Mig Eater

I'm back with a big news post covering the early development of German & Japanese jet aircraft with several Me-262 variants and copies. I actually made these units early last year & started writing the wiki pages for them last April! I'm glad I can now finally finish posting them.

Another variant that I started working on but was unable to finish was the Me-262 C-3a, which featured an extra rocket engine in the tail for short speed boosts. Due to limitations with the game's engine I was unable to get this system working, if it becomes possible in the future tho it will be added to D-day. I'd also planned to include the Soviet Sukhoi Su-9 & British Hawker P.1048 with these but both are independent designs that only resembled/were inspired by the Me-262 tho. I'll make them both at a later date along with several other early Allied jets.



Messerschmitt Me-262 A-1a Schwalbe



The German Me-262 was the first mass-produced & operationally used jet fighter in the world. Work on this revolutionary aircraft started in late 1938 under the code name Projekt 1065, the initial design proposed in April 1939 differed considerably from the production version, the engines were mounted in the wing roots & the wings were straight. Development of the BMW 003 jet engines intended for the Me-262 was repeatedly delayed because of the many technical problems encountered with this brand new propulsion system. Because of these problems it was decided to move the engines to pods fitted under the wing to facilitate easy removal for maintenance. This change also necessitated a change of the wings to a swept configuration to compensate for the change in centre of gravity.

The first "V1" prototype was ready in April 1941 however the BMW 003 jet engines intended for the aircraft weren't ready so a conventional Junkers Jumo 210 engine with a propeller was fitted to the nose so basic testing of the airframe could be carried out. It wasn't until November 1941 that a pair of BMW 003 were ready to be fitted to the prototype. For the first test flight the Jumo 210 was retained for safety, which proved wise as both BMW 003 engines suffered a flameout causing them to stall, the Jumo 210 was then used to bring the prototype safely back to base. With this failure it was decided to switch to the more reliable Jumo 004 jet engines. The first flight with the Jumo 004 took place on July 1942 in the V3 prototype, marking the first flight of the Me-262 with jets only.

There was opposition to the Me-262 from several high-ranking officials during early development including the head of Messerschmitt, who wanted to concentrate production on proven propeller designs. As well as the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring who expected the war to be won before the aircraft could be ready for production, as such funding & support was withheld at times. After the Me-262 prototype was demonstrated to Hitler in mid 1943 he also insisted that the design should be modified into a multi-role fighter-bomber which lead to redesigns of the nearly finished fighter aircraft. These political problems along with the extended development of the jet engines meant that the Me-262 wasn't able to go into operation use until April 1944, six years after its original conception.

Once in combat though it proved highly capable and able to outperform most allied fighters, with several pilots becoming aces. It was however extremely vulnerable when taking off or landing as it couldn't maneuver or accelerate during this time or the engines would stall. Allied pilots would take advantage of this by loitering around airfields & then attacking Me-262 as they appeared. To combat this the Germans reinforced the anti-aircraft fortifications leading up to the runway in order to give the Me-262 more cover. As the war situation deteriorated though most Me-262's were grounded because of fuel shortages & a lack of trained pilots that could handle the power of the new jet aircraft.

Following the end of the war American, British, French & Soviet forces scrambled to capture these prized aircraft so they could be studied to advance their own jet aircraft programs. Comparative tests between the British Gloster Meteor & American P-80 Shooting Star showed the Me-262 to be superior in several aspects however the engines required constant maintenance & had a relatively short lifespan. As such these tests didn't last long and several aircraft were lost due to engine failures.

Out of the 1,430 aircraft built during the war only nine still exist today in museums, with only one still in its original markings. In 2003 the Texas Airplane Factory started the "Me-262 Project" in which they built several replicas using an original Me-262 that was undergoing restoration as a template. Unlike most replicas, which are classified as unique aircraft, the exact replication of the parts used in these Me-262s meant that they are officially registered as newly built Me-262s with the variant name of A-1c. They are all owned by private collectors who often fly them during air shows in American & Germany.



