Artillería - URSS / Rusia: libros - historia y técnica

Covered is the great variety of Soviet field artillery, as well as its use by German forces during World War II.

The SU-76 assault gun was the second most widely manufactured Soviet armoured fighting vehicle of World War II, out-numbered only by the legendary T-34.
Inspired in part by the German Marder series of tank destroyers, Soviet designers realized that the chassis of the obsolete T-70 light tank could be adapted to a much more substantial gun if it was placed in a fixed casemate rather than in a turret. This led to the design of the SU-76, which saw its combat debut at Kursk in the summer of 1943.

The SU-76 was deployed primarily as an infantry direct support weapon, becoming the infantry tank of the Red Infantry, much as the StuG III became the infantry tank of the German infantry.

Featuring full colour artwork and written by an expert on tank warfare during World War II, this fascinating study describes one of the Soviet Union's most important armoured vehicles during its struggle with Nazi Germany.

Russian tank expert Neil Stokes looks at the SU-76 assault gun in this 112 page, landscape format book with 105 large format period photographs.

This album from the World War Two Photobook Series contains 98 full-page photos of the SU-85 and SU-100 in Russian and German service.

The SU-100 was the most powerful Red Army medium tank destroyer of the Second World War. The vehicle was developed to provide powerful anti-tank fire support to the T-34-85 medium tank in the same manner as the SU-85 had complemented the original T-34. And as with the SU-85 before it, the SU-100 endured significant delays both in its design, due to political arguments on the choice of main armament, and in entering service.

Although introduced late in the war, the SU-100 was heavily engaged in the final push into the Axis countries, with major combat engagements in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and in the assault on Berlin.
The SU-100 proved a particularly potent "Zveroboi" or "animal hunter" in that it could easily dispatch Tiger, King Tiger and Panther tanks at medium range. The vehicle had no secondary armament however, and proved vulnerable when engaged in close fighting without infantry support as occurred during some of these late war battles.

This book is part of the Red Machines Series, a series of books entirely devoted to the hardware of the Red Army. Each volume provides in-depth information, much of it entirely new to the western world, as well as a large number of photos, of which many have never been published to date.
Blueprints, drawings, colour profiles and data tables are also provided with each volume, to describe the development and production variants of each vehicle.

As World War II in Europe reached its end, armour development and doctrine had experienced several years of massively accelerated change, especially within the crucible of the Eastern Front. The German Jagdpanther and Soviet SU-100, both turretless tank-destroyer designs based on a 'traditional' turret-tank chassis, were the culminating examples of how the progression of experience, resources and time constraints produced vehicles that were well suited for roles of defence and offence, respectively.
The Jagdpanther represented a well-balanced solution and an excellent use of limited resources, while the SU-100 was a natural progression of the SU-85, where numbers produced compensated for rudimentary construction, poor crew comfort and limited optics.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and development - Technical specifications - The strategic situation - The combatants - Combat - Statistics and analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography - Index.

Although military rockets have been used since the Middle Ages, it was not until the Soviet Union pioneered the concept of Multiple Rocket Launchers (MRLs) in the late 1930s that they emerged as a decisive weapon. In the modern era, these Soviet/Russian Katyushas have served in combat in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Georgia.
Developed to fill the operational need for massed artillery fire support, the MRL possesses enormous destructive power and a devastating psychological impact.

This New Vanguard book provides a survey of Soviet and Russian Federation MRLs from the beginning of their development in 1941 to the present. It focuses on the history, design, and specifications of self-propelled ground MRL systems, but also covers towed, static, railway, and naval mounts.
It highlights the many variants of the principal systems and include MRL unit tables of organization and equipment, information on MRL munition types, and coverage of dedicated MRL resupply vehicles.

Contents: Introduction - The World War II MRLS - The Cold War MRLs - Modern MRLs - Analysis and Conclusion - Bibliography - Index.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Army was perhaps the deadliest fighting force the world had ever seen. Within its mechanized forces, the Soviets accomplished something that their American counterparts never could - the fielding of a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) that could keep pace with its heavy armored formations.
This volume examines the design, development and operational history of the Soviet Union's Cold War SPAAGs: the ZSU-37, ZSU-57-2, the infamous ZSU-23-4, and the 9K22 Tunguska (better known by its NATO reporting name: SA-19 'Grison'). These vehicles excelled in their air defense role, and many US Department of Defense publications were dedicated to examining how to defeat the ZSU and its radar tracking system. These formidable weapons equipped Russian forces in Afghanistan and were encountered again in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, cementing their place in the landscape of modern warfare.
This study explores the full history of the SPAAGs with revealing photographs, technical illustrations and detailed analysis.

Contents: Introduction - Early SPAAGs and The Evolution of Soviet Air Defense - ZSU-57-2 - ZSU-23-4 - Tunguska M1 - Bibliography.

The Scud missile was developed as the centerpiece of Soviet plans to fight nuclear war in the heart of Europe. However, it was never used in its intended role and has instead become a symbol of the changing nature of warfare in the aftermath of the Cold War.
Saddam Hussein's Iraqi armed forces were almost helpless in the face of the Coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War; the only weapon that Iraq could use to injure the Coalition forces was its arsenal of Scud missiles.

This book explores the development and variants of the missile and its launch systems, its proliferation outside of the West, and its role in conflicts around the world.

Contents: Introduction - R-11: The Scud A - The Scud Name - The Scud at Sea - R-17: The Scud B - Scud Improvements - Scud Warheads - Scud B: The Secret Variants - Scud Organization - Launching the Scud - Warsaw Pact Scuds - Scud Proliferation - The Scud at War: Egypt - The Scud at War: Iraq - The Scud at War: Other Conflicts - The Scud at War: Afghanistan - Scud Proliferation: North Korea - Scud Replacements - Futher Reading - Color Plate Commentary - Index.

The Russian SA-2, nicknamed "Red SAM," is history's dominant antiaircraft missile. In 1960 it famously downed Gary Powers' U-2 spyplane, and two years later it was one of the missiles deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost sparked a nuclear showdown between America and the USSR. The SA-2 was also deployed in Vietnam, North Korea, Egypt, and even the Gulf War.

Using photographs, color artwork, and rare accounts from the weapon's designers, Steven J Zaloga examines the missile's development, linking this to its massive impact on Cold War air campaigns, and investigates the design changes that have helped the SA-2 stand the test of time.

Contents: SAM Origins - The Spyplane Menace - Operation Anadyr: the Cuban Missile Crisis - Deep Modernization - The Flying Telephone Pole in Vietnam - Operation Kavkaz: S-75 in the 1967-73 Middle East Wars - Foreign Guidelines - Final Refinements - Further Reading - Color Plate Commentary - Index.

Few modern missile systems have had such significance as the S-300 family. Highly regarded technically, Russia's most powerful air-defense systems have been a major strategic asset to the country, exported to major powers around the world, and are a key weapon in many international hotspots and in recent wars.

In this book, professional missile systems analyst Steve Zaloga uses his specialist knowledge to assess and analyse them in detail. He explains that the S-300 is, in fact, three systems: the S-300P, designed as a replacement for older Soviet strategic SAM systems, the S-300V, developed to defend against Pershing ballistic missiles, and the S-300F, designed for ship defense.
He also considers the supplementary S-350 system and the new-generation S-400 system, deployed in Syria and sold to both China and Turkey. An assessment of the latest S-500 system, designed to counter ballistic missiles and hypersonic cruise missiles, is also provided.

Packed with detailed colour artwork and new photos, this book explains the considerable evolution of the S-300 family, perhaps the world's most famous strategic SAM, over the last three decades.