In 1964 Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, activated a joint unconventional task force known as the Studies and Observation Group--MACV-SOG. As a cover its mission was to conduct analysis of lessons learned in combat involved all branches of service. SOG's real mission was to conduct covert strategic reconnaissance missions into Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam as well as sabotage and 'Black' psychological operations. Ground, air, and naval assets were employed to insert, collect, extract, and otherwise support these operations. Drawing on detailed, first-hand accounts of the experiences of the service, including action on operations, this book will shed light on one of the most crucial units of the Vietnam War.

Few tank designs have been as effective, versatile and long-lived as that of the British Centurion. Conceived during the Second World War as the answer to the superior German Tiger and Panther tanks and to the lethal 88mm gun, this 52-ton main battle tank incorporated the lessons British designers had learned about armoured fighting vehicles during the conflict, and it was free of the major faults that had impaired the other British tank designs of the time. The Centurion was so successful that it served in the British Army and in numerous other armies across the world from 1945 until the 1990s. Pat Ware's highly illustrated history of this remarkable tank covers its design and development, its technical specifications and the many variants that were produced. He tells the story from the design brief of 1943, through testing and trials to the tank's entry into service. And he traces the course of the Centurion's subsequent career as it was up-dated, up-gunned and adapted to operate in varied conditions and conflicts all over the world including Korea, the Indo-Pakistan wars, Vietnam and the Arab-Israeli wars. His expert account of this remarkable fighting vehicle is accompanied by a series of colour plates showing the main variants of the design and the common ancillary equipment and unit markings. His book is an essential work of reference for enthusiasts.

The M4 Medium Tank - the Sherman - was one of the most famous tanks of the Second World War. It was produced in greater numbers than any other Allied tank, it fought on every front - in Western Europe, on the Eastern Front, in North Africa, Burma, the Pacific - and it continued to serve effectively as a front-line fighting vehicle in the Korean War, the Arab-Israeli wars, the Indo-Pakistani wars. Pat Ware's new history of this remarkable tank covers in detail its design and development, its technical specifications and the many variants that were produced, and he reviews its operational role in conflicts across the world. While the Sherman outclassed the older German tanks it encountered when it was first put into combat in 1942, it was vulnerable to the later German medium and heavy tanks, the Panther and the Tiger I and Tiger II. Yet, as Pat Ware shows, the Sherman was more effective than these superior German tanks because it was cheaper to build, reliable, easy to maintain and produced in such large numbers. It was also adaptable - it was converted into a tank-destroyer, an amphibious tank, a recovery vehicle, a mine-flail, a personnel carrier - and, after the Second World War, the soundness of its original design was proved as it was developed to confront more modern tanks in combat. Pat Ware's expert account of this remarkable fighting vehicle is accompanied by a series of colour plates showing the main variants of the design and the common ancillary equipment and unit markings. His book is an essential work of reference for enthusiasts.

Following the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and the absorption of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine into the newly formed German Empire, the German Army decided to construct a fortress line from Strasbourg to Luxembourg to protect their new territory and counter the great fortress system that was being built from Switzerland to Belgium, the centerpiece of which was the great Moselstellung (Moselle Position) of Metz/Thionville.
The fortress consisted of concrete batteries that fired 10 and 15cm guns from steel turrets, concrete barracks, infantry strong points with ditches defended by casemates, and concrete trenches with shelters and steel observation cupolas. The entire position was surrounded by a wide belt of barbed wire entanglements that were defended by machine gun and rifle positions, and hidden from the view of the attacker. Illustrated with photographs and full color cutaway artwork, this book examines the design and development of the fortress and analyzes its use in combat, focusing particularly on the part it played in holding up General Patton's Third Army's advance across France in 1944

Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a short composite bow, revolutionized military tactics after 1700 BC. This expensive weapon spread throughout the Middle East and is thought to have reached Egypt with the conquering Hyksos. It spread into Asia Minor, Greece, and was known in Northern Europe by 1500 BC. This book covers the evolution of the war chariot throughout the Bronze Age, detailing its design, development and combat history - in particular its fundamental involvement at the battle of Qadesh.

The US Army's development of the 37mm anti-tank gun began in response to needs identified during the Spanish Civil War. By the time it entered service in Tunisia in 1943, the gun was already obsolete, and the US began the licensed manufacture of the British 6-pdr in the hope of finding a quick solution to their artillery requirements. This in tum proved unequal to the demands of warfare in France, 1944, and further anti-tank measures were developed - rocket propelled grenades for infantry use, and weapons designed specifically for use by the Tank Destroyer Force. The development of America's anti-tank weapons is detailed here, and the organisation and operation of Tank Destroyer Battalions is discussed.

The Austrian artillery of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a creation of the renowned Lichtenstein system of the early 1750s. This weight system produced a series of weapons of 3-, 6- and 12-pdr. calibre along with 7- and 10-pdr. Howitzers. In the 1780s they were joined by cavalry artillery guns with their 'Wurst' seats. In 1811 Austria also began the establishment of rocket troops based upon the British invention, whilst their heavy and siege pieces throughout the period remained the 12-, 18- and 24-pdrs. This title by David Hollins describes this system as well as its operational use throughout the period.