79 - Leopard 2 - The Tank of the Free World
Failed joint procurement programs somehow led to the one tank that a cashed up country making its own decisions would buy. With the production lines open again it's time to revisit the Leopard 2!
78 - SU76M - The Swamp Fighter
The Soviets decided they didn't have a need for light tanks. And instead built a very useful light vehicle with a big gun. And they built a lot of them. And this is their story.
77 - Vickers MBT - Steel Tank for Iron Men
Vickers went out on a limb and built their own tank in 1963. And a bunch of countries decided something tough and simple was exactly what they wanted. India built 2,000 of them and took them to war with great success. This episode we're going to take a look at what was going on with the Vickers MBTs and the Indian Vijayanta. The halftime interview features @lottiethetankwhisperer !
76 - Panzer II - Tour De France Champion
Early war tanks on all sides were surprisingly rattly and rickety contraptions. In this episode we're going to count the rivets on the Panzer II which really proved that some tank is better than no tank as it conquered Poland and France. The halftime interview features Graham from @xacoupeguy reflecting on a year spent working with tanks.
75 - Centurion revisited - Tougher than the rest
After a world war spent building very bad tanks the British got their act together and unleashed Centurion on the world. It would fight with distinction in the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, Indo-Pakistani wars, Vietnam, and on both sides of Arab-Israeli wars. Bruce Springsteen was probably thinking of Centurion when he wrote "Tougher Than The Rest": "If you're rough enough for love / Baby, I'm tougher than the rest" Centurion was the first audio episode we tried to record remotely during the Covid lockdowns and John's technical errors made him sound like a dalek so it was a good candidate to revisit. The halftime interview features Chris from @HistoryofEverythingChannel on Air Disaster Hill just outside Canberra.