It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. As early as the beginning of the “Battle of the Lower Dnieper” at the end of 1943, he had a showdown with the Nazi heads of state:

“Germany wants to abandon illusions. Ukraine will absolutely not be able to hold it unless you give me 12 more fully-staffed German armored divisions with high morale!” But at this time the Eastern Front has entered a full-scale counteroffensive, and the Northern Army Group and the Central Army Group are also struggling, and the German military has bottomed out. This suggestion is obviously unrealistic. Manstein stepped back and asked the head of state to replenish the troops with a large number of tanks, at least 500 new Tiger and Panther. However, the idea that Nazi Germany reduced industrial production due to the British and American bombings could not be realized. The Nazi heads of state put up two fingers and could only guarantee the dispatch of Manstein’s two divisions. Manstein could only sigh helplessly. Soon after, in January 1944, the Soviet Red Army launched the “Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Battle”. The Korsun salient was eaten by the Soviet army. 60,000 German troops broke through tragically, and only more than 30,000 people were evacuated. The southern cluster has not slowed down. The Red Army under the winning position did not give the Germans any chance to breathe, and the second stage of the offensive was already on the line. In March 1944, the Soviet Union launched the “Proskurov-Chernovich Offensive”, that is, the Chernivtsi Offensive, which the Germans called the “Kanemets-Podulsky Pocket Battle”. This battle was part of the campaign for the liberation of Ukraine. The Soviet army intended to divide the German Southern Army Group and force it to the Carpathian Mountains and then encircle and annihilate it. Zhukov and Manstein made the final duel in Ukraine because of the famous pair. The Soviet Union won a strategic victory, while the Germans still won a tactical victory by virtue of their excellent tactical qualities. After the battle, both the Soviets and Germans were dissatisfied with the result: Marshal Zhukov thought that the Soviets had performed too poorly in this battle and let go of their mouths; and Manstein was dismissed by the Nazi head of state because of this battle, and left. The stage of the Second World War. In March 1944, what kind of peak showdown did Manstein and Zhukov staged?

1. The embarrassing German army: Can’t fight, can’t run yet

Throughout World War II, a large number of battles or offensives with circumscribed names appeared on the Soviet-German battlefield, such as the “Battle of Proskurov-Chernovic”, “Battle of Lviv-Sandomer”, and “Battle of Uygur The Swa River-Aud River Battle” and so on. These battles often took place in the second half of the Soviet-German war, and they were basically part of the Soviet Union’s “ten Stalin strikes”. During the Soviet counter-offensive stage in the late Soviet-German War, millions of the Red Army advanced westward almost simultaneously, interspersing and annihilating the German forces on a large scale, killing and injuring the German forces. These battles often do not target specific cities and regions, but rather a range of combat purposes. Therefore, the starting place or ending point of the battle is taken together to form the name of the battle. On February 17, 1944, the Battle of Korson-Shepchenkovsky ended, and the Soviet army swallowed the Cherkasy protrusion of the Dnieper River Bend. 30,000 German troops died in the breakout, and the relief troops also suffered more than 20,000 casualties and lost 500 tanks and destroyers. Manstein looked at the Soviet front. On the long line of defense of the entire southern cluster, the four major fronts of the Soviet army had as many as 2.5 million, and 800,000 German troops were slammed in Denis outside the Carpathian Mountains. Te River and Prut River Basin. One step harder, the Soviet army will regain all the territory and push the front to Eastern Europe. The German army had just gone through a big defeat, and the armored forces of the Southern Army Group suffered heavy losses but could not be replenished. After eating 30,000 German troops, the Soviet army stopped its offensive in mid-February 1944. The German General Staff in the rear sent a message that they believed that the Soviet army would not launch another offensive. The muddy road conditions in Ukraine were not suitable for mechanized troops to march. Moreover, the Soviet logistics line was too long and the supply of materials would be difficult. Wait until the end of spring to act. Manstein smiled bitterly when he got the news. These “generals in the office” always made plausible suggestions, but they didn’t understand the Eastern Front battlefield, let alone the Soviet army.

Manstein believes that the Soviet offensive is on the line, and it may even be tomorrow! Muddy, cold, and tight supplies were not the reason for the armistice, because the Soviets were vigorous and motivated. They wanted revenge and drove the Germans back to Eastern Europe. The Nazi head of state strictly ordered the German army to hold on to the west of Ukraine, defend and counterattack the Soviet army. In his eyes, the Soviet army is still a mob, the loose sand that was captured more than 1 million in 1941. But what he didn’t know was that the Soviet army had long been reborn from the ashes. The Soviet army in 1944 was already the largest and most powerful army on the planet. It was only a matter of time before the German army was defeated.

2. The largest front army coordinated attack in the history of the Soviet army

Manstein guessed that the Soviet army would attack, and they would cut off the German army in order to divide the south into the group. But if he understands the true intentions of the top Soviet army, the marshal may be shocked to drop his jaw—— Comrade Stalin gave orders to the Soviet Belarusian 2nd Front Army and the Ukrainian 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Front Army to wipe out the Southern German Group in the spring of 1944 and let the German aggressors leave their bodies on Soviet soil. The four Soviet fronts attacked across the board. The Ukrainian 3rd Front attacked in the direction of the Bug River in the south. The Belarusian 2nd Front attacked Rivne and broke into the rear of the Central Army Group. The Ukrainian 1st and 2nd Fronts were responsible for directly attacking southern Germany. The front of the cluster rushed to the Carpathian Mountains to prevent the German army from retreating to the north of the Transnistria. This campaign of mobilizing millions of troops to attack together is unprecedented in human history, and Manstein’s pressure can be imagined. After the Battle of Korsun, the German 1st Panzer Army led by General Hubei was under the attack of Ukraine’s 1st and 2nd Front Army. This army was specially dispatched by Manstein to relieve Korsun. However, after the completion of the rescue, the 1st armored group was trapped in the area of ​​Kamenets-Podolski. The 200,000 German troops were trapped in the severe cold, and the periphery was several times their own Soviet troops. Manstein requested that the 1st Armored Army be withdrawn from the iron net to prevent Corzon’s tragedy from repeating itself. But the Nazi Führer refused this request again. He remained the same and ordered the Germans not to retreat and hold their ground. On February 29, 1944, General Vatutin, the commander of the Ukrainian First Front, was attacked by Ukrainian national elements and was severely injured before his death. On March 1, Zhukov was sent to the Ukrainian First Front Army to take over the troops. The “Deputy Commander of the Soviet Command” once again came to the battlefield to command the army. As the commander of the airborne command, General Zhukov must certainly show his talents in the frontline troops. He immediately organized the troops to launch the “Chernovic offensive” after taking office. The four armies of the southern cluster are all on the front, from north to south are the 4th Armored Army, the 1st Armored Army, the 8th Army, and the 6th Army. Almost every German army has to face the pressure of the two fronts of the Soviet Union. The number of opponents and the number of tanks, artillery, and fighters are several times that of its own. There are 200,000 German troops in the poor “Hubei pocket”. There are 7 Soviet Army groups that form the encirclement alone, with more than 600,000 men and more than 700 tanks. Putting this gap in force on other battlefields, the weaker party may directly surrender. .

