Innholdsfortegnelse for No.25 i History of War

CENTURION TANK THE FIRST MAIN BATTLE TANK, OR UNIVERSAL TANK First introduced: 1945 Country: Great Britain In response to the combat experience of British armoured forces during World War II, particularly against the heavy German Tiger tank, specifications were issued for a new tank incorporating speed, firepower, armour protection, and a modicum of weight. The Centurion was produced in no fewer than a dozen variants, or marks. COMPOSITE ARMOUR PROVIDING GREATER PROTECTION AND LIGHTER WEIGHT  First introduced: 1955 Country: United States Composite armour revolutionised the development of armoured vehicles, particularly the main battle tank. Conceived and applied for the first time with the US Army’s T95 experimental tank series, the initial composite armour was noted for its “siliceous core” and included fused silica glass between rolled steel plates for better…

“MAIN BATTLE TANKS SUCH AS THE GERMAN LEOPARD 2 ARE DEPLOYED TO KOSOVO WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE” “MAIN BATTLE TANKS ARE OFTEN LIMITED OPERATIONALLY DUE TO JUNGLE AND ADVERSE TERRAIN” 1 BATTLE OF THE IMJIN RIVER KOREAN PENINSULA 22-25 APRIL 1951 During the initial action of the Chinese spring offensive during the Korean War, Centurion main battle tanks of the British Eighth Hussars contribute to the efforts of a multinational force in stemming the Chinese advance. 2 BATTLE OF CHAWINDA CHAWINDA, PAKISTAN 14 AND 18-19 SEPTEMBER 1965 In the largest armoured battle since Kursk, the Pakistani army halts the Indian army’s invasion. British-made Centurion and American-built M47 and M48 Patton Tanks are deployed by the belligerents. 3 BATTLE OF ABU-AGEILA SINAI DESERT, EGYPT 5-6 JUNE 1967 During the…

“SINCE HUMANS FIRST BEGAN ENGAGING IN ORGANISED CONFLICT THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, THE VICTORS HAVE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BEEN THOSE WITH THE TECHNOLOGICAL EDGE” LEIGH LIGHT Dubbed ‘the dustbin’ because of its shape, this 22-million candlepower, 24-inch retractable searchlight was slung underneath the fuselage of sub-hunting Allied aircraft. When an unsuspecting U-boat was suddenly pounced upon from above while travelling on the surface, the light was switched on and the sub illuminated. This not only made it easier for the attacking aircraft to hit it, but it also blinded the U-boat’s crew in the first few vital moments of the attack as they struggled to respond. SONAR The British had developed sonar before the war, using directional sound waves to ‘see’ underwater. These bounced off the U-boats and were heard back…

Elsewhere around Britain’s coastline, and indeed across its empire, these indicator nets – which could be as long as 100 metres and as deep as the sea bed they were suspended over – and an increasingly complex series of defences would play their part in keeping the U-boats out. The nets, which had a series of rocket flares attached to them that would go off if a submarine tried to breach the defences, were also sometimes attached to converted fishing boats armed with machine guns and depth charges. Other methods of defence around British harbours could include extensive minefields, sonar listening posts, radar stations, land-based gun emplacements, patrol ships, out-post observation ships, and of course regular sorties by aircraft from the RAF’s Coastal Command. In combination, they proved a highly…

Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison, a British Army sniper of the Household Cavalry, served in the Balkans and twice in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was during his last fateful tour in 2009, deployed to restive Musa Qala in Helmand Province, that Harrison made his famous shot. Harrison’s sniper team was deployed to overwatch a British patrol, which was soon ambushed. After firing warning shots at a Taliban spotter at 3,000 metres (double the effective range of his rifle), he spotted a new threat. An insurgent PKM machine gun had moved into position on a nearby hill and was bracketing the British patrol with fire. 1. GETTING THE RANGE Harrison estimates the range to the hillside to be in excess of 2,000 metres. Checking the wind, he is pleased to see…

MANUFACTURER: HECKLER AND KOCH, GERMANY FIRST YEAR OF SERVICE: 2004 CALIBRE: 5.56x45MM RANGE: 400 METRES USERS: DELTA FORCE, SEAL TEAM SIX, POLISH GROM AND FRENCH COS SCOPE The Nightforce scope offers variable magnification between 2.5 and ten power. It was used with a clip-on thermal night sight. BARREL The match grade 14.5-inch barrel is fitted with an AAC sound suppressor that deadens the report of the rifle. BULLET The 5.56x45mm 70-grain Barnes TSX Optimized Brown Tip is designed to shed all of its energy on impact with the target. It is allegedly the round that killed Osama bin Laden. STOCK The shoulder stock can be adjusted to suit the individual operator while a Harris detachable bipod steadies the rifle for longer range shooting.…

