The Tank Builders: A History of Early Soviet Armor Research and Development.

Abstract

In this paper the author surveys the history of Soviet tank building from the first Soviet tank until the end of World War II. He identifies organizations involved with armor research and development, with special attention to the armored vehicle design bureaus. He examines the Soviet method of tank building to find elements of a Soviet design philosophy, including materiel requirements levied on the designers, and an identification of problems that the Soviets encountered. The author concludes that the history of Soviet tank building is relevant to contemporary problems; that Soviet tank design is a mix of designers' initiative, technological constraints, and a particular Soviet perception of the role of and threat to armored forces; and that the growth of Soviet armor was not as rapid or as purposeful as might be assumed. The paper is based almost entirely on Soviet sources and includes full citation of the Soviet literature with appropriate remarks on historiography in the notes. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA098574

Entities

People

  • Gregory G. Govan

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Armored Vehicles
  • Civil War
  • Combat Vehicles
  • Construction
  • Defense Industry
  • Employment
  • Engineers
  • Governments
  • Light Armored Vehicles
  • Mass Production
  • Personnel Management
  • Production
  • Production Models
  • Second World War
  • Self Propelled
  • Self Propelled Guns
  • Training

Readers

  • Political Science/ International Relations/ European Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • ballistics.