3. Hubei Pocket: I predicted your prediction

From March 4th to 11th, all the four fronts began to attack. Smoke billowed from western Ukraine and artillery blasted the sky. But as a commander who took over halfway, Zhukov didn’t know much about the situation of the Ukrainian First Front. The army had problems on the first day of the offensive: First of all, the front-line tank troops were in desperate fuel supply. They could only march for three days. The tank troops had to stop and wait for supplies. The spring mud in Ukraine made it difficult for the army to move at any time. Except for the tanks, all the artillery, engineers, and logistics vehicles were all lying down. The soldiers could only push the cars, and the supplies could not be sent to the front line for a while. The second problem is that the Uzbek’s 1st Front Army has a serious shortage of first-line troops. Some infantry divisions have only half of them. Tanks are even more pitiful. Some “tank army” have less than 100 tanks. But the information could not be transmitted to the headquarters for a while, and Zhukov was not aware of it until very late. The Soviet army had already reached Proskurov on March 10, cut off the Osad-Lviv railway, and separated the German 1st Panzer Army from the 4th Panzer Army. However, due to comprehensive factors such as supply and weather, the Soviet army’s subsequent offensive was not smooth. The counter-assault launched by the German army once made it difficult for the Soviet army to move, and the Soviet infantry even showed fear of war. On March 11, the Army Group South began a counter-assault. 10 German armored divisions counterattacked in the areas of Proskurov and Ternopil. German tanks caused huge casualties to the Soviet army. The frontline situation was urgent and the Soviet forward was forced to retreat. Zhukov hurriedly applied to Stalin to stop the offensive and enter a defensive state, and levied a large amount of tank fuel and ammunition on the front line. At the same time, the Ukrainian 2nd Front Army fought very smoothly. The Soviet army defeated the German 1st Armored Army in the Uman area and seized hundreds of tanks and tens of thousands of trucks, which greatly eased Zhukov’s pressure. After the reorganization of the Ukrainian 1st Front Army, it attacked again, and the Second Front Army’s encirclement of the German 1st Armored Army has been sealed off. This is the famous “Hubei Pocket”. The 200,000 German troops were tied up by the smaller and smaller encirclement. Manstein was anxious as the commander-in-chief. Under the threat of his “resignation”, the Nazi head of state transferred one SS Panzer Corps and two divisions. Members of the southern cluster, and strive to relieve Hubei pocket. But when deciding the direction of the breakthrough, Manstein, the Nazi head of state, and General Hubei, the commander of the 1st Armored Army, had a disagreement. Hubei believes that the south is their only chance to break through, because the Soviet defense here is weak, the army can enter the Transnistria area, and then escape into Romania. However, Manstein strongly disagreed with this line of defense. He suggested that the 1st Panzer Army break through to the west and join the 4th Panzer Army.

Man Shuai’s reason is simple: the German opponent is Zhukov, the best Soviet commander is good at fighting siege and annihilation, the defects in the south is impossible not to be aware of, the Soviet army is likely to have set up positions there. General Hubei thought that Manstein was crazy, and he reported the news to the Nazi head of state. The Nazi head of state also felt that Manstein was a fool. The marshal actually flew to Ukraine to summon Manstein himself and scolded him. But Manstein was very resolute. He claimed that he would not allow the 1st Panzer Army to withdraw westward and immediately resigned. In the end, the Nazi head of state had to agree with him.

It turns out that Manstein was right.

At that time Zhukov had already detected the German retreat, and the large forces began to rush to the south of Hubei’s pocket. If Manstein hadn’t insisted on his own opinion, the 1st Panzer Army might be killed on this wall.

Fourth, the German Wehrmacht on the edge of the cliff

Decided to break through to the west, the German army has tactically beaten the Soviet army, and the rest is the issue of the German army’s ability to execute.

Zhukov was full of self-confidence and laid a defense line in the northern part of Transnistria to wait for Hubei. Unexpectedly, the Germans turned around and turned right before contacting the Soviets and drove west. The soldiers were extremely fast, and the tank units of the 1st Armored Army took the lead, rushing westward at full force, and the remaining troops were divided into three parts to break through.

Manstein took the opportunity to attack the Soviet Union’s western defense line because of the last request of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the two infantry divisions to take up the 1st Panzer Army. In the heavy snowstorm in the sky, the morale of the German army was high, and the troops were in strict order. They fought and left with the supply of the air force. They reunited with the relief troops on April 6.

After discovering that the Germans had broken through to the west, the Soviet 4th Tank Army and the 18th Guards Infantry Corps, which were responsible for the western defense, blocked the Germans, but they were quickly defeated. Because these two units only have 60 tanks, it is difficult to resist the offensive of the SS Panzer Army “Tiger Tank”.

As of April 11th, all the 200,000 German troops in Hubei’s pocket had escaped. According to the German statistics, the 1st Panzer Army only paid 16,000 casualties and broke through the encirclement of millions of Soviet troops. This had to be Said it was a miracle. But Marshal Manstein, the creator of this miracle, has been dismissed. He was ordered to be dismissed on March 30, and Model will take his place.

Judging from the performance from the end of 1943 to the beginning of 1944, Man Shuai deserves the title of “famous general”, no wonder he ranked first among the three major German generals. Before this battle, Manstein insisted “ Soldiers’ affairs, the soldiers handle “He applied to set up” Commander-in-chief of the eastern front “The position caused strong dissatisfaction with the Nazi head of state, who believed that this move was to take himself out of the army.

After Manstein’s repeated disobedience, the top of the Nazi Party had lost patience with this general. Although the German troops in Ukraine were wiped out under his command, the Nazis still put the label of “failure” on Manstein. , And used this to kill the chickens and wary monkeys, warning the generals on the front line to obey the orders of the head of state.

But Huber’s pocket’s rescue did not resolve the Soviet offensive. The four major Soviet forces continued to advance and completed their strategic mission in May. Zhukov’s army came to Chernivtsi in front of the Carpathians and divided the German forces. Open. In this campaign, the Soviet army wiped out more than 120,000 German troops, destroyed more than 300 tanks and destroyers, and 600 fighters.

Although the German losses were not great, they almost lost Ukraine, and the Southern Army Group was renamed the “Northern Ukraine Army Group” to fight the beasts on the Uzbek-Polish border.

