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).
A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-tank gun, or missile launcher, also called an anti-tank missile carrier. The vehicles are designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often with limited operational capacities.
A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment or purpose-built military vehicles. The first appearance of such vehicles coincided with the appearance of the first tanks, these vehicles were modified Mark V tanks for bridging and mine clearance. Modern military engineering vehicles are expected to fulfill numerous roles, as such they undertake numerous forms, examples of roles include; bulldozers, cranes, graders, excavators, dump trucks, breaching vehicles, bridging vehicles, military ferries, amphibious crossing vehicles, and combat engineer section carriers.
The Type 94 tankette was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance, and not for direct combat. The lightweight Type 94 proved effective in China as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, and those tank battalions were equipped only with some British export models and Italian CV-33 tankettes. As with nearly all tankettes built in the 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range.
The Type 97 Light armored car Te-Ke was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. It was designed as a fast reconnaissance vehicle, and was a replacement for the earlier Type 94 tankette.
The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against the Soviet Union, and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of World War II.
The Type 87 Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Gun is a Japanese air defense weapon built around the Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon system as used on the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. The system uses a modified Type 74 tank chassis. It is also nicknamed by field officers as "Guntank" after the similar-looking mecha in the Mobile Suit Gundam series.
The Kita and Minami Fortresses were defensive structures of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy in the Kuril Archipelago.
The M4 Sherman tank was produced in several variants, a result of mass production spread across several manufacturers and several years. It was also the basis for a number of related vehicles and Shermans have been modified by several nations, ranging from upgrades to complete hull conversions for another task. Originally designed in 1941, M4 variants were still used by Israel during the 1967 and 1973 wars with its Arab neighbors.
The Type 1 medium tank Chi-He was an improved version of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. It had a more powerful main gun, engine and thicker armor. It was the first Japanese tank to have a communication radio as standard equipment. Production of the tank did not begin until 1943, due to the higher priority of steel allocated to the Imperial Navy for warship construction. A total of 170 units were built. All of the tanks produced were allocated for the defense of the Japanese home islands, against the anticipated Allied Invasion.
The M60 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB) is an armored vehicle based on the M60 Patton main battle tank's hull and used for the launching and retrieval of a 60-foot (18 m) scissors-type bridge. The AVLB consists of three major sections: the launcher, the vehicle hull, and the bridge. The M60 AVLB or Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge was introduced in 1963. This combat engineer vehicle was developed by the US Army Engineer Research & Development Laboratories under contract with General Dynamics to replace the previous M48 AVLB. It was designed to launch bridge for tanks and other wheeled combat vehicles across trenches and water obstacles in combat conditions. A total of 400 armored bridge launchers and bridges were built. 125 M60 AVLBs of all variants were constructed.
An armoured vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) is a combat support vehicle, sometimes regarded as a subtype of military engineering vehicle, designed to assist militaries in rapidly deploying tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles across gap-type obstacles, such as rivers. The AVLB is usually a tracked vehicle converted from a tank chassis to carry a folding metal bridge instead of weapons. The AVLB's job is to allow armoured or infantry units to cross craters, anti-tank ditches, blown bridges, railroad cuts, canals, rivers and ravines, when a river too deep for vehicles to wade through is reached, and no bridge is conveniently located, or sufficiently sturdy, a substantial concern when moving 60-ton tanks.
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) initially purchased foreign tanks for evaluation during World War I, and began developing its own indigenous designs during the late 1920s.
The Type 2 Ke-To was a light tank of World War II, produced in small numbers for the Imperial Japanese Army as an improvement of the existing Type 98 Ke-Ni. No Type 2 Ke-To light tanks are known to have engaged in combat prior to Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.
The Panzerkampfwagen I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The Panzer I was built in several variants and was the basis for a number of variants listed below.
This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Japanese Army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.
The Type 08 is a family of eight-wheeled amphibious, modular armored vehicle developed by Norinco for infantry fire support, battlefield logistics, and quick reaction operations. Developed in the early 2000s, the modern Chinese vehicle family were produced for more than 6000 hulls and widely deployed by the People's Liberation Army Ground Force and People's Liberation Army Marine Corps.
The Sōkō Sagyō Ki, also known as the SS-Ki (SS機/SS器), was a fulltrack engineering vehicle of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) introduced in 1931. The vehicle was considered by the IJA to be one of its most versatile multi-function support vehicles.
