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by Polar svalbard. . 58 reads.

Imperial War Svalbardian Tank design

This article deals with the history and development of tanks employed by the military of Polar Svalbard through the Imperial War and the time leading up to it.

In the years following the Svalbardian intervention in the Miklanian war for Independence, numerous small conflicts, and in the lead up to the Imperial War the Svalbardian army started to place a large emphasis on tank development. Polar Svalbard sent both military advisors and spies to numerous countries: mainly France, Czechoslovakia, and Japan. These people were used to study, and steal, tank plans and designs that would be of use to Polar Svalbard due to the fact that Polar Svalbard had placed little focus on the tank in its 15 years of existence. The first Svalbardian modern tank was the Jordløp designed Skrift LT-2 which was based on the Renault R-35 design.

History



Pre-Imperial War
While many countries developed tanks quickly, during and in the years after the Great War, Polar Svalbard was slow to catch up to those developments due to the power and prestige of the navy. The admiralty of Polar Svalbard held the majority of the power in military circles due to the navy's prestige and importance to the military. A large amount of funding was devoted to new ships and making use of aircraft in naval settings. While the army was important it was seen more as a defense force, or a force that worked closely with the navy for naval landings.

As tensions started to rise in the lead up to the Imperial war and with the Conference of 1922 limiting naval buildup for a bit, the Army was able to make a strong case for tank development. In the early 30s the Army was able to start development and research on building tanks. The first to be developed for actual use was the Skrift LT-2 produced in 1936. This was a light tank, as reflected in the name, and was heavily influenced by French tank designs. The tank was considered to be a good tank and got Svalbardian crews used to tankery by the time more advanced tanks were produced. It was well armored, although slower than its contemporaries, that could be forgiven though as it was meant to work in tandem with infantry battalions. The main gun was a 37mm cannon which was not a strong anti-tank gun. By the end of its production 400 of these tanks had been produced. Towards the end of its production cycle the Skrift LT-2A was produced which was an upgraded variant of the tank and was the last 100 of the 400 tanks produced of this type.

In 1937 two tanks came into service that would be the main Svalbardian tanks of the early Imperial War. The Jordløp designed Skrift MT-3 which was considered one of the more well armed and armored tank of the time period. The MT-3 had 275 units produced. The tank was interesting as it had a 75mm howitzer as its main armament which was a fixed self propelled gun and required the vehicle to turn in order to fire. This made the tank more like a tank destroyer, but the tank also had a 47mm cannon as its secondary armament within a one man turret that allowed it to have more defensive firing ability. For the early war period it was quite formidable. The other tank was the Skrift MT-4 which was like the MT-3 but without the hull mounted cannon. This vehicle was considered a more maneuverable type of tank and actually considered more along the veins of the LT-2. Between the three tanks though the MT-4 was seen as the least usable one to pursue and thus received the least funding and orders with only 175 of the tanks being produced.

A rather odd tank though was the Skrift HT-1, which was jointly produced by Jordløp and Snabbil. The Svalbardian Army wanted to attempt to produce a superheavy tank in order to make up for the deficiencies in besieging capabilities that the current tanks were unable to provide. Stealing information and documents from the French, these companies were able to create the Skrift HT-1. Only 5 of these tanks were built, all being sent to the front in Almorea during the Imperial War. These were large tanks, with heavy armor and large guns. They were inneffective in comparison to many modern tanks and were used mainly for propaganda and then as dug in emplacements during battles. Another reason they were not continued were that they took up too much space on transport vessels and required a large amount of effort to get into a combat area. All five tanks were lost early in the war.

(Operational history of the tanks)

Mid-Imperial War
As the Imperial War started and Svalbardians started fighting at the front in Almorea, more money was put into tank development. As the three main tank designs saw combat, a number of needed changes were found in how the tanks operated. Chief among them was the need for the turret to be manned more than one person, and for a higher emphasis on maneuverability. The first tank to come out of these design changes was the Snabbil Skrift MT-6 Marauder in 1943. 500 of these tanks were built and saw extensive combat. The tanks had adequate armor of 50mm with sloping design in some places in order to provide better survivability. The 57mm cannon was useful for anti-tank operations and the 2 7.7mm machine guns were useful for anti-infantry defense. The turret was revolutionary for Svalbardian tank design as previously turrets were manned by a single person, often the commander who also had to be his own gunner and loader, this split his attention and made him less effective. In this case the MT-6 had a five man crew: commander, driver, gunner, loader, and radioman.

In early 1944 the Skrift MT-7 Magnum, produced by Jordløp, entered service with 150 units being produced through its production cycle. The 75mm cannon was a response to a desire to have a gun as powerful as was on the MT-3. In conjuction with Snabbil's larger turret designs, this tank kept the army's anti-tank capabilities strong. While sacrificing something in maneuverability from the MT-6, it was still better than its earlier contemporary in the MT-3. The tank only had 200 units produced though as the MT-6 was considered more useful for operations due to its better handling and speed.

Also in early 1944 the Skrift LT-4 (Type 98 Ke-Ni light tank) came into service. This tank was mostly used for fast maneuvers, reconnaissance, and anti-infantry uses. 100 of them were produced as more anti-tank roles were needed than cavalry. Nonetheless these tanks were quite effective. Their armor was uparmored in order to not let 50 caliber rounds be effective. The main gun was a 37 mm, it was effective against other light tanks and some medium tanks, although they were much less effective versus more armored tanks.

(Operational history)

Towards the end of the Imperial War
In 1945 the first Svalbardian Heavy tank came into service. The Svalbardian army was increasing seeing the effectiveness of other tanks and were also in the race to produce more armored and more well armed tanks. The Jordløp Skrift HT-2 Storhest first came into service in 1945 with 200 units being produced. The tank was quite effect against other tanks with 40-60mm sloping armor and a 75 mm gun as the main armament. The biggest inspiration for the tank was the MT-7, although this tank had better ergonomics and armor than its predecessor. The HT-2 though combined the commander and gunner into a single role in order to reserve more space for armor and ammo. The Storhest was a favorite among tankers in Polar Svalbard.

Polar svalbard

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