After May 1944, the Soviet-German war was over. The German Wehrmacht generals already knew that defeat was inevitable, and how to save Germany was a question for soldiers to think about.

In July 1944, some German generals launched an assassination operation, wanting to get rid of the head of state and let Germany dismount from the aggressive chariot. Unfortunately, the assassination failed. After the incident, the Nazi Party purged the generals of the German Wehrmacht, the mastermind was shot, a large number of military commanders were investigated for “loyalty” issues, the frontline generals were imprisoned or replaced, the generals The marshals are also in danger. It can be said that after the summer of 1944, the German Wehrmacht had the Soviet army before and the Nazi Party afterwards, and it had already been forced to the edge of the cliff. Millions of troops on the frontline are in a dilemma. This war has become a chronic death of German soldiers and officers.

Text/Business Field Reference: “Erich von Manstein: Hitler’s Master of Strategy” Wu Tong

This fortress is not an ordinary fortress, it is Sevastopol, which is known as the strongest defensive fortress in the history of the Soviet Union. The site has a history of nearly a thousand years, and the past generations have strengthened and improved on the basis of the previous ones. A large amount of reinforced concrete has been poured on the surface, and the underground has also been filled with ammunition. The Soviet army believed that all weapons in the world could not destroy this fortress, but they did not expect to be easily destroyed by the German army, and the entire Sevastopol was instantly swallowed by fire. And it was the German super cannon that destroyed all of this.

In addition to attacking the Soviet Union, the German artillery also launched an offensive against Poland. One shell destroyed a fortress. At that time, the Polish military barracks were almost razed to the ground. The blow to the Polish army can be imagined. In the beginning, the gun was used against France. In order to prevent the German invasion, France spent 12 years to build the Maginot Line. The reinforced concrete was extremely strong. In order to break through the Maginot Line, the Führer ordered the construction of a projectile capable of penetrating 1 meter thick steel and 7 meters thick concrete. Subsequently, the Friedrich Krupp Arms Company built the largest in history as required. Giant cannon.

The huge size represents great power. The bore of the gun has a caliber of 800 mm, and the barrel is 30 meters long. It can accommodate two shells at a time and has a maximum range of 47 kilometers. The power of its shells is also amazing. It contains 2000 kilograms of explosives and can penetrate a concrete wall nearly 1 meter thick from 37 kilometers away. Because of its huge size, it needs to be disassembled and disassembled during transportation. It can fill up to 25 carriages. It is also very laborious during installation, requiring 300 engineers and soldiers to complete it together.

The base is hoisted with a crane, and then the parts are installed. The installation time takes three weeks. In order to prevent the enemy from discovering it, chemical soldiers are also equipped around. Smoke bombs are used to protect the cannon as soon as a bomber approaches. Do you think 300 engineers are too much? In fact, it is far from enough, at least 4000 people are required to control a gun. There are 1,000 people involved in manipulating the artillery, and the rest include engineering construction, artillery assembly, military blockade, logistics personnel, etc., reaching around 4,000 people in front and back.

It can be seen that the installation of the gun is not only time-consuming and laborious, and the price is not high. What’s more, the gun barrel needs to be replaced from time to time. If it fires less than 50 pieces, it needs to be replaced with a new one. This is also something that the giant artillery cannot avoid, but it still has to be admitted that it is full of power. With the defeat of Germany, this giant gun was blown up by the US army, and the “super monster” stayed in history forever.

Soviet Arctic explorer at station NP-8. Photo: Sputnik Searching for a Soviet research station The research station NP-8 was only used by Soviet Arctic explorers until the time the ice sheet began to split. At that time, the scientists could have been urgently evacuated and this abandoned research station continued to float in the ocean until it was destroyed. In the early 1960s, the CIA and the Office of Naval Research under the US Department of the Navy conducted a “hunt” for abandoned Soviet research stations. It is said that the Soviet Union installed American submarine sound detectors there. Initially, the target was station NP-9, detected by a reconnaissance aircraft in May 1961. However, the operation was delayed and the research station was located too far in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Station NP-9. Photo: Sputnik In the spring of 1962, about 970km from the Canadian Air Force base at Resolute Bay, another abandoned and floating research station – station NP-8 – was accidentally discovered. This is an opportunity America cannot afford to miss. Plan “Skyhook” Considering the fact that an icebreaker can’t make it through the dense ice in the area, a helicopter won’t be able to reach NP-8’s location and the plane’s landing on icebergs Floating is also too dangerous. So the US decided to drop the agents there by parachute. But the question then is how to bring those people back [máy bay]. In the end, the US decided to use the evacuation system that the CIA used in hostile lands, also known as the “Skyhook” – developed in the late 1950s. The plan required a balloon. Helium-inflated small, a 150-meter lift and a low-flying aircraft. When the balloon rises to the required height, agents “tethered” to the balloon by lifting ropes will wait on the ground. The approaching aircraft will use a special scraper or “horn” to pull the rope while releasing the balloon. The lifting rope is then automatically wound into the winch, lifting the agent onto the plane. What happened on the iceberg? Major James Smith, an experienced paratrooper and fluent Russian, and his colleague Captain Leonard A. LeSchack, an expert in submarine surveillance systems, had three days to review everything at the research station. . A few boxes of essential equipment were dropped onto the iceberg with the agents. American B-17 bomber. Photo: Uli Elch (CC BY-SA 4.0) As the US predicted, the Soviet scientists left NP-8 station in a hurry without having time to bring all the equipment. Agents discovered more than 80 documents, collected debris from equipment left behind by the Soviet Union, took about 100 photos. By the time the plane returned to pick them up, the weather in the research station area had turned severely bad. Visibility is reduced and wind is very strong. “I was immediately in a situation that one would imagine was flying into space,” recalls Connie W. Seigrist, the pilot of the plane that arrived to pick up the agents. The “trophies” collected by the agents were easily loaded onto the plane using the Skyhook without any problems, but getting the agents on board was a difficult task. The wind caused LeSchack to be dragged nearly 100 meters until the agent tried to cling to a block of ice. Even after the plane picked up the lifting rope, LeSchack still spent up to 10 minutes “hanging” in the air in cold weather before boarding. After seeing what happened to his colleague, Smith released his balloon and held on to a Soviet tractor left beside the research station for as long as possible. In the end, Smith was lifted without any particular difficulty. “Enjoy your time. This is the first time I’ve been able to relax in about a week,” Smith joked to the pilots after being loaded onto the plane. As a result of Operation Coldfeet, the Americans discovered that the Soviet Union had made significant advances in the field of polar meteorology and polar oceanography. In addition, the US also obtained evidence that the Soviet Union used sonar equipment of US submarines in the Arctic. “Overall, the Soviet Union’s remarkable achievements in drifting stations show that they have a long experience in this field and that these research stations themselves are also very important to the Soviet government.” , the commander of the operation, Colonel John Cadwalader said.

