Self-propelled artillery is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mortar, and rocket artillery. They are high mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun, howitzer, mortar, or some form of rocket/missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield.
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light armour became vulnerable to newer anti-tank guns. It was produced in greater numbers than any other tank of the period, with more than 11,000 units manufactured. During the 1930s, the USSR developed 53 variants of the T-26, including flame-throwing tanks, combat engineer vehicles, remotely controlled tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery tractors, and armoured carriers. Twenty-three of these were series-produced, others were experimental models.
The SU-152 is a Soviet self-propelled heavy howitzer used during World War II.
The Sd.Kfz. 6 was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was designed to be used as the main towing vehicle for the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer.
The T-24 was a Soviet medium tank built in 1931. Only twenty four were built, and none saw combat. This was the first tank produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov, which was later responsible for the very successful BT series, T-34 and T-54 Soviet tanks. The T-24's suspension was used successfully in the Soviet Union's first purpose-built artillery tractors.
T-20 armored tractor Komsomolets(Bronirovannyy gusenichnyy tyagach Komsomolets T-20), an armored continuous track tractor, the T-20 was a prime mover vehicle used by the Soviet Union during the Winter War and World War II.
The Volgograd Tractor Plant, formerly the Dzerzhinskiy Tractor Factory or the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, is a heavy equipment factory located in Volgograd, Russia. It was once one of the largest tractor manufacturing enterprises in the USSR. It was a site of fierce fighting during World War II's Battle of Stalingrad.
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.
The 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30) was a Soviet 121.92 mm (4.8 inch) howitzer. The weapon was developed by the design bureau of Motovilikha Plants, headed by F. F. Petrov, in the late 1930s, and was in production from 1939 to 1955. The M-30 saw action in World War II, mainly as a divisional artillery piece of the Red Army (RKKA). Captured guns were also employed later in the conflict by the German Wehrmacht and the Finnish Army. Post World War II the M-30 saw combat in numerous conflicts of the mid- to late twentieth century in service of other countries' armies, notably in the Middle East.
The Sd.Kfz. 7 was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Army, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS during the Second World War. Sd.Kfz. is an abbreviation of the German word Sonderkraftfahrzeug, "special purpose vehicle". A longer designation is Sd.Kfz. 7 mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t, "medium towing motor vehicle 8t".
152-mm howitzer M1938 (M-10) was a Soviet 152.4 mm howitzer of World War II era. It was developed in 1937–1938 at the Motovilikha Mechanical Plant by a team headed by F. F. Petrov. Although production of the gun was stopped in 1941, it saw combat with the Red Army until the end of World War II and remained in service until the 1950s. Captured pieces were used by Wehrmacht and the Finnish Army. The latter kept the M-10 in service until 2000.
The Scammell Pioneer was a British 6×4 tractor unit used in World War II as an artillery tractor, recovery vehicle and tank transporter.
The M5 13 ton High Speed Tractor was a World War II era artillery tractor that was used by the US Army from 1942 to tow medium field artillery pieces.
The PLZ-05 or the Type 05 is a 155 mm self-propelled howitzer developed by the People's Liberation Army of China to replace the Type 59-1 130 mm towed gun and Type 83 152 mm self-propelled gun. The PLZ-05 was officially unveiled at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution to mark the 80th anniversary of the PLA in July 2007, and first entered service with the PLA in 2008.
More than 50 different modifications and experimental vehicles based on the T-26 light infantry tank chassis were developed in the USSR in the 1930s, with 23 modifications going into series production. The majority were armoured combat vehicles: flame tanks, artillery tractors, radio-controlled tanks (teletanks), military engineering vehicles, self-propelled guns and armoured personnel carriers. They were developed at the Leningrad Factory of Experimental Mechanical Engineering by talented Soviet engineers P.N. Syachentov, S.A. Ginzburg, L.S. Troyanov, N.V. Tseits, B.A. Andryhevich, M.P. Zigel and others. Many Soviet tank engineers were declared "enemies of the nation" and repressed during Stalin's Great Purge from the middle of the 1930s. As a result, work on self-propelled guns and armoured carriers ceased in the USSR during that time. T-26 light tanks were also modified into armoured combat vehicles in the field during wartime.
The 280 mm mortar M1939 (Br-5) was a Soviet heavy artillery piece used during World War II, it was the Red Army's heaviest field piece during the war.
The Mack NO 7+1⁄2-ton 6x6 truck was a heavy 6x6 cargo truck designed in the 1940s by the American manufacturer Mack Trucks. It was used by the U.S. Army as an artillery tractor for heavy artillery during and after World War II. The official U.S. Army designation was: Truck, 7 1/2 ton, 6x6, Prime Mover. Its G-number was (G-532).
C2P was a Polish light artillery tractor. Designed in the 1930s, it was the basic tractor of Polish anti-aircraft artillery during the 1939 Nazi and Soviet invasion of Poland. There are only two surviving vehicles, both in private hands in Poland.
The S-65 tractor or Stalinets S-65 was an agricultural tractor built by the Chelyabinsk Tractor Factory from 1937 until 1941. These tractors were used in military service as they were widely available and capable of towing heavy guns.
The S-51 was a Soviet experimental heavy self-propelled gun designed by TsAKB.
