Tracked vehicles are important to militaries around the world, since they're usually supporting and carrying ground troops. Readers will learn what tracks are and why they're necessary for large, frontline battle tanks like the Bradley M2 Abrams. Big full-bleed photographs, new glossary terms, and a close up look at a vehicle will keep readers wanting more! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo Kids Jumbo is an imprint of Abdo Kids, a division of ABDO.

Featuring over a thousand photos from the National Archives, diagrams, and detailed specifications, Hunnicutt's Half-Track remains the definitive development history of half-track vehicles for the military historian, professional soldier, and tank restorer. In this ambitious work, Hunnicutt details the developmental history of half-tracks, examining its modifications and effectiveness. Products of a pre-war development program, half-track vehicles served in all theaters of operation from the first to the final days of WWII, and many models remained active long after the Korean War. The armored half-track was one of few vehicles available to equip the new divisions being formed just prior to WWII. Part I traces the early development beginning with the slow half-track of WWI to the faster vehicles developed after the evaluation of the French Citroen-Kegresse P17 in 1931. These vehicles were unarmored half-track cars and trucks intended for use as prime movers and reconnaissance vehicles. In 1938, the half-track suspension was installed on the M2A1 scout car, and the converted vehicle became the half-track personnel carrier T7. This was the first armored half-track, but tests showed that it was underpowered. Based upon the experience with the T7, a new vehicle was designed in 1939 and designated as the half-track scout car T14. Using the half-track suspension from the T7 and a more powerful engine, it became the prototype for all of the half-tracks produced during WWII. In Part II, the development and production of half-tracks during WWII is described showing the many roles for which it was adapted. In addition to the original armored scout car, the basic chassis was adapted as a personnel carrier, mortar carrier, tank destroyer, self-propelled artillery, and other specialized applications. Some of these vehicles were temporary expedients, but others were so successful that they remained in use until long after WWII. Part III briefly describes some half-track operations during WWII and Korea. However, it is not intended to be an operational history, but to illustrate the effectiveness of the half-track in active service. The characteristics of the various half-track vehicles and the weapons with which some of them were armed are tabulated in the data sheets in Part IV. Richard Pearce Hunnicutt (1926-2011) enlisted in the 7th Infantry Division in 1944 and in 1945 was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions. After WWII, Hunnicutt earned a Masters in engineering from Stanford University under the GI Bill. In addition to being one of the most respected metallurgists in California, Hunnicutt wrote the definitive 10-volume history of the development and employment of American armored vehicles. As a tank historian and leading expert in the field, Hunnicutt was one of the founders of the US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD and was a close friend and frequent contributor to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, KY. Readers interested in related titles from R. P. Hunnicutt will also want to see: Abrams (ISBN: 9781626542556), Armored Car (ISBN: 9781626541559), Bradley (ISBN: 9781626542525), Patton (ISBN: 9781626548794), Pershing (ISBN: 9781626541672), Sheridan (ISBN: 9781626541542), Sherman (ISBN: 9781626548619), Stuart (History of the American Light Tank, Vol. 1) (ISBN: 9781626548626), Firepower (ISBN: 9781635615036).

A concise reference that provides an overview of the design of high speed off-road vehicles High Speed Off-Road Vehicles is an excellent, in-depth review of vehicle performance in off-road conditions with a focus on key elements of the running gear systems of vehicles. In particular, elements such as suspension systems, wheels, tyres, and tracks are addressed in-depth. It is a well-written text that provides a pragmatic discussion of off-road vehicles from both a historical and analytical perspective. Some of the unique topics addressed in this book include link and flexible tracks, ride performance of tracked vehicles, and active and semi-active suspension systems for both armoured and unarmoured vehicles. The book provides spreadsheet-based analytic approaches to model these topic areas giving insight into steering, handling, and overall performance of both tracked and wheeled systems. The author further extends these analyses to soft soil scenarios and thoroughly addresses rollover situations. The text also provides some insight into more advanced articulated systems. High Speed Off-Road Vehicles: Suspensions, Tracks, Wheels and Dynamics provides valuable coverage of: Tracked and wheeled vehicles Suspension component design and characteristics, vehicle ride performance, link track component design and characteristics, flexible track, and testing of active suspension test vehicles General vehicle configurations for combat and logistic vehicles, suspension performance modelling and measurement, steering performance, and the effects of limited slip differentials on the soft soil traction and steering behavior of vehicles Written from a very practical perspective, and based on the author’s extensive experience, High Speed Off-Road Vehicles provides an excellent introduction to off-road vehicles and will be a helpful reference text for those practicing design and analysis of such systems.

The specific mission of the Marine Corps has led to the development of many unusual and innovative vehicles, amphibious landing craft in particular.

This book systematically presents the theory, numerical implementation, field experiments and practical engineering applications of the ‘Vehicle–Track Coupled Dynamics’. Representing a radical departure from classic vehicle system dynamics and track dynamics, the vehicle–track coupled dynamics theory considers the vehicle and track as one interactive and integrated system coupled through wheel–rail interaction. This new theory enables a more comprehensive and accurate solution to the train–track dynamic interaction problem which is a fundamental and important research topic in railway transportation system, especially for the rapidly developed high-speed and heavy-haul railways. It has been widely applied in practical railway engineering. Dr. Wanming Zhai is a Chair Professor of Railway Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University, where he is also chairman of the Academic Committee and Director of the Train and Track Research Institute. He is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the leading scientists in railway system dynamics. Professor Zhai is Editor-in-Chief of both the International Journal of Rail Transportation, published by Taylor & Francis Group, and the Journal of Modern Transportation, published by Springer. In addition, he is a trustee of the International Association for Vehicle System Dynamics, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and Vice President of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering. /div

The market’s most comprehensive guide to German combat vehicles. The Complete Guide to German Armored Vehicles is an encyclopedia of all the armored vehicles used by the Nazis in World War II. At over four hundred pages and with over six hundred photos, many of which never before seen by the public, this volume becomes the market’s most comprehensive on the subject. David Doyle, award-winning author of dozens of books on the subject, provides mechanical information, photos, and usage history for: • Armored cars • Half-tracks • Tanks • Assault guns • Jagdpanzers • Panzerjagers • Self-propelled guns, howitzers, and mortars • Flakwagens • Flammpanzers • Recovery vehicles • Armored Engineer vehicles An encyclopedic resource by an authority on the subject, The Complete Guide to Armored Vehicles is a must-have for modelers, gamers, and WWII buffs alike.