Messerschmitt Me-262 A-1a/U4 "Pulkzerstörer"



The Messerschmitt Me-262 A-1a/U4 (in some sources know as the Pulkzerstörer "Pack destroyer") was a modification of the standard Me-262 A-1a airframe, replacing the four 30mm Mk108 cannons in the nose with a single 50mm Mk214 cannon. The 30mm Mk108 while a powerful weapon had a short range which along with the Me-262's high speed meant that the engagement time against enemy aircraft was often very short, especially against slow moving bombers. The 50mm Mk214 greatly increased the damage and weapon range of the Me-262, even giving it the ability to engage bombers from outside of their defensive range. The weapon had a limited amount of ammunition and was difficult to use while manoeuvring though, making it unsuitable in a dogfight with other fighters. Only two of these aircraft were built Wk/nr 111899 & Wk/nr 170083 in early 1945, there are rumours that one of them was used in combat before the war ended but no evidence has been found to substantiate these claims.

After the war Wk/nr 170083 was captured by American forces at Lechfeld airfield and transferred to the 54th Air Disarmament Squadron led by Colonel Watson (aka Watson's Whizzers), a unit which was tasked with finding and capturing advanced enemy aircraft. In preparations for transferring the aircraft back to American for testing its markings were repainted with USAF roundels and was named Wilma Jeanne after Watson's wife. It was then flown to Cherbourg where it was loaded onto the British aircraft carrier HMS Reaper along with other advanced German aircraft for the long journey across the Atlantic. Arriving in New Jersey the aircraft were then flown to Freeman Army Airfield, during the flight a turbine blade broke in the engine of the Me-262 A-1a/U4 and the plane was destroyed in the resulting crashed.



Messerschmitt Me-262 B-1a/U1



The Messerschmitt Me-262 B-1a/U1 was a specialised night fighter variant of the Me-262 equipped with a FuG-218 Neptun radar for finding enemy aircraft in the dark. Development of a night fighter variant of the Me-262 started in late 1944 with the construction of the Me-262 A-1a/U2 prototype (Wk/nr 170056) which used the standard single seat A-1a airframe. Multiple tests were carried out using several different types of radar devices. While the technical sides of the tests proved successful the pilots however reported that they had difficulty flying and using the radar system simultaneously. In light of this it was decided to move development to the Me-262 B-1a two seater trainer airframe, the extra seat which was normally used by a flight instructor was instead modified for use by a dedicated radar operator who could guide the pilot to enemy targets. The addition of the radar antenna protruding from the nose produced extra drag and decreased the aircraft's speed, the space needed for the second seat required the removal of one of the fuel tanks too. To compensate for this loss two external fuel tanks were fitted under the nose, this also increased the drag and decreased the speed. Even with this loss in performance the Me-262 B-1a/U1 was still much faster then the enemy bombers and their escorts. Messerschmitt started work on developing a more advanced version called the Me-262 B-2a which would have featured a lengthened fuselage to hold more fuel instead of the external fuel tanks and the new "Berlin" centimetric radar dish which could be placed inside the nose reducing drag, the war ended before work on a prototype of this improved version could begin though.

Only seven of the Me-262 B-1a/U1 night fighters were built before the end of the war, they were all given to the 10th squadron of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 who used them to great effect with several of the pilots becoming aces, including Kurt Welter who still holds the world record for the most enemy planes shot down in a jet aircraft. In an effort to neutralise this threat the RAF bombed the based they were operating from, after which only four aircraft were left. After the war the three remaining aircraft were captured by British forces who transported them back to Britain for testing, one of them crashed during a storm and another was scrapped. The third and final aircraft was given to the South African air force where it sat in storage for many years, it was then given to the Johannesburg Museum who restored it in 1971 and has since been one of their major exhibits.



Messerschmitt Me-262 SB.1a



The Me-262 SB.1a (Schnellbomber Ia) was a proposed "fast bomber" variant of the Me-262. The main difference was the relocation of the cockpit from the centre of the aircraft to the nose, this greatly increased the pilot's vision for the bombing role. This meant that the nose mounted cannons had to be removed though and it had to rely on its greater speed to outrun any enemy fighters. The front landing gear also required modifications to make it rotate 90 degrees and lay flat under the pilots seat. The space once occupied by the pilot was used to house an extra fuel tank increasing the aircraft's range. The design didn't progress further than the initial design proposal and no prototype or production version were built.



