DUKW is an American amphibious vehicle used on a large scale during World War II. DUKW was powered by a 6-cylinder carburettor engine with a capacity of 90 HP, it had all-wheel drive, and it moved in the water thanks to a single propeller located at the rear of the vehicle. The first copies were made at the General Motor Company in 1942, and by the end of the war, more than 21,000 were produced. The DUKW was a universal vehicle, with high speed on the road as well as good seaworthiness. Interestingly, it was one of the first to allow the driver to adjust the tire pressure, which made it suitable for both dirt roads and sandy beaches. The Allies used DUKW in all theaters of war and built various weapons on it: from Browning machine guns, through 105mm M2 howitzers, to unguided missiles. The last copies were withdrawn from service only in the 70s. Technical data: length: 9.45m, width: 2.44m, height: 2.69m, weight 6500kg, engine power: 90KM, speed: 80km / h on the road, 10km / h in the water.
M4 Sherman je bil ameriški srednji tank iz druge svetovne vojne. Prvi prototipi so bili izdelani leta 1941, serijska proizvodnja pa je potekala v obdobju 1942-1945. Skupaj je bilo ustvarjenih približno 49.000 primerkov tega tanka vseh različic, kar ga uvršča med najbolj proizvajane tanke druge svetovne vojne in najpomembnejši tank v opremi zavezniških armad v tem spopadu. M4 Sherman je poganjal enomotorni model M4A1 Continental R 975 C4 z močjo 400 KM . Vozilo je bilo oboroženo - odvisno od različice - z enim 75 mm topom M3 ali 76 mm topom M1 ali 105 mm havbico M4 in dvema 7,62 mm strojnicama Browning1919A.
M4 Sherman je bil razvit kot naslednik tankov M2 in M3, čeprav je uporabil veliko komponent slednjih. Prvič, uporabil je le nekoliko spremenjeno podvozje avtomobila M3 Lee. Pri snovanju M4 Sherman je bil poudarek predvsem na vlogi podpornega vozila pehote in ne na boju s sovražnimi tanki – to je bila vloga ameriških uničevalcev tankov. Predpostavljeni so bili samo morebitni spopadi z vozovi Pz.Kpfw III in Pz.Kpfw IV. Pomembno vlogo je odigrala tudi množična proizvodnja novega tanka in čim nižji proizvodni stroški. Rezultat je bil tank z dobro oborožitvijo za leta 1942 in začetek 1943, povprečen oklep, vendar z nagnjeno čelno ploščo, a tudi s slabo manevrsko sposobnostjo in - zlasti v prvih različicah - zelo dovzeten za ogenj zaradi udarca v motorni prostor. Hkrati pa je bil ustvarjen tank, ki bi bil lahko resnično velikoserijsko izdelan in bi imel velik potencial za posodobitev. Veliko razvojnih različic je nastalo med serijsko proizvodnjo M4 Sherman. Kronološko prva je bila različica M4A1, ki je že imela ulit oklep. Drugi - M4A2 - je imel varjen oklep in nov motor General Motors 6460 s 375-410 KM, vendar veliko manj dovzeten za ogenj. Pojavila se je tudi različica M4A3, oborožena s 105 mm havbico in poganjana z motorjem Ford GAA z močjo 450 KM. Na osnovi različice M4A3 sta bili ustvarjeni dve podrazličici: M4A3E2 Jumbo z ojačanim oklepom in M4A3E8 s HVSS in 76 mm topom. Zanimiva razvojna različica je bila tudi T34 Calliope z nameščenimi izstrelki, ki niso vodeni na kupoli. M4 Sherman je bil v velikih količinah dobavljen tudi britanski in Rdeči armadi. Prvi je na njegovi osnovi razvil različico Fireflyja z odličnim 17-funtnim protitankovskim topom. Med drugo svetovno vojno so se tanki M4 Sherman borili v Severni Afriki (1942-1943), Italiji (1943-1945), med bitkami v Normandiji, Franciji in Zahodni Nemčiji (1944-1945), pa tudi na Pacifiku ali v vrstah Rdeča armada na vzhodni fronti. Po drugi svetovni vojni so M4 Sherman uporabljali v številnih državah, vključno z Argentino, Belgijo, Indijo, Izraelom, Japonsko, Pakistanom in Turčijo. Sodeloval je tudi v številnih konfliktih po letu 1945, vključno z indijsko-pakistansko vojno leta 1965 in šestdnevno vojno leta 1967.
Jeep Willys (other names: Willys MB, Jeep) is an American off-road car from the Second World War and the post-war period. The first prototypes of the car were built in 1940, and serial production was carried out in 1940-1945. Nearly 650,000 copies of it were created in its course! The weight of the cart was about 1.1 tons, with a length of 3.36 meters and a width of 1.57 meters. The drive was provided by a single engine with a power of 60 HP. The maximum speed was up to 105 km / h.
The Jeep Willys was developed to order and demanded by the US Army, which in 1940, faced with the war, asked for a completely new 4x4 passenger car with a load capacity of up to 250 kilograms, which could be mass-produced. It is worth adding that initially the American Bantam Car with the Bantam BRC was the clear favorite in the tender. However, the US Department of Defense, striving to ensure the best possible car design and trying to ensure trouble-free series production, handed over the plans for the Bantam BRC to the Willys and Ford plants. Based on these plans, Willys developed a Jeep that had a much better power unit than the original Bantam BRC, as well as being mechanically more perfect. Ultimately, it was this car, the Willys Jeep, that won the tender for the US Army. The presented car was actually mass-produced and went to almost all Anglo-Saxon armies fighting in World War II, and thanks to the Lend-and-Lease program, also to the Soviet Union. He took part in hostilities in North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe and the Pacific. It is often assumed that the Jeep Willys is one of the symbols of American triumph in World War II.