OutlineOutline
• Why Tanks
• Interwar Years– Swinton, Fuller, Hart, Guderian, Soviets– How Budgets & WWI experience Impacted Armor Development
• World War II– Blitzkrieg– Combined Arms– Organization
• Armored Vehicles of World War II and Beyond
• World War I Tanks and Tactics
• Why tanks• No man’s land• Massive casualties• A replacement for Cavalry for exploitation of success• An answer to the technological advances in artillery and machinegun• Break the stalemate
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor
• World War I Tanks and Tactics
• 1915• Little Willie given road trials in September• Mother Tank approved for development
• Major-General Sir Ernest Swinton• Coined the name “Tank”• First attempt to develop a Tank was in 1912• An Infantry support weapon – moving pillbox
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor
• 1916• Tank Corps created – never more than 20,000• Armor plate developed & Short barreled 6 pound gun• 20 Mother tanks tested & 50 new ones ordered
• World War I Tanks and Tactics
• 1918• First American Offensive at Cantigny• Germany Surrenders
• 1917• Disastrous British and French attacks • Outbreak of French Mutiny• Introduction of Hutier offensive tactics on Eastern Front• Battle of Cambrai and the first use of Tanks
• Marginal success due to terrain & lack of cooperation
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor
• Armor in the Interwar Years• Major-General J.F.C. Fuller
• A Tank Army
• B.H. Liddell Hart• Expanding Torrent Theory• Armor used against Artillery, Headquarters & Log Centers
• General Heinz Guderian• Put Hart’s ideas into practice - Blitzkrieg• Combined Arms Warfare • Organization of Armored Force
• The Soviet Model• Operational Maneuver Groups & Deep Attacks
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor• The Impact of Budgets & WWI Experience on Armor Development
• Britain and France• Existing Armored Forces & Tactics• Appeasement
• United States• No money for the military• Use of tanks as an Infantry support weapon• Reverts back to horse Cavalry
• Germany and the Soviet Union• No existing Armored Forces & no pre-determined ideas• Worked together in secret to develop new vehicles and tactics
The History of ArmorThe History of Armor• Armored Forces in World War II
• Germany• A well designed Armored Vehicle• Organization of Armored Divisions• Combined Arms Warfare
• Armor, Motorized Infantry, Artillery, Aviation, Logistics• Blitzkrieg• Radio and Command & Control
• Everyone Else in WW II• Inferior Armored Vehicles• Poor organization• Poor command & control• Poor tactics
The Evolution The Evolution of Modern Armorof Modern Armor