Messerschmitt Me-262 A-2a/U2 Mistel



The Messerschmitt Me-262 A-2a/U2 was a dedicated bomber variant of the Me-262 featuring a completely new fully glazed nose section that would house a second crew member who would lay down in a prone position. From there he could get a clear view for level bombing runs or guide remote controlled ordinance towards their target. Two prototypes of the Me-262 A-2a/U2 were built before the end of the war, one of them was captured by American forces who presumably took it back to American for testing along with other advance German aircraft and later scrapped it but information on this prototype's final fate is scarce.

One of the types of ordinance proposed for the Me-262 A-2a/U2 was the use of another Me-262 that has been fitted with explosives and converted into a pilotless flying bomb, with the Me-262 A-2a/U2 mounted on top of the pilotless Me-262 in a Mistel configuration. For take-offs they were both placed on a specialised trolley fitted with a rocket booster, after becoming airborne the trolley would then be jettisoned and collected for reuse. Once the Me-262 A-2a/U2 was within range of the target it would detonate the explosive bolts holding the two aircraft together. The bombardier in the nose of the Me-262 A-2a/U2 would then take remote controlled of the Me-262 bomb via radio and guide it to a collision course with the target.



Avia S-92 Turbina



During World War II multiple factories in Czechoslovakian were employed by the Germans to produce different parts for the Me-262 A-1 fighter and Me-262 B-1 trainer aircraft. At the end of hostilities in Europe the factories and parts were captured by Soviet forces, all complete aircraft and some parts were taken back to the Soviet Union for testing. The jibs, tools and documents within the factories were handed over to the newly restored Czechoslovakian government though. Using some of the parts left by the soviets along with others newly constructed in the wartime factories Avia set to work to produce their own version of the Me-262 A-1 and Me-262 B-1. The first of the single seat aircraft the Avia S-92 was completed in August 1946 with the first two seater Avia CS-92 trainer flowing in December 1946. The aircraft proved to be difficult and extremely time consuming to make with many of the parts having to be individually hand made, making each plane slightly unique. As such only nine Avia S-92 and three CS-92 were completed over the next three years before production was discontinued. They served in the 5th fighter squadron as a training unit to help pilots get their first experience with jet aircraft. Most were scrapped in the 1950's but a single S-92 and CS-92 remain on display in the Prague Aviation Museum.

Yugoslavia showed interest in buying the S-92 and CS-92 and placed an order for one of each for evaluation but didn't receive any aircraft. There are reports that Israel bought several S-92 and one of them exploded during a test flight in April 1950, however there is no evidence to substantiate this. There have been suggestions that the aircraft that exploded was really a Gloster Meteor that the British had secretly given to Israel for testing and it was claimed to be a S-92 to cover it up, while slightly more plausible this is still a matter of conjecture.



Nakajima Kikka



In early 1944 the Japanese military attaché in Germany was shown the Me-262 along with several other advanced German aircraft. Impressed by these new designs he reported back to the Japanese high command on who then authorized him to open negotiations to buy a production licence for the Me-262 & Me-163. Documents for the two planes along with a complete Me-163 and other aircraft parts where then loaded onto the Japanese submarine I-29 in Lorient France and left on 16 April 1944 to take the perilous journey around Africa back to Japan. On 14 July 1944 the I-29 arrived in Singapore, several of the passages then disembarked and completed the rest of the trip by plane, taking some of the Me-262 documents along with them. Once resupplied I-29 also left Singapore to complete the finial part of it's journey back to Japan. While going through the Luzon Strait though the I-29 was intercepted & sunk by American forces. With the loss of the I-29 & the parts it carried the engineers at Nakajima only had the few documents flown from Singapore along with the memories of a few offices who had seen the Me-262 first hand to work with.

