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Introduction
The following list of military equipment in the collection
of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation is arranged
by battlefield role for ease of reference. Some categories
of equipment may be employed in more than one role.
Located opposite the designation in parentheses is the caliber
of the main weapon in millimeters, followed by the country
(or countries) of design origin, and the approximate year
the first production models entered service. Many American-built
tanks have official or unofficial nicknames following their
designation. British armored fighting vehicles are generally
identified first by official nicknames followed by their
designation.
A few of the vehicles in the collection are experimental
models that were never produced in quantity for various
reasons including design faults uncovered during testing,
changes in military doctrine, or funding shortfalls. These
examples yield a historical perspective on the available
technology. Some contain design ideas that were later used
in production vehicles.
The condition of the foundation's historical holdings varies
from poor to factory new condition. At any given time certain
items are in storage awaiting restoration and are not available
for inspection.
Background Information
To meet either political or fiscal constraints military
equipment often remains in service with foreign armies for
decades after the country of design origin has withdrawn
them from service.
Older generation tanks are typically modernized to extend
their time in use, due to the high cost of designing and
building new tanks. This can result in service life spans
of 30 years or more for successively improved models of
a single tank, each version with its own designation. Frequently,
a successful chassis for a tank serves as the basis for
an entire family of related vehicles such as self-propelled
artillery pieces, armored personnel carriers, or armored
recovery vehicles.
Over the years, many countries have produced tanks, but
only about 20 countries are currently capable of tank production.
Of those roughly 20 countries only six can actually design
and build a tank from the ground up without outside assistance.
They include the United States, the former Soviet Union,
France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden.
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