Armoured Missions: Light Tank and Armoured Car Mission (2007)
0h 55min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
From the battlefields of Flanders onwards, the ultimate ground weapon was the tank. Developed to break the deadlock of trench warfare nothing that preceded it could stand against it. In the 1930s Mussolini successfully used light tanks based on the British designs in Abyssinia, while Hitler combined armoured cars and light tanks in the invasion of Poland. The speed of the Panzer IIs enabled the Germans to run rings around their enemy in the invasion of France, and Rommel made good use of similar tanks in his desert victories. It was the Russians, however, with the T-26 who showed the value and variety of the missions a light tank could undertake. At the same time the American M-series combined superb handling characteristics with high speed and high ground clearance giving it access to a number of difficult terrains. Since the war, British light armour includes the Scorpion, which is essentially a light tank that can reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. In Vietnam extensive use was made of a Cadillac Gauge design, the LAV-150 Commando armoured car and also, from the same company, the LAV-600 one of the most modern and potent light armoured vehicles. Despite sceptics, the future of the light armoured vehicle is assured. - Studio:
- Pegasus
- Genres:
- Documentary