Even with this limited amount of information Nakajima started work on the Kikka in September 1944. Several changes where made to the original Me-262 design making it simpler and easier for manufacture in Japan including using more readily available materials such as wood. One major change was the addition of folding wings which would enable the aircraft to be concealed more easily. At first it was planed to fit the Kikka with the Ishikawajima Tsu-11 motorjet which was originally designed for use on the MXY7 Ohka kamikaze plane. Instead Ishikawajima started development of new jet engine specificity for use in the Kikka called the Ne-10, this design however was unable to produce enough thrust to power the Kikka. With this failure work moved to the Ne-20 which was a reverse engineered version of the German BMW 003, the engineers at Ishikawajima only had a few photographs and a cut-away drawing to work from though. Even with this limited amount of information they were able to produce a usable engine.

The first prototype was completed in June 1945 and after ground tests it took to the skies for it's first flight on 7 August 1945 with with Lieutenant Commander Susumu Takaoka piloting. The short flight went well but the Ne-20 required a long time to get the Kikka up to takeoff speed. To elevate this on the second test flight the Kikka was fitted with RATO (rocket assisted take off) units, unfortunately the rockets had been fitted at an incorrect angle resulting in the Kikka crashing during takeoff. Work started on repairing the damage but the war ended before they could finish. A second prototype was also nearing completion at the time the war ended, along with around 20 other airframes in various stages of completion. After the war American forces captured airframes number 3, 4 and 5, they where sent to Patuxent River Naval Air Base in America for testing. The prototypes where later cannibalized to make a single complete aircraft, which was then given to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The Museum kept it in storage for many years but it has recently been moved it to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center for restoration work.



Nakajima Ki-201 Karyu



While Nakajima's main focused was on completing the Kikka as quickly as possibly to help counter the expected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. A second team lead Iwao Shibuya started development of another aircraft that more more closely followed the original design of the Me-262 called the Ki-201 Karyu (Fire Dragon). This aircraft would also incorporate more advanced equipment that was then in development such as the Ne-230 turbojet & Ho-155-II cannons. A prototype was expected to be finished & ready for testing in December 1945, however the war ended before work could start putting an end to the development of the Ki-201.

True, I was also thinking I might use some of the structures as captureable tech buildings.

Also note, due to fan feedback the Supply Depot has been redone to make look less like the Factory.

 

Yes your eyes do not deceive you, new D-day news post! It's been nearly a year since the last news post, this has mainly been due to a technical problem that blocked me from accessing the D-day website & forums, thus I was unable to post anything for over 10 months! Sadly during this time I was somewhat demotivated to work on D-day, I still made a few random units for fun but I didn't make that much overall progress tho.

Gladly now that the problem has been resolved I'm feeling refreshed, revitalized & ready to work on D-day again. So to kick things back into action I've made a set of generic buildings as well as a generic sidebar & loading screen. These graphics will be used as placeholders for where I have yet to make specific national themed artwork. Which can normally take months to just research & several more to make all the 3D models.

So with this set France will no longer be using those hideous grey boxes with "placeholders" written across them. It also means that the new countries of Poland, China, Sweden & Czechoslovakia that I have been slowing working on will be include as playable (but incomplete) sides in the next release along with Japan. These are of course just placeholders & each of these country will receive unique national artwork in a later release.







I also plan to make a set of generic defensive buildings as well in the near future & of course I still have a backlog of over a 100 units that I still haven't posted/added to the wiki yet too so expect more news to come soon.

The tanks of Ooarai Girls High School storm into D-day with a new set of units from the hit anime series Girls und Panzer. These rare units can only be obtained by collecting the bonus crates that randomly appear on the battlefield. So hunt them down & take out your enemies in style!
 

















For those who are not familiar with Girls und Panzer here is the official trailer.

The Japanese are back with a new sidebar and several new buildings, which when built give you access to new superweapons. Also in this screenshot is a new style of cameo, which replaces the monochromatic sepia coloured cameos previously used with full colour renders. Lastly this was taken on a new map that I will be posting more about in the coming weeks, along with several others.



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This is a new more historically correct version of the barracks, based on a structure built by the Japanese on Saipan.



The Special Research Unit is a chemical weapons lab that gives you the ability to build chemical spreading tanks and use the Contaminate superweapon. Which releases a large gas cloud that will slowly damage any units or buildings within it's area.

Note: I was reluctant to add this building/support weapon due to the sensitive nature of Japan's use and research of chemical/biological weapons. Because of the sensitive nature tho, Japan's use of such weapons during the war isn't widely known. I thought this might be a good way to raise awareness and possibly inspire players to research about it themselves.