01 Standoff at dawn At dawn, the two armies assemble outside the town of Rocroi on marshy ground. The Spanish are well trained and have the numerical advantage. However, the French are on home territory and united against a common enemy. 02 Enghien attacks The French infantry attacks the Spanish centre and the right cavalry wing attacks the Spanish cavalry directly opposite. The infantry is repulsed but the French cavalry trounces its opponents. 03 Problems on the French left The French cavalry on the left wing disobeys Enghien’s orders and attacks the Spanish right wing. The marshy ground hinders the cavalry charge, allowing German-Croatian horsemen to counterattack and rout the French cavalry. 04 The French infantry holds The German-Croatian cavalry now tries to break the centre of the French infantry…

The Bamburgh Sword, forged in the 7th century, excavated in 1960 and rediscovered in 2001, is possibly the finest blade ever made, being created using six strands of pattern-welded iron. An extraordinary weapon like this was the work of more than one man and was likely forged for a royal owner. The blade, the hilt and the scabbard were made by different people, each a master of his craft. The technology that went into creating a pattern-welded sword is extremely complicated and takes a lifetime to perfect. The men who had this skill were venerated and rewarded richly. However, the technology was jealously guarded, so bladesmiths were not free to leave the king who employed them. In a time when modern science was hundreds of years in the future, the…

Born on 22 February 1948 in the Austrian town of Kufstein, Leslie Halasz Sabo Jr was the third son of two upper-class members of a once-powerful Hungarian family. The Sabos had lost their fortune in the aftermath of World War II, but they had also lost something far more precious – one of their sons, who died during the bombing raids of the war at the age of one. The end of the war also saw the arrival of the Red Army. Fearing the installation of a totalitarian infrastructure, his mother and father decided to pull up their roots and flee the country with Leslie and his older brother George, to seek a new life elsewhere. The Sabos arrived in the United States in 1950 when Leslie was just two…

THE STAGED WITHDRAWAL Israel negotiated with Egypt for a staggered return of the Sinai in 1975, 1979 and 1982 to complete Egyptian control following the war and subsequent Camp David talks. Although it may have been unpopular at home following the peace treaty, Israel’s willingness to negotiate following the 1973 war demonstrates that the Arab states may have been able to secure better terms had they negotiated then. THE GOLANI UNDOF In the Golan, the outcome was different than in Egypt. Syrian President Hafez al Assad refused to sign a full peace agreement with Israel. In its stead, Syria and Israel signed a simple ceasefire that was negotiated through shuttle diplomacy. UN Resolution 338 established an immediate ceasefire, the terms of which were agreed upon on 31 May 1974. The…

“The T-72 lacked the highest quality Soviet-era technology, and many of those in service today remain inferior” M1A1 ABRAMS YEARS IN OPERATION: 1986-PRESENT ORIGIN: USA NUMBER MADE: 5,000 FIREPOWER The M1A1 Abrams main battle tank mounts the M256 120mm smoothbore cannon, capable of firing a variety of ammunition. Designed by Rheinmetall, the cannon is also mounted on the German Leopard 2. TECHNOLOGY The tank deployed with cutting-edge target-acquisition and battlefield-control technology, surpassing that of enemy vehicles in single combat during numerous encounters in Iraq and other locations in the Middle East. ARMOUR Composite armour based on the British Chobham innovation provides outstanding protection for the M1A1 against anti-tank missiles and cannon rounds. Upgraded from the original M1, some M1A1 armour includes depleted uranium. SPEED The 1,500-shaft horsepower Honeywell AGT 1500…

MANUFACTURE: UNITED KINGDOM FIRST YEAR OF SERVICE: 2007 CALIBRE: 338 LAPUA MAGNUM RANGE 1,600 METRES USERS: BRITISH ARMY AND ROYAL MARINES BARREL The match grade barrel is fluted to reduce heat build up and equipped with a sound suppressor to conceal the sniper’s location. SCOPE The Schmidt and Bender PMII variable power scope magnifies the target up to 25 times and can be used with a clip-on night sight. BULLET The 300-grain boat tail .338 Lapua Magnum round is designed to maintain stability over long distances and is accurate to beyond 2,000 metres. STOCK The desert-coloured stock is designed to be folded when carried strapped to the sniper’s back. The cheek-piece, stock height and length are fully adjustable.…

