An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, is a British infantry tank of the Second World War.
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. It was one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war.
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production. The many variants included riveted and welded construction, petrol and diesel engines and a progressive increase in armament. It was supplied in large numbers to the USSR and built under licence in Canada. It was used extensively by the British in the North African campaign. Developed by Vickers, it proved to be both strong and reliable.
Crusader, in full "Tank, Cruiser Mk VI, Crusader", also known by its General Staff number A.15, was one of the primary British cruiser tanks during the early part of the Second World War. Over 5,000 tanks were manufactured and they made important contributions to the British victories during the North African campaign. The Crusader tank would not see active service beyond Africa but the chassis of the tank was modified to create anti-aircraft, fire support, observation, communication, bulldozer and recovery vehicle variants.
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, as well as enemy tanks. The Cruiser Mk II was a more heavily armoured adaptation of the Mark I, developed at much the same time.
The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the interwar period for tanks designed as modernised armoured and mechanised cavalry, as distinguished from infantry tanks. Cruiser tanks were developed after medium tank designs of the 1930s failed to satisfy the Royal Armoured Corps. The cruiser tank concept was conceived by Giffard Le Quesne Martel, who preferred many small light tanks to swarm an opponent, instead of a few expensive and unsatisfactory medium tanks. "Light" cruiser tanks carried less armour and were correspondingly faster, whilst "heavy" cruiser tanks had more armour and were slightly slower.
The infantry tank was a tank concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily armoured to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy fire. The extra armour came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow-moving foot soldiers.
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III, also known by its General Staff specification number A13 Mark I, was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system, which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance; previous cruiser tank models had used triple wheeled bogie suspension.
The Cruiser Tank Mk IV was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It followed directly on from the Tank, Cruiser, Mk III. The first Mk IVs were Mk IIIs with extra armour fitted to the turret. Later Mk IVAs were built with the complete extra armour. The tank was used in France in 1940 and in the early part of the war in North Africa, before being withdrawn from service. A fast vehicle compared to other British tanks of the early part of the war, it was probably the best tank Britain had in 1940. In total, 955 of these tanks were built.
AEC Armoured Car is the name of a series of British heavy armoured cars built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) during the Second World War.
The Tank, Light, Mk VI was a British light tank, produced by Vickers-Armstrongs in the late 1930s, which saw service during the Second World War.
The Light Tank Mark I to Mark V were a series of related designs of light tank produced by Vickers for the British Army during the interwar period.
The Carro Armato M11/39 was an Italian medium tank first produced prior to World War II. The M11/39 saw service in Africa and Italy (1939–1944). The official Italian designation was Carro Armato M11/39. The designation for the M11/39 is as follows: "M" for Medio ("medium"), followed by the weight in tonnes (11) and the year of adoption (1939).
The Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car was a series of armoured vehicles that were produced in South Africa and adopted by the British Army during the Second World War. RAF Armoured Car companies possessed them, but seem never to have used them in action, making greater use of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars and other types.
The Vickers Medium Mark II was a British tank built by Vickers in the Inter-war period.
This article lists British armoured fighting vehicle production during the Second World War. The United Kingdom produced 27,528 tanks and self-propelled guns from July 1939 to May 1945, as well as 26,191 armoured cars and 69,071 armoured personnel carriers.
The British Army made extensive use of a variety of combat vehicles during the Second World War. This article is a summary of those vehicles.
This article on military tanks deals with the history and development of tanks of the British Army from their first use in the First World War, the interwar period, during the Second World War, the Cold War and modern era.