The Special Attack Unit gives you the ability to build kamikaze units, as well as accesses to the MXY7 Ohka superweapon, a specialised piloted rocket equipped with a large warhead.   
   


The Joint Operations Centre Is used by the post-war Japanese Self Defence Force sub-faction to coordinate with their American allies and call in B-47 Stratojet airstrikes on enemy targets.

Note: The JSDF as it's name implies is a defensive force and as such doesn't have any large or long range offensive weaponry. They instead rely upon their American allies to support them if they enter into a war.

Continuing on with French theme from the last news post. I've started work on a new skirmish map of Paris, at it's center is the world famous Eiffel Tower.  


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The map is still a work in progress & I haven't started on the north-west side of the river Seine, which will feature the equally as big Palais de Chaillot.

Here is a set of generic defences that can be built by all sides in D-day: Barbed wire, sandbags, gates & trenches.


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Yes they use laser fence logic, but don't require power so they are on all the time.

I'm back with more D-day news and this time the French are getting some love with a completely new set of defences.

My main source of inspiration for these defences is the Maginot Line of bunkers along France's border with Germany and Italy. The Maginot Line was built in the 1930s when tensions in Europe started to rise. It was the largest defensive network ever created and much of it still stands today. In order to represent the Maginot Line and give France a unique gameplay feature, their defences can be placed near each other to create indestructible walls that can only be removed by destroying the defensive structures. This give a French player the ability to create complex and unique base fortifications.



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For animations, photographs and more information click on the images to visit their D-day wiki page.

 

GFM Cloche


The GFM Cloche was a heavily armoured machine gun post used on the French Maginot Line of defences. Over a thousand of them were built and were used on the roofs of the every bunker along the defensive line.


75mm AC Mle.39


The 75mm AC Mle.39 (aka 75mm TAZ 39) was an anti-tank weapon designed during the opening stages of world war 2, it was hoped that it would replace the ageing 75mm Mle.1897 field gun in the AT role but only a few prototypes where finished before the armistice and all development was stopped soon after. Like many AT weapons of that era it was a modification of an anti-aircraft weapon, the 75mm CA Mle.38. It was fitted on a new type of 3 legged carriage with the gun fitted on a rotating mount, giving it the ability to turn 360o without moving the carriage. The 75mm AC Mle.39 was also designed to take advantage of a new type of ammunition that was also being developed at that time by Edgar Brandt. This new round used a discarding sabot to fire a shell at increased speeds. As France began to fall Brandt evacuated to England where he continued his work, helping to develop an armour piercing discarding sabot round for the British 6pdr and 17pdr guns. Today the APDS round is used as the standard anti-tank round in all modern tanks.


SS.11


The SS.11 was a French wire guided anti-tank missile designed in the early 1950s. It was a further development of the SS.10 which was a smaller missile primarily designed for use by infantry, the larger SS.11 was instead designed for use on tanks, aircraft and ships. It saw widespread use by NATO forces, as well as numerous other countries around the world and on many different vehicles. The most notable though is the Alouette II which with the SS.11 became the first ever anti-tank helicopter.


25mm CA Mle.40J


During the early 1930's Hotchkiss developed a new 25mm light anti-aircraft weapon, their attempts to sell the design to the French Army and Navy failed though, they instead preferred a 37mm design being developed by Schneider. They managed to find some interest on the export market from Romanian and Spain, Japan also bought a licence to produced it as the Type 96 25mm. With Hotchkiss's success on the export market and the delay of Schneider's 37mm weapon the French Army and Navy decided to also order the 25mm CA. By the time of the German invasion of France in 1940 only a limited amount of the 25mm CA where available, most were taken from the production batch originally meant for Romania. After the armistice limited production continued under the Vichy French and Romania finally received its weapons in 1943.


75mm CA Mle.38


The 75mm CA Mle.38 was a medium anti-aircraft weapon designed by Schneider. Work started in 1928 by modifying their famous 75mm Mle.1897 field gun on to an anti-aircraft mount, by the design was finished in 1932 and testing started. Schneider continued working on the design though and finish a new improved model in 1936, it entered service in 1938 and was used during the German invasion. The Swiss also bought several of them before the war, designated 75mm Flab Kan 38.