Soviet polar explorer at the NP-8 ice station. Photo: Sputnik On May 28, 1962, two Americans parachuted from the B-17 “Flying Fortress,” landing at Severny Polyus-8 (also known as North Pole-8, or NP-8), a research station destroyed abandoned Soviet Union is drifting on an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean. This was the starting point of one of the CIA’s most unusual operations, which went down in history with the codename Operation Coldfeet. Hunting for Soviet ice stations An iceberg station was only useful to Soviet polar explorers until the moment the iceberg on which it rested began to disintegrate. At that time, the scientists will be urgently evacuated and the abandoned station will continue to drift across the ocean until it is completely destroyed. In the early 1960s, the CIA and the US Department of Navy’s Office of Naval Research conducted a real manhunt for abandoned Soviet ice stations. It is believed that in those places are installed sonar detectors of US submarines. Initially, the CIA’s target was station NP-9, discovered by a reconnaissance plane in May 1961. However, this mission stalled and the ice station was pushed too far into the ocean. A tow truck rescues a car mired in snow at a Soviet observation post on an iceberg in the Arctic. Photo: Getty Images In the spring of 1962, about 970 km from Candian Air Force Base in Resolute Bay, another abandoned iceberg station, NP-8, was unexpectedly discovered. It is an opportunity not to be missed. However, American icebreakers could not make their way through the dense ice in the area, helicopters could not reach the location, and it was too dangerous for an aircraft to land on a disintegrating “buoy”. So the CIA decided to drop the agents by parachute. But the question then is how to bring them back. Ultimately, officials decided to use a system that specialized in evacuating CIA agents from hostile territory known as the ‘Skyhook’ developed by Robert E. Fulton in the late 1950s. The system required a a bread-shaped, helium-filled balloon, a 150-meter extension cord and a low-altitude aircraft. Lockheed P-2 Neptune reconnaissance aircraft. Photo: RBTH When they needed to get out of the location, CIA agents would use helium cylinders to inflate their personal balloons, tie one end of the rope to it, and wrap the other end around them. The balloon will rise into the air, and the rescue plane will use special forks to reach for the rope, then release the balloon. The rope was then wound onto a winch and lifted the agents onto the plane. The rescue Major James Smith, an experienced paratrooper who is fluent in Russian, and his colleague, Lieutenant Leonard A. LeSchack, an expert in submarine surveillance systems, spent three days researching the NP-station- 8. They parachute down to the station with some necessary equipment boxes. As expected by the Americans, the Soviet scientists rushed to leave the NP-8 station without taking all the equipment with them. CIA agents unearthed more than 80 documents, collected fragments of equipment left behind by the Soviets, and took about a hundred pictures. Soviet Arctic Station 9. Photo: Sputnik By the time it was designated to evacuate, the weather at station NP-8 had deteriorated dramatically: Visibility had plummeted and icy winds were rushing in. Connie W. Seigrist, the pilot of the plane that rescued the agents, recalls: “I was immediately thrown into a situation that could have been imagined as if I was flying through space.” The aircraft collected the “trophies” using the ‘Skyhook’ system without much difficulty, but with humans it was even more difficult. The wind dragged LeSchack nearly 100 meters above the ice as he waited for evacuation by trying to anchor himself to a block of ice. Even after the plane had picked up, LeSchack spent another 10 minutes dangling in the icy air before being hoisted onto the plane. Major Smith (water drinker) on a B-17 on June 2, 1962; Lieutenant LeShack in the lower right corner. Photo: RBTH After observing what happened to his colleague, Smith released his balloon and grabbed hold of an abandoned Soviet tractor. In the end, he was lifted without any particular difficulty. As a result of Operation Coldfeet, the Americans discovered that the Soviet Union had made significant advances in the study of polar meteorology and polar oceanography. In addition, they obtained evidence that the Russians were using sonar equipment to detect American submarines in the Arctic. “Overall, the Soviet Union’s remarkable achievements in iceberg stations reflect their long experience in this field and the great importance their government places on it,” said Operation Commander, Captain John Cadwalader noted.

Ekaterinburg submarine of the Russian Navy. Photo: TASS Business Insider (USA) reported that the Delta-IV class submarine Ekaterinburg has spent nearly 2 years waiting at the port in Severodvinsk. Ekaterinburg’s decommissioning also marks the “final chapter” of the Delta class that has been the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian fleets of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines for decades. It is expected that Delta-class submarines will be replaced by advanced Borei-class ships. Delta IV class submarines are part of a group of 43 ballistic missile nuclear submarines with the first being launched in the early 70s of the last century. There are seven Delta IV submarines in service with the Russian Navy. Among them is the Podmoskovye which in 2016 was converted into a Special Mission submarine dedicated to intelligence missions. It is known that Ekaterinburg is the second ship of the Delta-IV class to be produced, built in 1985. On August 6, 1989, during Operation Behemoth, the Ekaterinburg submarine tested 16 R-29RM Shtil ballistic missiles. while in diving mode. The first launch was successful, but a fuel leak in the rocket during the second launch halted the test. The Ekaterinburg was fortunately unharmed. Not stopping there, in 2011, a serious fire occurred on the Ekaterinburg ship. The ship then had to undergo a three-year repair process.

The information indicates that the enterprise has carried out major repairs and modernization for the Akatsiya complexes, improvements focused on suppressing and destroying enemy armored vehicles, including tanks and artillery. Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper military observer, retired Colonel Viktor Baranets talked about the improvements Akatsiya received after the modernization process in an interview with PolitExpert reporter. Mr. Baranets noted that, first of all, all imported components were replaced, some of which came from NATO countries. After a few years, the Russian manufacturer has successfully installed domestic replacement parts of higher quality. Specifically, some details in the control system, aiming equipment, and communications. .. It is noteworthy that a new communication system has been installed, allowing the commander of the self-propelled artillery complex to communicate immediately with the officer of the battery. This can reduce the time it takes to prepare to shoot, which is extremely important, Mr. Baranets stressed. “After firing, quickly run away from your position, or you will get an answer in just 1 minute. Without upgrading the communication system, changing the deployment status will take time, this which generals, designers and scientists naturally understand. “We need an advanced fire control system that allows ‘fire and flight’, ensuring survival on the battlefield,” military expert Baranets explained to reporters. In the opinion of Mr. Baranets, the new Akatsiya chassis is characterized by high durability and reliability. In addition, adjustments have been made to the quality of the irradiation process. Although the caliber of the cannon remains the same as 152 mm, thanks to the improved ballistics, the range has increased to 25 km. In other words, the 2S3M self-propelled gun acquires new qualities, becoming much more powerful. Self-propelled gun 2S3 Akatsiya has been upgraded by Russia with outstanding power Colonel Baranets noted, although Akatsiya served in the Soviet Army nearly 50 years ago, it continues to be the backbone of the Russian Army. Thanks to its reliably ingenious design, it has undergone more than one modernization. It is no coincidence that today more than 30 countries use Russian self-propelled artillery. “A curious detail – after the fall of the Soviet Union, Americans walked through Russia like vacuum cleaners and bought all the interesting weapons, including the Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, but its characteristics were low. half of our weapons,” Baranets said. According to the analyst, the Americans obtained these self-propelled guns even from the former Soviet republics and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The United States expected to study the design features of Russian artillery, because they recognized their superior performance. Baranets believes that every Russian weapon, such as the Kalashnikov assault rifle, has endless modernization possibilities. Akatsiya will also have a similar story, as it has huge reserves for further improvement. The military observer concluded: “I think that in five years we will have a further improved self-propelled artillery, the shells of which will be more powerful and will run faster by itself.”