“IT IS ESTIMATED THAT PERHAPS 8 MILLION PEOPLE PERISHED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE WAR, EITHER THOUGH MILITARY ACTION, VIOLENT PLUNDERING OR OUTBREAKS OF DISEASES” The Thirty Years’ War was one of the most devastating conflicts in European history, an apocalypse only comparable to the later Napoleonic and world wars. Some parts of what is now Germany lost two-thirds of its population and it is estimated that perhaps 8 million people perished as a direct result of the war, either though military action, violent plundering or outbreaks of diseases that accompanied huge travelling armies. At the heart of this struggle was the fight between France and Spain – the Battle of Rocroi was the climax of this ultimate duel of nations. Spain had been involved in the war almost…

“THE ARRIVAL OF IRON AND STEEL BROUGHT ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE IN THE ANCIENT ARMS RACE” The first swords ever created are somewhat shrouded in antiquity. From these first bronze blades, swords evolved in a complicated fashion to become the weapons we are familiar with. One of the best examples of these original weapons is the sickle-shaped khopesh buried with the pharaoh Tutankhamun. However, despite being buried circa 1327 BCE, by then, swords were already old. These weapons were first produced as status items in and around the Mediterranean basin, from roughly 3000 BCE onwards, once the alloying of bronze allowed for the creation of blades. To start with, they were extraordinarily rare, highly prized and a sign of immense wealth. As bronze technology spread, blades became more common, and armies,…

The technology required to make the Bamburgh Sword, and similar pattern-welded weapons, was staggering. First the finest bog ore was smelted to make iron and steel, then the iron was forged into regularly twisted bars. These were then welded together to form a perfect chevron pattern, and the basic sword shape was formed. The very finest blades had wootz (crucible steel) added to reduce imperfections. The steel edge was then welded to the core, which made the sword flexible and fluid in the hand. The steel edge made the blade wickedly sharp, but it was the interplay between iron and steel that was key to the success of these magical blades. The blade was fullered and ground to shape, then heated and quenched several times to normalise. Next it was…

When Israel launched a surprise attack in 1967 that destroyed Syria and Egypt’s military capacity and effectively tripled the country in size, it was sure that it had clearly demonstrated its overwhelming, pre-emptive military capability to shift power. While Syria lost two-thirds of its fighting capacity in material and Egypt most of its air force and a significant number of tanks, the Six-Day War earned Israel huge territorial gains. Jordan was ejected from Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Sinai was taken from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. Crucially, Egypt also lost control of the Suez Canal to Israel, which erected a line of fortifications along the east coast (the Bar Lev line) to secure and restart the flow of Israeli shipping through the Red Sea to the…

“The British Civil Wars raged for a decade and became a cataclysmic struggle for England’s soul” In the 1640s, people of all classes were embroiled in a grim struggle over a fundamental question – who was the supreme power in the land, the king or parliament? The British Civil Wars raged for a decade and became a cataclysmic struggle for England’s soul. It was also a conflict that would engulf Wales, Scotland and Ireland with devastating consequences. The resulting chaos saw the execution of a king and the establishment of a republican Commonwealth. Two things were largely responsible for making this radical change possible. One was an obscurely born MP from Huntingdon called Oliver Cromwell; the other was the most innovative military force of the age – the New Model…

STAY COOL UNDER FIRE Taken: February 2006 A British Royal Marine Commando and member of the Brigade Patrol Troop (BPT) takes part in a live firing exercise in Norway. The BPT is a reconnaissance unit, and is usually deployed ahead of the main brigade of Royal Marines. As part of their training, members of the BPT take part in mountain and Arctic warfare exercises, and are also parachute trained. ‘TANKS TAKE OFF!’ Taken: c. 1953 A Cromwell tank takes to the air during a point-to-point and obstacle course demonstration at Bovington Camp in Dorset. Thousands of spectators turned up to watch the spectacle of the racing tanks, and Pathé News covered the event with a report accurately titled ‘Tanks Take Off!’. The inspired comment, “That was 28 tons of solid…

“THE CHALLENGER 2 HAS A FINE COMBAT RECORD, SUSTAINING DAMAGE BUT WITHSTANDING ROCKET-PROPELLED GRENADES, ANTI-TANK MISSILES, AND IEDS” CHALLENGER 2 50 ROUNDS 120MM AMMUNITION CAPACITY BOILING VESSEL ALLOWS CREW TO BREW TEA UNIT COST EXCEEDS £4.2 MILLION APPROXIMATELY 450 UNITS PRODUCED WEIGHT OF 62.5 TONS OPERATIONAL RANGE OF 550KM EXPLOSIVE REACTIVE ARMOUR MINIMISES MISSILE IMPACT EXPECTED SERVICE LIFE OF 40 YEARS ARMOUR PROTECTION State-of-the-art Chobham composite armour protects the Challenger 2 main battle tank, and is reportedly stronger than multiple layers of steel. The precise composition of the armour remains classified. L30A1 120MM MAIN WEAPON Manufactured by BAE Land Systems from electro-slag refined (ESR) steel, the L30A1 120mm rifled gun is equipped with a thermal sleeve, fume extractor and muzzle reference system. Sometimes referred to as the CHARM (Challenger Main…