Bofors 40mm L/70


I covered the history of the Bofors 40mm L/70 in the last news post with the Japanese version. I wont repeat myself so if you didn't read that post you can click on the link above to go to D-day wiki page.


135mm Mle.32


The 135mm Mle.32 was the main heavy artillery weapon used in the French Maginot Line of fortifications. A pair of them were normally placed within an armoured retractable turret on top of an ouvrage, some where also used in fixed mounts within the forts. The German plan for the invasion of France bypassed the majority of the Maginot Line, some small battles did take place though. During which the 135mm Mle.32 proved to be an effective weapon at defending against the German's advance. Several ouvrages and their 135mm Mle.32 weapons have been restored and are open as museums.


155mm Mle.50


155mm Mle.50 was a French artillery gun design in 1950, it served as the main artillery weapon of the French army for over 30 years. Originally designed as a towed weapon it was also mounted on various tanks to create self propelled guns. Several other nations bought the 155mm Mle.50, the main ones being Switzerland and Israel, Sweden also bought a licence to produce the gun as the 15.5cm haubits F. Most countries have replaced it newer weapons but a few are still being use in Syrian today.


Gate


The Gate is used to allow allied units access to fortified areas while providing defence against enemies. The design is based on rolling anti-tank barriers used in the Maginot Line.

You'd need 1000+ units to be "the biggest C&C mod of all time" now days

I've created flagpoles for each side in D-day, they will appear on several new maps but also be buildable as base decorations.


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Today we reach a milestone in the road to D-day's next release, these three vehicles are the last of the Imperial Japanese ground units! While the largest part of the Japanese side is now complete there is still much left to do tho.



Type 95 Kurogane



The Type 95 Kurogane was a Japanese four wheel drive car designed in 1935 specificity for military use, up to that point the Japanese army had employed civilian vehicles for all its transport and utility roles. It was fitted with three seats, the space for the usual four seat in the rear was instead occupied by radio equipment allowing the Type 95 to perform scouting missions. Approximately 4,800 were built during the war and they served on all fronts, most were destroyed but a few have survived in Japanese an Russian museums.


Type 97 Shi-Ki



The Type 97 Shi-Ki was a modification of the Type 97 Chi-Ha converting it into a command tank. The main gun was removed from the turret and a large radio was put in its place, sometimes a dummy barrel was fitted to the turret to disguise it as a standard tank. The hull mounted machine gun was also replaced with a 37mm cannon giving it some limited offensive power against enemy armour.

Note:
In D-day this tank provides a buff in speed and firepower to friendly units around it.


Type 91



The Type 91 was a further development of Japan's first indigenous tank design the Experimental Tank No.1. After several years of testing the project was cancelled and work moved on to the Type 95 tank.

We once more delve into the seemingly never ending Japanese unit list with some of their late war self propelled guns.


Click of the unit names to visit their D-day wiki page for more information & pictures.


120mm Naval Short



In the closing stages of the war the Japanese navy modified fourteen Type 97 Chi-Ha "Shinhoto" tanks, fitting them with a short barrelled 120mm naval gun. The massive weapon required multiple recoil cylinders and could only just fit inside the Chi-Ha's small turret. Because of this an extension was built onto the back of the turret to hold the ammunition. There also wasn't any space inside the tank for the crew to loading the gun, so instead the loader had to stand on top of the tank and push the ammunition threw the back of the turret. All of the tanks were issued to the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces who deployed them to several bases around Japan to defend against the expected American invasion.


120mm Naval Long



When American occupation forces entered Tateyama gunnery school in Yokosuka they discovered a Type 97 Chi-Ha tank that had been modified by removing the turret and fitted it with a 120mm Type 10 naval cannon. Only a single vehicle was found and it is unclear if it was a makeshift weapon built by the gunnery school or if it was a prototype there for testing. Due to the weapons extreme weight and powerful recoil it is dubious that the Chi-Ha's light riveted hull could survive the stress of firing the weapon for long. However it would have been be a great threat to any Allied armour.