Soviet secret space rocket NPO Mashinostroyenia is a Russian state space development company, which grew out of a Soviet entity, known simply as OKB-52, responsible for the development of the Almaz space station, among other things. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to NPO Mashinostroyenia in early 2021 offers the best and most complete look at the Shchit-1 system to date. The Almaz program was a covert effort to develop military space stations, primarily equipped to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, hidden within the Saylut civilian space station project. The Almaz effort dates back to the 1960s, only to be officially declassified in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union planned to “weapon” the Almaz stations from the start, fearing attacks with US anti-satellite weapons – including small but maneuverable “killer satellites”. tall and more traditional interceptors. An example of the Shchit-1 system actually sent into space with the Almaz OPS-2 satellite. The Soviet Union also conducted a remote live-fire test with the system on January 24, 1975, the last day of the station in orbit. The results of the test remained confidential and the next Almaz space station, OPS-3, was launched without any weapons installed. OPS-4, which has never been to space, is believed to carry the Shchit-2 system. However, there is no indication that Shchit-2, although its general existence was previously known, has ever entered space and details about the system are still very limited. As for the “weapon” itself, Leonard Smirichevsky, the current head of NPO Mashinostroyenia, described it to a reporter for TV Zvezda as having four main components. The base of the system was a solid-fuel rocket engine, which was then attached to a rotary stabilization system consisting of a rotating wheel with blade-shaped radiators. There’s a hybrid warhead-propulsion section followed by a nozzle-like radar seeker at the front. By far, the engine – warhead part is the most interesting part. Outwardly, it appears to be a circular array of small, grenade-like charges, which one imagines would create a shrapnel cloud especially dangerous to other objects in the vacuum of space. . However, these projectiles are really solid and are designed to act as interceptors, destroying anything they hit through sheer force of impact. No one knows what happened to Shchit-2 after the Almaz program ended in 1978. It is also unclear why the Russians decided to consider the system at this time. The incident comes amid new discussions about anti-satellite weapons in orbit, including interceptors and guided-energy weapons, as well as killer satellites, and the development of systems this system, both in Russia and the United States, among other countries. Space weapon Shchit-2 on display at NPO Mashinostroyenia. Almaz . military space station The Almaz military space stations, which first began operating in the early 1960s, were intended to be armed from the outset. Almaz stations are expected to be versatile military platforms in space. This plan is for the first types configured primarily for a wide range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions with cameras and many other sensor systems. The delay in the development of the sensor package affected the entire program. In 1971, the Soviet Union launched a civilian space station – Salyut – incorporating some of the design work developed under the Almaz program, along with components from the Soyuz spacecraft. The Salyut program eventually provided cover for the Almaz space station. Of the seven Salyut space stations launched between 1971 and 1991, three are actually of the military type. The first Almaz station, publicly known as Salyut-2 and also known as OPS-1, entered service in 1973. However, an accident on board shortly after launch forced the Soviet Union to abandon it. it before a real crew could be dispatched to join. OPS-2, also known as Salyut-3, followed in 1974. The station was successfully put into orbit on June 25, 1974. The crew stayed there for 15 days to test the Earth-viewing camera with the onboard Agat-1 telescope, which was said to be able to produce high-resolution images of the ground. The second crew failed to reach the station in late 1974 after their Soyuz spacecraft crashed. The third mission to OPS-2 was later aborted and it operated in unmanned mode until leaving orbit on January 24, 1975. In September 1974, personnel on the ground remotely recovered a film “pod” from the Agat-1 camera, then returned to Earth and recovered. The next Almaz space stations, called OPS-3 and Salyut-5, have no weapons on board, at least as far as we know. Plans for an OPS-4 station include a new Shchit-2 self-defense system, reportedly designed to fire interceptor missiles, but no images of that weapon have been made public. The Soviet Union also developed specialized self-defense guns for cosmonauts, such as the TP-82, but they were intended for use on Earth, not in space.

The Russian army has put into service T-14 Armata tanks since 2014. This will be the main battle tank (MBT) of the new generation of Russia, which is promised to be produced in large numbers. The amount of T-14 built is still negligible, but the T-14 is still much more successful than the T-95. Russia had ambitions to design a new tank that outperformed all of the most capable Western tanks, as well as any previous Soviet tanks, but the T-95 program was unable to outdo it. from the test phase. The origin of the T-95 main tank actually dates back to the Soviet era, when Moscow attempted to find a new main battle tank to replace the aging Soviet armored fleet. Those efforts continued as the Russian military inherited the majority of Soviet tank storage, including the main T-80 tanks produced by the Omsktransmash factory and the T-72 tanks built by Uralvagonzavod. . Russia continued to produce the T-90, at which time the T-90 was considered the main battle tank of Russia before a more modern tank could be produced. And the two tank factories are racing to develop a new type of MBT. The Omsktransmash factory started with a Black Eagle tank, which was essentially born from the T-80 but had a multi-chamber design. However, the performance of the T-80 in the First Chechen War was very lackluster. The Moscow government lost faith in the Black Eagle tank program and with the lack of funding the Black Eagle tank program was canceled in 2001, after which the Omsktransmash company quickly went bankrupt. While the Black Eagle is not impressive, the Uralvagonzavod plant is still working on the MBT in the Object 195 program. First reported in 1995, it was not officially recognized by the Russian military until 2000. The goal of the T-95 program is to create a tank equipped with more powerful weapons, including a 152mm main gun that can fire conventional ammunition as well as guided missiles, while providing better protection for The crew of three people, which includes a commander, gunner and driver. The tank is designed with the concept of a remote unmanned turret, equipped with an automatic loader for the main gun. In addition, the tank also has a panoramic periscope with thermal cameras, allowing the commander to scan the targets and then assign aiming and firing to the gunner. In terms of size, the T-95 is said to be larger than previous MBTs, and is similar in size and weight to Western tanks such as the British Challenger 2, Germany’s Leopard 2A7 and America’s M1A2 Abrams. . Especially the remote control turret design and the heavy gun are features found in the T-14 Armata, so it is clear that the T-95 is ahead of its time. However, only a handful of T-95 prototypes were built, by 2011 the program was halted and Russia switched to the production of the main Armata tank. The T-95 may be an early proof of concept for the T-14 Armata with its unmanned turret and crew compartment hull. However, it is likely that the 152mm cannon is overkill as the T-14 is still equipped with the traditional 125mm cannon. The question now is whether the T-14 will actually get past the T-95, but at least look at the T-14 now through its prototype stage and that’s what the T-14 does. than the Black Eagle or T-95 tank. Photo source: BMDP. Is Russia’s T-14 Armata the model of the future for all major battleships? Source: ArmiesPower.