From the time that the Battle of 73 Easting was joined, visibility was poor due to a raging sandstorm, and the fight occurred somewhat by accident. However, as Eagle Troop encountered the Tawakalna Division, other American forces, including Ghost, Killer, and Iron Troops of the Second and Third Armored Cavalry Regiments, entered the fight quickly. Bradley Fighting Vehicles destroyed a number of Iraqi tanks and armoured personnel carriers with TOW missiles after fixing their targets with 25mm gunfire, while the highly sophisticated M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks utilised superior optics and target-acquisition systems to defeat two brigades of the Tawakalna Division and later elements of the Iraqi 12th Armored Division during six hours of heavy fighting. Ghost Troop alone accounted for at least two companies of Republican Guard tanks. The…

“A STORM HAD WHIPPED UP THAT WAS SO FEROCIOUS THAT THE CONVOY, WITH DWINDLING FUEL, WAS FORCED TO KEEP STEAMING ALONG THE DOOMED COURSE FATE HAD SELECTED FOR IT – DIRECTLY INTO THE U-BOATS’ KILLING GROUND” The Anglo-Canadian convoy SC 42 left Nova Scotia bound for England on 30 August 1941. It consisted of more than 60 slow-moving merchant ships protected by four warships from the Royal Canadian Navy. Ahead of it lay 4,500 kilometres of wild ocean, temperatures cold enough to freeze the sea spray to the ships’ handrails, and waves the size of tower blocks. The crossing, which would take the ships a minimum of two and half weeks to complete, held a far deadlier threat than anything the environment could throw at them, however. Shortly after leaving…

From the Spanish marksman who killed Admiral Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar to the shadowy Iraqi insurgent Juba who videotaped his kills, the sniper remains a figure to be respected and feared. Striking unseen from incredibly long range, stopping their target with a single well-placed shot, a lone marksman has often turned the tide of a battle singlehandedly, sometimes even halting entire armies in their tracks. Many of history’s most successful shooters have not only packed deadly aim, but possessed immense skill at blending in with their surroundings. From the harsh snow-strewn battlefields of the Finnish Winter War, to the jungles of Vietnam, these hidden hunters have left their own mark on history’s battlefields. “THE MAJORITY OF KYLE’S KILLS WERE DURING THE BATTLE OF RAMADI IN 2005, WHEN HE DISPATCHED A…

The container ship Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates in April 2009. The ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, was taken hostage and after unexpected resistance from Maersk Alabama’s crew, the four pirates, armed with AK-47s, took to the seas with their captive in a lifeboat. The US Navy responded with a warship, the USS Bainbridge, and a rescue team from DEVGRU (formerly SEAL Team Six). As negotiations continued and inclement weather moved in, the Navy persuaded the hijackers to allow their life boat to be towed behind Bainbridge. One pirate was in need of medical treatment and was transferred to Bainbridge, while the others were adamant that only a $2 million ransom would secure Phillips’s release. 1. SEAL INFILTRATION The SEAL Team Six assault force parachutes into the sea near…

“COMPANIES FROM BRITAIN, GERMANY, ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS FORMED A JOINT COMPANY CALLED PANAVIA TO DEVELOP AND MANUFACTURE THE NEW JET” PANAVIA TORNADO CREW: 2 LENGTH: 16.72M (54FT 10IN) WINGSPAN: 13.91M (45.6FT) AT 25° WING SWEEP, 8.6M (28.2FT) AT 67° WING SWEEP HEIGHT: 5.95M (19.5FT) WING AREA: 26.6M2 (286FT2 ) LOADED WEIGHT: 20,240KG (44,620LB) POWERPLANT: 2 X TURBO-UNION RB199-34R MK 103 AFTERBURNING TURBOFANS MAX SPEED: MACH 2.2 (2,400KM/H, 1,490 MPH) AT 9,000M (30,000FT) RANGE: 1,390KM (870MI) At the end of World War II, early generation jet technology was incorporated into stunning new designs, as jets including the AVRO Vulcan, Gloster Meteor and American Lockheed T-33 replaced piston-engined aircraft. This early generation of jet engine technology was advancing at a very high rate. Together with advances in aerodynamic features including swept…