Steven J. Zaloga

Through World War II the US Army worked on projects for new heavy tanks, which are charted in this illustrated study of the M6 and the never-built T14, T28, and Pershing-derived designs. In this book, world-renowned armour expert Steven J. Zaloga examines the US Army's efforts to field a heavy tank in World War II. The first design was the M6, which never saw combat use despite being type classified. The heavy T14 assault tank, earmarked for the British under Lend-Lease, was also developed, while the M4A3E2 assault tank went into production as a stopgap for the 1944 campaign in France. The most outrageous US tank project of the war was the T28/T95 superheavy tank, which was so large that it required four sets of suspension bogies instead of the usual two. The M26 Pershing medium tank program also spawned a number of heavy tank projects, such as the T29, T30 and T34, which are also examined. Although production of these was envisioned in 1945–46, the end of the war put an end to any possibility of serial manufacture. Nevertheless, these tanks were heavily influenced by World War II lessons and their development and technical features are examined. Illustrated with rarely seen archive photos and meticulously illustrated new profiles of the key designs, this book traces the US Army’s efforts to develop heavy tanks comparable to the German Tigers, and the reasons why such monstrous machines were never required.

An in-depth study of the ground campaign led by the US and Coalition forces against Iraq in the Gulf War. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, precipitating an eight-year war. By the end of the 1980s, Iraq was bankrupt, having amassed enormous debts, and oil-rich neighboring Kuwait, which Iraq had long claimed was rightly part of greater Iraq, seemed like the perfect solution. Saddam Hussein's invasion in August 1990 pitted one of the largest Arab armies against the smallest and Kuwait fell in a few days. Upset at this turn of events and worried about Hussein's military power, Saudi Arabia began negotiations with the US, UK and France to create a coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait. More than 30 countries joined the coalition force. Operation Desert Shield had begun. With contemporary images, maps, diagrams and stunning artwork, this book by expert historian Steven J. Zaloga dives into the response from the forces of the Coalition to help liberate Kuwait following the month-long air campaign to weaken the Iraqi forces. While Iraq was defeated, the war did not unseat Hussein and the conflict would resume a decade later. This detailed study brings the ground campaign of the Gulf War to life.

An expert guide to the tanks that fought for the Axis in the Italian Campaign between 1943 and 1945, the least-known armoured campaign of World War II.World War II came to Italian soil in 1943 with the landings in Sicily, which the Wehrmacht tried to crush using substantial Panzer offensives. Over the next two years the Allies fought their way north, through some of the most difficult terrain of the war, until the final battles in the Po Valley in the spring of 1945. In this book, world armour expert Steven J. Zaloga offers a unique survey of Axis armour in the campaign, including the many types of tanks used, their roles and battlefield performance. The Italians deployed a variety of tanks on Sicily in 1943 including war-booty Renault R 35 tanks as well as their best tank destroyer, the Semovente 90/53, while a little-known rump Italian fascist army remained in combat until 1945, equipped in some cases with German tanks. Meanwhile Germany began its campaign equipped with leftovers from North Africa, but later deployed a much more substantial Panzer force. After the armistice Italy''s industries continued to manufacture tanks for the Wehrmacht, giving it an exotic selection of both German and Italian tank types. Illustrated with superb new profiles and including many previously unpublished photos, this book is an essential guide to the tanks that fought the Axis’ least-known armoured campaigns.

The invasion of the Soviet Union saw the Red Army’s vast tank fleets crushed by the outnumbered Germans. Fully illustrated and packed with data, this book explains how and why.Contrary to popular belief, the largest tank battles of World War II were not during the Kursk campaign of 1943, but during Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The Soviet tank fleet was enormous – about 24,000 tanks facing about 3,500 Panzers. But despite the gross numerical imbalance in their favor, the summer 1941 campaign was a disaster for the Red Army. In this book, based on documents previously unpublished in the English language, world-renowned armor expert Steven J. Zaloga analyses why the Red Army performed so badly in Barbarossa. During the summer months, the Red Army lost about 15,000 tanks including most of its best new tanks such as the T-34s and KVs, and by winter, most of the pre-war arsenal had been lost. It was dubbed the “Tankoviy pogrom”: the Tank Massacre. Illustrated with archive photos and meticulously detailed original illustrations, it examines the organization and doctrine of the Red Army in 1941 as well as the principal tank types, including information and illustrations on unusual and little-known types such as the multi-turreted T-28 and T-35 heavy tanks.

A detailed, illustrated study of Germany''s Panzer forces that invaded the Soviet Union, explaining how and why they performed as they did.Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany''s huge and fateful invasion of the Soviet Union, was the culmination of nearly two years of European conquests. By the time of Barbarossa, Germany''s Panzer forces had honed their Blitzkrieg methods of fast-moving warfare, but fighting across the wide expanses of eastern Europe would present them with their greatest challenge yet. While the Germans overran the Red Army at the start of the campaign, Barbarossa would end in failure.Written by one of the world''s experts on armoured warfare, and presenting newly uncovered data on the forces involved, this book explains the doctrine, organization, and technical capabilities of the Panzer forces, with a short overview on the armour of other Axis forces including Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, and Italy. The speed and shock value of the Panzer divisions was essential for the Wehrmacht to prevail over the Red Army in a brief campaign of annihilation. Packed with archive photos and superb original tank illustrations, this book explains how problems with the Panzers were a significant reason for the eventual failure of Barbarossa.

An essential guide to the tanks that fought the greatest armored clashes of modern times, between Saddam Hussein''s Soviet-supplied army and the advanced tanks fielded by the Coalition.The Gulf War of 1991 was the largest tank-vs-tank confrontation of the modern era, and the only large-scale tank combat ever to involve major NATO armies. With the Iraqi Army equipped primarily with modern Soviet- and Warsaw Pact-built tanks, it was also a rare example of how NATO tanks performed in combat against their Eastern Bloc rivals.In this book, world expert on tank technology Steven J. Zaloga examines the numerous tank types used in this conflict and how they compared, both in technology and battlefield performance. Besides covering the tanks of the United States, Britain, and France, it also examines those of other Allied forces including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It not only covers Iraq''s Soviet- and Warsaw Pact-built tanks, but also its vigorous indigenous military industry, which produced a number of notable innovations such as the “Enigma” tank with laminate armor. Unravelling the detail behind the greatest tank war of modern times, packed with data and illustrated with superb new artwork and numerous photos, including some never-before-published, and detailed descriptions of the little-known Iraqi armored division markings.