Sitting in a living room decorated with purple flower pots, Georgian Manana Natchkebia, 59, recalls her 30-year anniversary of low-cost Aeroflot flights. When she was 20 years old, Manana Natchkebi was a worker in a factory in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Her salary ranges from 300-400 rubble / month and she does not have to pay rent due to her living in the dormitory of the factory. On holidays, many people travel, Manana has another hobby, which is to fly to the Russian capital Moscow to shop. She loves buying French perfumes and fashion clothes. At that time, imports were not much in Georgia, so women like fashion like Manana often flew to the Soviet Union to satisfy their shopping needs. Fortunately, the airfare between Tbilisi and Moscow is quite cheap, only 37 rubles / way, an affordable price and not much higher than the train price. Facing the exit of the old Tbilisi airport, a mural paying homage to visitors was sculpted from the Soviet era. Photo: lemonde.fr In today’s Georgia, the former Soviet generation is now in its 50s but still remember the low-cost Aeroflot flights 30 years ago. “That day, we really liked Moscow. We often come here for a few days to visit the capital, watch movies, listen to good music to go to Mausoleum of Lenin because we are all Communist Party members. Once, we flew from Tbilisi to Moscow and vice versa within 24 hours to attend a party, watch a concert or get a haircut… ”, Manana recalls. According to the memory of former pilot Kakha Chachava, 60, during the 1970s and 1980s, many Georgians took an Aeroflot flight to Moscow for 37 rubles. “There are at least 10 flights a day between Tbilisi and Moscow, and that number goes up to 14 in the summer,” Kakha recalls. Not only Georgians but many people in the former Soviet republics are fond of Aeroflot flights of 37 rubbles. The Soviet Union invented cheap flights, symbols of modern capitalism, long before easyJet or Ryanair appeared. There are many things in common between Aeroflot flights and those on today’s low-cost airlines: Fewer business class seats, basic amenities, no side meals, and staff not always comfortable. . American historian Steven Harris, who is about to release a book about Aeroflot, observed: “Strangely, since the 1990s, Aeroflot has pioneered the provision of cheap flights. Service is reduced to a minimum so that people can buy the lowest fares “. In the Soviet Union, the number of non-commuter passengers increased significantly, from 8 million (out of 203 million in total) in 1958 to over 100 million (out of 257 million in total). 1976. The development of air traffic goes hand in hand with the development of tourism. Erik Scott, Professor of History of Soviet Studies at the University of Kansas (USA) explains: “In the post-Stalin era, the Soviet government gave people many opportunities to travel and a quality of life. better. Flights allow more people to travel ”. In 1990, Aeroflot entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest airline, with a network of more than 1 million kilometers of domestic routes connecting 3,600 towns and cities. Convenient air traffic also promotes trade and cultural exchange. Director Lana Gogoberidze, 92, who has worked with famous Russian film director and screenwriter Andrei Tarkovsky regularly flies to Moscow. “At that time, I had to go to Moscow to attend presentations or support the crew in front of the censorship committee,” said Lana. In addition, she also took advantage of meeting friends and enjoying the cultural life in Moscow. But it all ended in 1991, the time that marked the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Flight 37 rubble is suspended after restructuring Aeroflot. Since then, the Tbilisi-Moscow route has also reflected tensions between Russia and Georgia amid the separatist conflict of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In June 2019, Moscow banned all direct flights to Georgia after a violent anti-Russian demonstration in Tbilisi. This is the most serious crisis since the 2008 war. Today, Georgian youth love to travel in Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech) Amsterdam (Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain) or Paris (France) on flights of low-cost airlines like Wizz. Air of Hungary, Pegasus Airlines of Turkey. But for Georgian elders who adore the Soviet Union, they still remember the phrase “37 rubble”, about Aeroflot’s low-cost flights. “It is a nostalgia for our youth,” Mrs. Manana Natchkebia emphasized.

