That report was one of the older ones posted but dealt with total force units by the countries without accounting for the Soviet tank divisions within a country which in some cases would easily double or +triple the number of tanks in any given Warsaw Pact country. What was important in posting these documents was the fact that the strategic and tactical planning and the overall types of equipment involved in carrying out those plans has been shown by later Russian released documents and ones from other sources (Governmental and or Military.) have in
most cases supported that analysis. But the bottom line here is
generally speaking this isn't a game of how many as much as what equipment and tactics. For that reason it was posted as a tool for game designers and a reasonable start point for equipment and general information, I.E. how interesting would it be to play East Germany with Russian T-80 tanks involved, which ware only posted there. Poland even had some Russian equipment that was unique to there as well as in Czechoslovakia to support the mission requirements of those fronts.
But as Don has pointed out yet again if the documentation isn't thoroughly read through, incomplete, or from dubious sources and or is otherwise misunderstood as happened to me in looking into the Warsaw Pact as will be discussed below, these issues cause long term game equipment problems, because the other item Don didn't mention is how much equipment got into the game while in the developmental stages or just because some blog or other started with "I heard (Or saw somewhere that...) that...". I would take the time to read it all as I did and see how time and better Intel changed some of the data and note the transition from the offensive mindset to the defensive one of the mid 80's.
This issue has come up in the past here in the
"East German OOB" Thread and other places and references (To include the USA among others.) of
did East Germany operate the T-62. Though the thread used overall some "lesser" sources but provided the majority of the data, and though far from perfect myself, I dug into a matter further to get the "final answer" (Yeah right!?!). So I directly contacted the German National Tank Museum which is run both by the city of Munster Germany and the BUNDSWEHR it is located on the site of the BUNDSWEHR Officer and NCO Armor training grounds and school...
T-62 MBT
9/20/12 Reply ▼Reply
View profileTo
panzermuseum@munster.de
From: patrick conklin ()
Sent: Thu 9/20/12 2:33 AM
To:
panzermuseum@munster.de
Good Morning!
I've been doing some research I whether or not the DDR NVA was equipped with the Soviet T-62 MBT. Except for a U.S. Army field recognition training manual supported by JANES (1990/1991) of Soviet/Warsaw Pact Armor, the preponderance of evidence suggests that only Soviet Forces stationed in the DDR used them. So I felt the matter was settled until, I came across a well known European travel guide online service that supposedly shows what's described as a "Soviet made T-62 tank that was in the service of the East German Army". I could not make out the nationality marking on the turret, though the tank numbers look Soviet to me. Can you clarify this for me? Was the NVA equipped with the T-62 MBT?
I hope you can help as I know you are the German National Tank Museum. Thank You for your time and patience!! If you reply please do so in a separate email as some replies seem the get "redirected" before getting to me.
Have a Great Day!!
Regards,
Pat Conklin USN/SS Ret.
"Im Unterseekraftstolz läuft tief! Aber mit jenem gleichen Stolz vergessen wir nie um unsere Kameraden noch auf ewiger Patrouille."
The bottom line full final response...
AW:
10/16/12 Reply ▼Reply
From: Ralf Raths (@deutsches-panzermuseum.de)
Sent: Tue 10/16/12 7:29 AM
To: patrick conklin
Hi Pat,
I answer your mail regarding the T-62 – that’s more my field than Julias.
You’re right – the T-62 was never officially issued to the Nationale Volksarmee. This is the reason why this tank has the Red Star as a marking and not the sign of the GDR.
So, organisationally it doesn’t belong in this area, but of course no tank museum would be complete without showing this design, so we placed it inside the row of T-models to show the big leap in gun technology.
Best wishes
Ralf Raths
I hope you noted the wording after
"never", that wording indicates where the confusion started with this item in the past possibly. So there you have it
no DDR T-62 tanks, sometimes you have to go the extra mile or two!?! And do me a favor read the whole thing please! Thank You!!
Maybe they can answer the TIGER tank speed question(s) as well!?!
Now about that French 105mm arty, a PITA if ever there was one, but not forgotten...
Here's the website...
http://www.panzermuseum-munster.de/?page_id=1273
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Regards,
Pat