Type 5 Ho-Chi



The Type 5 Ho-Chi was a project to mount a Type 96 150mm artillery cannon onto the hull of the Type 97 Chi-Ha. It is believed that the Osaka arsenal built and tested the weapon and mount but wasn't able to fit it onto a prototype tank before the war ended.

With this news post we return to Poland for some Trucking. While not as glamorous as their armoured brethren, these units form the core of your base and will keep your economy flowing.


Click of the unit names to visit their D-day wiki page for more information & pictures.


PZInz.713



The PZInz.713 was heavy transport truck designed in 1937 by the Państwowe Zakłady Inżynieryjne (National Engineering Works) to replace the licence built Italian Polski Fiat 621L. A limited series of 100 vehicles was produced during 1939 with mass production of twenty thousand to start the following year. In September 1939 the Germans and Soviets invaded Poland putting a halt to all production. As fighting intensified and Poland's fate seemed bleak, a convoy of PZInz.713 trucks was loaded with Poland's gold reserves and evacuate to Romania.

The PZInz.713 is used as Poland's construction vehicle


Polski Fiat 621L



Initially Poland bought the Fiat 621 directly from factories in Italy, however it was soon found that the design struggled on some of Poland's rougher roads. Even with this problem the Fiat 621 was still liked so PZInz designed a new version with a reinforced chassis and a more powerful engine to better fit Polish needs. A licence to produce this modified design in Poland was agreed on and production started in 1935 with thirteen thousand being built by 1939, making it one of the most numerous trucks in Poland during the 1930's.

The Polski Fiat 621L is used as the pre/early-war supply vehicle


PZInz.342



The PZInz.342 was a wheeled prime mover designed to replace the half track C4P in the role of towing artillery and anti-aircraft guns. By August 1939 five prototypes had been completed, an order for a further 200 was placed with mass production expected to start early next year. The fate of the five prototypes is unknown, none of them survived the war.

The PZInz.342 is used as the mid/late-war supply vehicle


Lublin-51



The Lublin-51 was a Polish licence built copy of the Soviet GAZ-51 truck, which was the standard truck used by the communist bloc countries post-war. Production started in November 1951 and continued until 1959 with seventeen an a half thousand being built, many of which still survive today in various forms ranging from simple farm trucks to racing hot-rods!

The Lublin-51 is used as the post-war supply vehicle

Japan brings out the big guns with these five heavy tank destroyers.

Click of the unit names to visit their D-day wiki page for more information & pictures.


Type 5 Ho-Ri (Concept)



Development of the Type 5 Ho-Ri tank destroyer started in 1942 in parallel with the Type 5 Chi-Ri medium tank, which it would share some components with. The design seen here is the early concept for the Ho-Ri which features a distinctive sloped front plate, unique among Japanese tanks.


Type 5 Ho-Ri



As work on the Type 5 Ho-Ri tank destroyer and Type 5 Chi-Ri medium tank progressed it was decided to change the original sloped front plate and use the same layout at the Chi-Ri. While decreasing frontal protection this change added a 37mm cannon and machine gun to the front hull greatly increasing the tank's defensive fire power.


Type 5 Ho-Ri II



In a further effort to simplify production the fighting compartment of the Type 5 Ho-Ri was moved from the rear of the tank to the center, making the hull design unified with that of the Type 5 Chi-Ri. After three years of development and multiple variants the war ended before work on a prototype could started, ending what would have been one of Japan's most powerful tank designs of WW2.


Type 5 Na-To



With invasion by the Americans looming over their homeland the Japanese launched an emergency project to develop a new tank destroyer in the shortest possible time. Using the Type 4 Chi-So prime mover as the base the rear cargo area was opened up and a 75mm Type 5 cannon was placed on the roof. Two prototypes of this makeshift tank destroyer where built and tested, a further 200 more where ordered but the war ended before mass production could start.


Type 5 Ka-To



While the development of the Type 5 Na-To was proceeded with as quickly as possible using readily available components, the Type 5 Ka-To was designed from scratch as an more advance alternative. The height was decreased making it less of a target against enemies, It was also lengthened with an extra road wheel and the gun was changed from 75mm to 105mm greatly increasing it's firepower. The war ended before work on a prototype could start and it remained a paper project.