There is nothing wrong and exaggerated about the threat posed by the Soviet Union, both military and ideological, in the contemporary American perception of Sputnik satellite. Shortly after Sputnik was successfully launched into low-Earth orbit, the US and the West fell into what became known as the “Sputnik Crisis”. The early Soviet spatial achievements were regarded by many around the globe as a testament to the superiority and effectiveness of the Soviet model of government and the social structure of the Soviet State. In the New York Times alone, “Sputnik 1” was mentioned in articles averaging 11 times a day between October 6 and October 31, 1957 – America’s fear of Lien. Bucket in space. With each subsequent victory in technology, the Soviet Union not only demonstrated what could be done through an economic and policy approach, but also demonstrated what American capitalism could not do …, or at least, it can’t be done quickly. The fear of the communists not only winning mentally but also the embracing heart and mind led directly to the establishment of the Aerospace Research Agency (NASA), which invests in the resources for missile and orbit science, strong funding for defense programs, and prestige enhancement to offset the advantages of the Soviet Union are becoming evident in many fields. N1 boosters of the Soviet Union; Source: spacethatneverwas.tumblr.com In November 1957, the Soviet Union became the first country to put a live animal, the Laika, into orbit in Sputnik 2. The following month, the United States made its first attempt to send a Vanguard TV3 satellite (Test Vehicle 3 ) of the Naval Research Laboratory into orbit, but the rocket only flew about 4 feet off the launch pad before collapsing again and exploding. However, the following month, the United States entered space with Explorer 1, and later that year, NASA replaced the National Aviation Advisory Committee (NACA) with a mission to bring the US towards supremacy in space. . In 1959, the technically faulty Soviet Luna 1 rocket flew further than the platforms before it, escaped the orbit of the Moon and eventually entered the orbit of the Sun, but later that year, the spacecraft The Soviet Union Luna 2 pillar reached the lunar surface for the first time. Soon, Luna 3 sent an image of the surface of the Moon from orbit and by 1960, the Soviet Union was the first to send animals (the dogs Belka and Strelka) and plants into space and back. and still live. And just a year later, the Soviet Union brought a real human being, the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space. Plan your spaceship “explore” In 1959, for promotion, the Soviet Union decided to choose a number of technologies, vehicles and equipment that represented the great progress of the Soviet Union for a traveling exhibition. The opportunity to take a closer look at the exhibition’s most precious jewel – a Lunic spaceship very similar to the Luna 2, housed in a deck above the modified rocket has arrived. When they got as close as possible, a few plainclothes agents were surprised to find the spacecraft hidden behind glass cuts in real missile housings. The declassified reports said that some people gasped, raised their eyebrows, were shocked to know the incident, and believed in Langley’s ears (nicknamed the US Central Intelligence Agency – CIA). Immediately, plans and plans to “explore” the Lunic more carefully began to be mapped out. But at the display site, soldiers guarded the ship at all times, both during and after hours, when museums and galleries were closed; Access to the Lunic information gathering while it was on display was practically impossible, so the CIA turned their attention to the way the Lunic was transported from one exhibit to another. The Soviet Vostok missile; Source: djournal.com While all exhibit artifacts were transported from one city to another by train (with guards), the CIA identified several gaps in how each one was transported from the site. exhibition to train station. The artifacts are simply placed in compact crates and loaded onto a truck carrying them to the train station for loading and unloading. This transit was not closely monitored by Soviet security, with items arriving at random intervals and little coordination between transport forces; The guardians at the railway warehouses were not even given a list. It was this shortcoming of Soviet security that gave the CIA, above all, the opportunity it needed. Missile robbery from the highway When night came, in order to carry out their plans, plainclothes CIA agents followed the van carrying Lunic out of the exhibition site, not forgetting to keep an eye on Soviet security. Surprisingly, despite tight security throughout the exhibits, the vehicle carrying a container filled with Soviet national secrets made a short trip to the train station completely unaccompanied. When the truck approached, turned toward the train station, the CIA agent simply let the car pass and escorted the driver to a nearby hotel. An agent jumped into the driver’s seat and drove the truck into a nearby, chosen rescue park that has high walls obscured. This was one of the most daring agents of the Cold War, and could certainly spark a clash between the planet’s two nuclear powers … For thirty minutes, CIA agents hovered over in the dark surrounding their newly stolen truck, waiting for some indication that the Soviets noticed Lunic’s absence. When nothing seemed to be suspicious, they climbed into the 20-foot long, 11-foot-wide and 14-foot-deep crate located inside the truck. Their job is to approach the Lunic spaceship, disassemble it and take pictures of what they can, then reassemble it, stuff it back inside the tank and transfer it to the train station before morning, so that the Soviets would not know what happened. Professional work The barrel itself has been reused over and over again, making it fairly easy to open without leaving any signs of being touched. With no way to pull the rocket out of the barrel, however, the spies soon realized they had no choice but to get in and do their job inside the barrel. Agents take off their shoes and split into groups, climbing to the bottom of the box using a rope ladder they carry to access the secrets stored inside. The CIA played an important role in stealing Soviet missile technology; Source: WATM Soon, their plans went wrong – the Lunic spacecraft won’t have difficulty reaching through the missile deck it’s located in, but when attempting to penetrate, CIA agents find a small seal. in plastic with engraved Soviet logo. To reach the spacecraft, it was necessary to break the seal, but doing so would almost certainly reveal their interference to Soviet authorities. Soon, calls to CIA parts in the area, and were told that they could re-seal the seal and arrive in time for reassembling and returning rockets in the morning. Although the engine was removed, the pylons as well as the fuel and oxidant tanks remained, providing the CIA with enough information to extrapolate the engine size and the missile’s payload capacity. Once the seal is removed, the Lunic itself has been pulled out, disassembled, and photographed in great detail. The information gathered was not only valuable from a design point of view, it also provided important context with regard to the Soviet missile program. Thanks to the recorded measurements and weights for the payload, the CIA will be able to better understand the telemetry data it collects around each Soviet launch. It is an important intelligence victory for the United States and will continue to shape the plans and policies pertaining to America’s space efforts for many years to come. But getting information is only part of the job. As the moonlight faded, CIA agents working with hand tools and socks ended up reassembling the Lunic and its missile housings, adding seals, removing wire ladders, and fixing the top. of the barrel. By 5 a.m., the original driver was returned his truck and his “cargo”, and he delivered it to the train station in time to deliver the first guard to come to work at 7:00 a.m. . The information gathered from the campaign gave the US a more complete understanding of what the Soviet Union was capable of, allowing the Americans to plan their appropriate efforts. America is no longer active in the dull anxiety of the “Sputnik crisis” without the actual data it needs to substantially assess the situation. It was in that newly found knowledge that America’s future spatial dominance began to sprout. In order to defeat the enemy, it is imperative to know where they are and what they can do… and the CIA has discovered it in the back of a stolen truck. Less than ten years later, the United States came ahead in the space race when the Apollo 11 landed on the Moon just before a Soviet amphibious ship crashed on the other side. More than twenty years later, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War officially ended./.

This strange tank history was born in the 1960s, when the Swedish army planned to develop a new line of main battle tanks to deal with the Soviet Union. Swedish engineers propose a unique idea when not to use turrets like conventional tanks. The main gun was fixed to the body of the vehicle, but did not have a rotating turret like normal tanks. The engineers argued that the cannon fixed to the hull made it more accurate to fire than the rotating turret. In addition, the use of a turret makes the overall height of the tank significantly reduced, harder to detect on the battlefield, and the low height also makes it harder for the tank to hit the enemy’s fire. Eventually a design was born, called Stridsvagn 103. Sweden wants to develop the Stridsvagn 103 into a high-speed assault and ambush armor vehicle, taking advantage of the superiority of precision firing to destroy, disrupting the enemy tanker formation. The Stridsvagn 103 is fitted with a 105 mm main gun, with an automatic reload system. Because there is no turret, the angle of lift and lowering of the gun is adjusted through a special suspension that can be lifted and lowered when necessary. However, the angle of elevation and lowering of the cannon is quite limited, Stridsvagn 103 cannot shoot from above. The crew must rotate the entire body to adjust the line of sight. Stridsvagn 103 tanks were produced to full scale from 1967 and lasted until 1971. In total, about 290 vehicles were produced and handed over to the Swedish army. In the 60s and 70s, Stridsvagn 103 was the core of the armored Swedish force. The car chain has small hooks to increase the grip of the road. The chassis has a blade that can be used to dig a camouflage tunnel for the vehicle. The Stridsvagn 103 tank can wade in about 20 minutes after the preparation time, the wading speed is about 6 km / h. In 1967, Norway compared this tank with the Leopard-1. When the lid is closed, the Stridsvagn 103 detects the target faster than the Leopard-1, the opposite result when opening the door. In 1975, two Stridsvagn 103 were shipped to the US for performance testing with the M60A1E3 version. The results showed that Stridsvagn 103 fired more accurately, but the average time per shot was 0.5 seconds slower. Stridsvagn 103’s superiority in accuracy was not enough to compensate for design flaws. This bizarre tank was quickly replaced by the Stridsvagn 122 (version of the Leopard-2) German made in Sweden in 1997.

