An anti-aircraft vehicle, also known as a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) or self-propelled air defense system (SPAD), is a mobile vehicle with a dedicated anti-aircraft capability.
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air, anti-air, AA, flak, layered air defence or air defence forces is the counter to aerial warfare. It is defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action". It includes surface based, subsurface, and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight.
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bullets) fired by a machine gun. Autocannons have a longer effective range and greater terminal performance than machine guns, due to the use of larger/heavier munitions, but are usually smaller than tank guns, howitzers, field guns, or other artillery. When used on its own, the word "autocannon" typically indicates a non-rotary weapon with a single barrel. When multiple rotating barrels are involved, such a weapon is referred to as a "rotary autocannon" or occasionally "rotary cannon", for short.
The Vickers 6-ton tank or Vickers Mark E, also known as the "Six-tonner", was a British light tank designed in 1928 in a private project at Vickers. Though not adopted by the British Army, it was picked up by several other armed forces, and licensed by the Soviet Union as the T-26. It was also the direct predecessor of the Polish 7TP tank.
The Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 is an anti-aircraft autocannon, designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. The gun was designed as an intermediate anti-aircraft gun, filling the gap between fast firing close-range small calibre anti-aircraft guns and slower firing long-range high calibre anti-aircraft guns. The Bofors 40 mm L/60 was for its time perfectly suited for this role and outperformed competing designs in the years leading up to World War II in both effectiveness and reliability.
The Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun was an anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s originally for Swedish use. It was exported to several countries during the 1930s of which several bought licences to produce it themselves. The gun was used in several conflicts but most of its fame comes from its use in the Spanish Civil War and the Winter War where it was used very successfully against light tanks and armored cars among other targets. Beyond its use as an infantry gun it was also used as the main armament in several armored cars and tanks such as the Dutch M39 Pantserwagen and the Polish 7TP to name a few. As the armor of tanks was increased during World War II the gun very quickly became obsolete as an anti-tank gun but was still used effectively as an infantry support gun for the entirety of the war, and well into the Cold War. This was due to its high fire rate, great mobility and effective high explosive shells.
The 2-pounder gun, officially the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 40 mm (1.6 in) British autocannon, used as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing. This QF 2-pounder was not the same gun as the Ordnance QF 2-pounder, used by the British Army as an anti-tank gun and a tank gun, although they both fired 2 lb (0.91 kg), 40 mm (1.6 in) projectiles.
The Ordnance QF 2-pounder, or simply "2 pounder gun", was a 40 mm (1.575 in) British anti-tank gun and vehicle-mounted gun employed in the Second World War.
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked.
Parola Tank Museum, officially Armoured Vehicle Museum is a military museum located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki in Parola, near Hämeenlinna, Finland, a few kilometres from the Finnish Army Armoured Brigade training unit. It displays various tanks, armoured vehicles and anti-tank guns used by the Finnish Defence Forces throughout their history, including their latest Leopard 2A4 tank. A rare exhibit is an armoured train used in World War II. The museum was opened on June 18, 1961, when there were 19 tanks and 12 anti-tank guns on display.
The T-13 was a tank destroyer in use with the Belgian armed forces before World War II and during the Battle of Belgium. It was designed by Vickers-Armstrong, and produced by Vickers, Miesse and Familleheureux and outfitted with armament from Fonderie Royale de Canons Herstal. The earlier T-13s were based on imported Vickers tracked vehicles that were outfitted with armament and armor in Belgium by the Miesse company; later versions, from the B3 version on, were fully license-produced in Belgium by the Familleheureux factory. Total production numbers are unclear and have been underestimated for political reasons, both before and after World War II, but are generally estimated at 300 vehicles, although not all were available or fully outfitted on 10 May 1940, the start of the Battle of Belgium. Nazi Germany used the vehicles after the occupation of Belgium, but to what extent remains unclear.
Bofors 75 mm and Bofors 80 mm were two closely related designs of anti-aircraft and general-purpose artillery. Less well known than the 40 mm quick-firing AA gun, the gun was nevertheless adopted by armed forces of numerous countries during World War II, including Argentina, China, Dutch East Indies, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Persia and Thailand. It was closely related to the 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41, one of the best-known AA guns of World War II, which was partially based on it. Some pieces captured by the Japanese in China served as the blueprint for the Type 4 75 mm AA Gun, a reverse-engineered clone of the Bofors 75mm gun.
The First Indochina War involved the North Vietnam or Việt Minh (Army: People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), Lao Issara (1945–1949), Pathet Lao (1949–1954), Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF), Khmer Issarak or United Issarak Front (1950–1954)), Japanese volunteers, the State of Vietnam (1949–1954) and the French Fourth Republic (Army: French Armed Forces (Forces armées Françaises) or French Indochina, French Far East Expeditionary Corps (Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient(CEFEO)), Kingdom of Cambodia (1946–1954), Kingdom of Laos (1947–1954), Vietnamese National Army (VNA)).
