, covering the initial construction, through the development to the subsequent variants, the T-84 and Russia's enigmatic "Black Eagle Tank." Accompanying detailed cut-away artwork illustrates the unusual design features that made the T-80 so controversial....

In 1942, with Germany's gradual loss of the strategic initiative to the Allies, Hitler was forced to construct an impenetrable wall of fortifications along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. However, Hitler's grandiose Atlantic wall scheme was hampered by the realities of Germany's wartime economy. Without the resources and manpower to fortify the entire coast, the emphasis was placed on the great festung ports, the likely location of an Allied amphibious landing.

This first volume in a series of three deals solely with the structures on the French Atlantic coast starting with the Pas de Calais and extending down to Spain. Featuring detailed illustrations and diagrams of the various sections of the Atlantic Wall and the role that they played, it gives an insightful analysis into some of the most accessible fortifications of World War II....

One of the weaknesses of airmobile forces has always been their vulnerability to enemy armor. Since the 1940s, there have been numerous schemes to field light tanks that could be deployed by parachute or other methods to reinforce paratroopers and other airmobile forces. This book tells the story of the US experience with airmobile tanks, starting with efforts in World War II, notably the M22 Locust airmobile tank. Although not used in combat by the US Army, it was used during Operation Varsity in 1945 by British airborne forces and ended up supporting US paratroopers during this mission on the Rhine river. The book then turns to post-war efforts such as the unique T-92 airborne tank, designed for paratroop drop.

The only airborne tank actually manufactured in significant numbers was the M551 Sheridan. The history of this tank provides the focal point of this book, highlighting the difficulties of combining heavy firepower in a chassis light enough for airborne delivery. The book examines its controversial combat debut in Vietnam, and its subsequent combat history in Panama and Operation Desert Storm. It also rounds out the story by examining attempts to replace the Sheridan with other armored vehicles, such as the short-lived M8 MGS and Army LAV programs....

The Sherman tank was the principal US and Allied tank of World War II - more Shermans were built than all German tanks combined. Not only were large numbers of Shermans manufactured, but a large number of variants emerged, powered by different types of engines and with different types of hulls, turrets and other details, making it an ideal subject for any modeller.

Steven J Zaloga, an expert armor modeller, takes on the Sherman tank in this book, providing a guide to four variants across a range of skill levels. Used in every theater in which the Allies operated, the Sherman employed differing camouflage and was affected by a variety of different weathering and color schemes and weathering techniques which are examined and illustrated with lavish full color step-by-step photographs....

The Gulf War bore witness to a number of deadly encounters between these two great adversaries. Heavily armored, highly mobile and capable of killing at over 2500m the M1 Abrams is, to this day, a veritable fighting machine. Superior to both Iraq's Soviet era T-55 and T-62 tanks, nearly all sources claim that no Abrams tank has ever been destroyed by enemy fire. Despite entering service in 1980, the M1 Abrams remained untested in combat until the Gulf War in 1991, where it was to be confronted by its archenemy the Iraqi-assembled Soviet-designed T-72. Entering production in 1971, the T-72 arguably outstripped its contemporaries in a balance of mobility, protection and firepower. By the time of Operation Desert Storm, however, the tables had turned and the tank suffered due to low quality ammunition and poorly trained crews. In this fascinating study, Steven Zaloga pits these two great fighting machines against one another, plotting the development of the Cold War until both tanks met in combat in the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait....

Operation Overlord was the largest amphibious military operation ever launched. The greatest armada the world had ever seen was assembled to transport the Allied invasion force of over 150,000 soldiers across the English Channel and open the long-awaited second front against Hitler's Third Reich. Just after dawn on June 6, 1944, the Allied troops assaulted the beaches of the Cotentin peninsula against stiff German resistance. The code names for these beaches, Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword, have taken on a legendary status in the annals of military history.

Coordinated with the amphibious landings were a number of aerial assaults. These troops, dropped in either by parachute or glider carried out crucial missions to take key areas, enable the vital link up between the beaches and secure the bridgehead. Casualties, especially on Omaha Beach, were horrendous, but the assaults were successful, and the troops began the arduous task of liberating Europe from Nazi occupation. This book looks in detail at the plans and build-up to the operation, and, accompanied by photos, maps and artwork, discusses the events of D-Day in each of the key areas of the operation....