German armored locomotive

Before the battle, Hitler had never thought that the German army would be trapped in the Eastern Front and unable to extricate himself. According to his thoughts, the powerful German armored forces could end the Eastern Front in a short period of time. However, the reality did not develop according to his vision. The Germans on the Eastern Front were in a strategic stalemate with the Soviets. Germany had to mobilize a large amount of materials from the rear and transport them through a long railway line to meet the needs of the front-line troops. The Soviet guerrillas posed a huge threat to the German army on the long railway transportation line on the Eastern Route. They often smashed the railroad tracks and caused great troubles to the rear railway transportation of the German army. Sometimes the Soviet guerrillas even attacked the German army directly and seized military materials to supply themselves. The Germans urgently needed to find a countermeasure.

German armored train

Before the outbreak of World War II, the first German armored train in service was the escort train of the German railway department. The armored carriage was modified by adding 10mm bulletproof steel plate to the original freight carriage. It used a locomotive cockpit with a small amount of protective armor 57 type steam. Locomotive towing.

Early German armored train

The German army began to develop light and heavy armored reconnaissance locomotives used on railway lines in 1943. These armored locomotives can perform tasks alone and can also be connected in series to form an armored train fleet. They quickly maneuver along the rear railway line and once became the most popular Soviet guerrilla. Difficult goals.

Armored platoon at the end of World War II

German heavy armored trains usually consist of 12 different types of armored locomotives. The armored platoon is equipped with an armored command vehicle, two or three tactical armored carriages carrying machine guns, mortars, and infantry in series, and four are equipped with a No. 3 tank turret. Heavy reconnaissance armored locomotives, as well as other supporting anti-aircraft vehicles, flatbed trucks carrying motorized tanks, and so on.

Motorized Tank Lifting Platform Truck

The heavy reconnaissance armored locomotive weighs about 18 tons. The main weapon is a KwK L/24 short-tube 75mm artillery on the turret of a No. 3 or No. 4 tank. In addition to the turret coaxial machine gun, it also installs 4 MG34 machine guns. The car body is covered with 20mm thick steel armor, with inclined angles on all sides. Access hatches and observation windows are set on both sides of the car body. The crew members can also use light weapons to shoot outwards, and they can also leave the armored car for pursuit operations. This armor protection and firepower are already sufficient to withstand the attacks of the Soviet guerrillas.

German heavy armored locomotive

The engine of the armored locomotive is a 76-horsepower Steyr air-cooled gasoline engine, which can only reach 40 kilometers per hour on its own power. If it cruises at a slow speed of 20 kilometers per hour, its maximum range is about 700 kilometers.

Armored locomotive formation

The heavy armored reconnaissance locomotive also has a certain ability to fight alone. There are 7 crew members, including the commander, driver, loader and 4 gunners. In addition to daily patrols on transportation lines, it is generally organized to take the lead in front of freight vehicles to deter the Soviet guerrillas. It is more powerful in marshalling with other armored train tactical carriages, and can perform more combat tasks, and cooperate with the infantry to encircle and suppress Soviet guerrillas along the railway.

German armored train mobile defense

As a railway mobile armored vehicle, the heavy armored locomotive can rely on the railway for fast maneuvering. The railway itself limits its maneuvering route and range. However, it does greatly threaten the Soviet guerrillas and achieves this to the maximum. Weapons and equipment were designed for the purpose of the overall situation in the late World War II. If the overall situation was not good for the German army, the original production plan was not completed as scheduled. The actual quantity of this armored locomotive equipment is unknown, and it can still play a strong defensive role until Germany finally surrenders. .

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The K-3 was the first nuclear-powered submarine of the Soviet Union. Photo: RBTH The Leninsky Komsomol K-3 nuclear-powered submarine was one of the special cases in which the Soviet Union had to find a way to catch up with the United States. The reason the Soviet Union decided to have nuclear energy submarines In 1945, the United States showed the world the destructive power of new nuclear weapons. However, deploying a nuclear bomb by air (as it did when bombing Japan) also comes with significant risks. At the time, the United States believed that the only “safe” way to deploy nuclear weapons at that time was by means of submarines, which could secretly reach enemy coasts and unleash. the decisive blow. The first nuclear-powered submarine project of the US is implemented in secret. The decision to build the first ship was made in 1951 and on June 14, 1952, the construction of the ship called “Nautilus” officially took place. At the same time, the Soviet Union began building its own nuclear-powered submarines. Russia started the construction of the K-3 submarine in Severodvinsk on September 24, 1955. If the US Nautilus submarines still use the same body frame as diesel-electric submarines and the only difference is that there is an additional nuclear reactor, the K-3 submarine of the Soviet Union has a complete design difference in order to be able to operate under water optimally. Therefore, the nuclear power submarine K-3 of the Soviet Union has a faster speed than the Nautilus. The K-3 submarine has a maximum displacement of more than 3,000 tons when floating and 4,750 tons when diving, and can travel at speeds of more than 50 km / h even though the reactor is not operating at full capacity. The ship was originally designed to attack enemy coastal naval bases with just a massive (1.5 meter) caliber thermonuclear probe. However, this approach was ineffective and too expensive, so it was canceled. Instead, the Soviet Union switched to using torpedoes capable of carrying nuclear warheads. A special feature of the K-3 submarine To increase the stealth level of the K-3, the Soviet Union used special mechanisms to reduce the noise of the interior components, special coating for the entire ship, and low-noise propellers. Some of the special features of the K-3 are that it does not have anchors, does not carry any defense weapons, and does not have an emergency diesel reactor. The K-3 is the first submarine to break 2.5 meters of ice in the Arctic. Photo: Sputnik Later, those who were on the K-3 submarine said that the interior of the ship was like a work of art. Each room is painted a different color and uses bright tones to create a pleasant eye feel. Some of the ship’s bulkheads are made to look like a picture, while others look like a large mirror. All of the equipment on board is made of precious woods and is specially designed to be used in an emergency situation, not just for its original purpose. For example, the large hall table in the lobby can be easily converted into something under certain circumstances. In July 1962, the Soviet nuclear submarine Leninsky Komsomol successfully sailed to the Arctic, four years after a similar American achievement on the Nautilus submarine in 1958. Submarines K-3 also marked the first time in the history of the Soviet Union and later Russia, having a long journey under the ice in the Arctic and twice passing through the northernmost point of the Earth./.