Warspot Digest: November 2020

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Warspot Digest: November 2020

	T14: American Assault Tank for the British When the British Military Mission arrived in the United States in late 1940, they expected production of British tanks to begin in American factories. The plan was to repeat the situation in WWI, where the USA built British and French designs. However, in the 20 years that passed the USA turned into a powerful industrial nation, which could develop weapons that were, at the very least, no worse than British ones. The idea to produce British tanks was declined, which didn't stop the British from ordering the Grant I, a British take on the American Medium Tank M3. Special assault tanks were also ordered by the British. Let's take a look at the Assault Tank T14 and its companion, the A33 Excelsior. [READ MORE]
	The Australian Sentinel Some nations with no prior tank building experience first began building tanks in WWII, including several nations from the British Commonwealth. Most frequently, these nations built copies of British designs, for instance the Canadian Valentines. However, Canada also built its own original tank (the Ram) on an American chassis. Australia developed and began production of fully original tanks named AC (Australian Cruiser) or Sentinel. These tanks did not see battle, but they remain a colourful chapter of world tank building history. [READ MORE]
	Alecto: Pocket Fury British tank building developed differently from other nations. For instance, the British built tanks in one weight category that had vastly different characteristics. It is no less interesting that the while the core of the British tank fleet in beginning of WWII was made up of light tanks, production of light tanks as a class ended in 1940. Although, the British later returned to the topic of light tanks. One light vehicle was designed and even released in small series at the end of the war. This is the Alecto I: an SPG that was too late for the war, but managed to serve in the British army nevertheless. [READ MORE]
	SU-76I: Soviet-German hybrid The overall concept of Soviet SPGs was fixed by the start of 1943. The light SU-12 (SU-76) and medium SU-35 (SU-122) were already in production, and work on the heavy KV-14 (SU-152) began in early January. Another, fourth SPG appeared in the spring. Its mass put it in the medium class, but its armament was more appropriate for the light. It was also based on a foreign chassis. This was the SU-76I, an unusual vehicle for Soviet tank building. [READ MORE]