Truck Encyclopedia

Military trucks & more ! This is the dedicated section about softskin vehicles, either wheeled, tracked or half-tracked, from WW1 to this day: Military Trucks, Tractors, and Cars

WW1 Trucks: Dawn of motorization

Trucks in WW1; No mud, please

All the belligerents engaged in the great war had trucks, tractors and cars, but not systematically armored vehicles, or tanks. Paris Taxis became pivotal at the Marne in 1914, but this was just a beginning. Mobility was everywhere but on the French and Italian fronts.

WW2 Trucks and Cars

Industrial Production

WW2 was really the golden age of motorization. By moving infantry rapidly by trucks, battles could be lost or won. However limitations of soft skin vehicles made imperative the development of proper armoured personal carriers at the end of the war.

Cold War Trucks

Steady improvements

Nothing fancy here, only a steady development on trucks and soft skin vehicles for rear lines, with developments in terms of tire inflation, off-road capabilities, multi-fuel usage, modularity and other aspects shared between the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

Modern Trucks

The entire world as a factory

One of the most interesting developments of the cold war world was decolonization. This, after a period of uncertainty and development, led to a global economy. Trucks are produced anywhere in the world now, and the export market, and international partnerhips has blurred the borders.

Seeing cars and trucks converted into armored vehicles, embedded into the military vehicles category at large, it became obvious one day a new section would be developed to reach unarmed, unprotected trucks, cars and tractors. Trucks latter were used in WW1, WW2 and the cold war up to this day, and if less impressive than tanks, are nevertheless the only practical way to supply the latter in the field, or an entire army for that matter. The driving force behind their development is not darwinian like for tanks (over the space of a few years).

Their utility call for commonality with the civilian market, but military-grade components, equipments and light weaponry, and off-road characteristics are often the main distinguishing point. Cars on the other hand mostly carried staff, personal, and played many other roles, like the mythical Jeep. Tractors were developed early on for towing artillery (and other payloads) over the worst terrain. None were supposed to venture frontline, and therefore their tasks less risky and glorious. But experience in using them drove many innovations, which benefited to the civilian market as well. It's a topic worth studying.

During WW2 alone, UK and the Empire produced 47,000 armored vehicles, however that is less than the Universal carrier. Aside this, 1,475,521 softskin vehicles were manufactured, while the US delivered 2,382,311, USSR 197,100, so more than 4 million versus the Axis 408,092. This included 159,147 for Germany and 165,945 for Japan, 83,000 for Italy.

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