The Armored Vehicles of the Continuing War 1946

A few questions that are brought up on the forum every so often, questioning what would the European battlefields of 1946 really look like and what tank designs would have been massed produced to meet these battlefield requirements?  

Yes, the German tank's Maus and E-100 are thrown into all these forum posts concerning the last German tank designs of WWII. But what were the other real futuristic designs that were being looked into in those shadowy last days of World War II??

Maybe start with a few of the Soviet designs such as the Soviet Uralmash-1 or SU-101.



http://svsm.org/gallery/Su-101

Quote... In March and April 1945, two prototypes were build, one equipped with the 100 mm D-10 tank gun (to be designated SU-101 when inducted into actual service), the other with the 122 mm D-25S tank gun (to be named SU-102). Additionally, a third, empty, hull was made for armor tests under life fire circumstances.

Or a IS-6 or Object 252 & 253.



Quote...  There existed two different IS-6s: the Object 253 was an attempt to develop a practical electrical transmission system for heavy tanks.

The alternative Objekt 252 shared the same hull and turret as the Object 253, but used a different suspension with no return rollers, and a conventional mechanical transmission.

Because the 88mm Pak-43 was heavy for crews to move around in combat the Ardelt-Rheinmetall 88mm PaK 43 Waffenträger was developed as a self propelled version of the 88mm antitank gun.

A small number of these SP were produced and one vehicle saw action in April of 1945, near Berlin at Brandeburg with 3rd Panzer Jaeger Abt. attached to Infantry Division "Ulrich von Hutten" and a single example survives today.

   

Raupenschlepper Ost RSO 75mm PaK 40 Tank Destroyer

Quote... By 1943 infantry anti-tank units at the front complained strongly that it was almost impossible to move their guns using trucks at daylight under enemy fire, leading to enormous losses of equipment during emergency relocations (at the time a euphemism for withdrawal), and their opinions reached the top ranks.

OKW explored a previously considered proposal to fit the 7.5 cm PaK 40/1 anti-tank gun - by then the standard Pak used by the Wehrmacht - on top of an RSO chassis. After seeing the blueprints, Hitler ordered a limited production run for combat testing, before the prototypes were completed.

http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/german-raupenschlepper-ost-rso-pak-40-tank-destroyer.html

An interesting look at the development of the postwar tanks in a 7 part article.  

   

Year: 1951  Object 416

Gun: 100mm Rifled Gun D-54AT
Coaxial: 7.62mm

Weight: 24 tons
Length: 7,940 mm
Width: 3,240 mm
Height: 1,823 mm

Crew: 4
Engine: 400 hp

How the dinosaurs became extinct — the last languid tanks.

part 1...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid/

part 2...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-6/

Part 3...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-7/

part 4...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-2/

part 5...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-3/

part 6...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-4/

part 7...  http://survincity.com/2011/03/how-the-dinosaurs-became-extinct-the-last-languid-5/

Panzerabwehrrakete X-7

X-7 anti-tank missile



Primary function: anti-tank guided missile
Powerplant: solid rocket motor
Length: 950 mm (3 ft 1 in)
Diameter: 150 mm (5.9 in)
Wingspan: 600 mm (24 in)
Launch weight: 9 kg (20 lb)
Speed: 245 m/s (550 mph; 476 kn; 880 km/h)
Warhead: 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) hollow charge
Penetration: over 200 mm (7.9 in) at 30°[18]
Range: 1,000 m (1,100 yd)
Fuzes: impact (?)
Guidance system: MCLOS visual guidance with wire control

http://weaponsman.com/?p=20582

The X-7 Rotkäppchen (Red Riding Hood) was shell shaped body had two wins at its aft end with parabolic leading and trailing edges and two small pods for the wire link spools were attached to the wing tips, spoiler control was simplified on the X-7 Rotkäppchen by the installation of only one spoiler on an extended curved arm. The rocket motor used was 1 × WASAG 109-506 solid fuel rocket engine producing up to kg of thrust. The wire link control system was employed for the X-7 Rotkäppchen which used Düsseldorf FuG 510 transmitter and the Detmold FuG 238 receiver, also a radio controlled system was planned for the X-7 Rotkäppchen using the FuG 203/230h. detonation was achieved by use of an impact fuse.

Date deployed: never/?

? Quote... A few hundred X-7 Rotkäppchen were produced at
Ruhrstahl AG Brackwede factory however there were unconfirmed reports of the X-7 being used operationally on the eastern front, and it appears that this missile was extremely effective. Even against the heavy armoured, Stalin tanks.

Hungarian 44M  Buzogányvető

Hungarian Toldi II LT with 44M. Buzogányvető anti-tank rocket launcher

http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/04/02/hungarian-toldi-ii-lt-with-44m-buzoganyveto-anti-tank-rocket-launcher/

 

The Hungarian 44M ""Buzogányvető"" was an unguided anti-tank rocket designed by Hungary for use against Soviet amour and personnel in World War II. The rocket system consisted of a pair of solid fuel rockets with two types of warheads available.

Approximately 600-700 Buzogányvető systems were manufactured in the WM Factory before in 20 December 1944, when Soviet troops captured it. Nearly all manufactured rocket launchers were deployed and used in the siege of the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

full lenght without rockets: 970 mm
launcher tube lenght: 523 mm
launcher tube diameter: 100 mm
rocket head diameter: 215 mm
full weight: 29,2 kg
rocket head weight: 4,2 kg
range: 500-1200 m, max 2000 m
penetration: approx. 300 mm
operating crew: 3

Antitank recoilless 45mm Type 5 Experimental



Different types of rocket propelled grenades were tested with propellant charges of between 30 g and 100 g. The explosive weight was increased to 625 g, the total weight was still 2,3 kg.

The final version had total length of 850 mm with a propellant part of 180 mm length, a propellant weight of 100 g, a 520 mm guidance stick with an impact fuse on top and a warhead of 150 mm with an explosive weight of 625 g. Muzzle velocity was 40 m/sec., minimum range 50 m, maximum range 150 m, penetration 120 mm.

45 mm Type 5 Recoilless Gun

Calibre: 45 mm (1.77 in)
Length: 1 m (39.37 in)
Weight: 6.4 kg (14.01 lb)
Shell weight: 2.3 kg (5.07 lb)
Muzzle Velocity: 40 m/sec (131.23 ft/sec)
Armour penetration: 100 mm (3.9 in)
Range: 30 m (33 yds)

https://aquellasarmasdeguerra.wordpress.com/2014/10/04/armas-poco-conocidas-de-la-segunda-guerra-mundial/

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