BT-7

This is coolbert:

Let me correct myself from a prior entry blog entry. I DID say that at Khalkin-Gol [Soviet and Japanese combat in 1939], the Japanese must have come up against the T-34 tank.

This is probably not so. The Soviets used at Khalkin Gol the BT-7 tank, an inferior version to the T-34. It was not until the great Soviet Manchurian offensive of 1945 that the Japanese would have encountered the T-34.

BT stood for "Fast Tank", B=bistro=Russian for fast!! The BT-7 at Khalkin-Gol DID prove to be adequate for the task at hand.

Needless to say, the T-34 proved to be a decided shock to U.S. forces in Korea. Impervious to U.S. anti-tank weaponry.

This should not have been a surprise.

The superiority of the T-34 was obvious to German officers that had encountered this tank in World War Two [WW2]. Presumably the Japanese had the same experience and made the same observations in 1945 Manchuria. It is known that senior German Generals did write papers for U.S. intelligence on Soviet methods and weaponry of warfare that were done AFTER WW2.

So did the infamous Japanese Colonel Tsuji!!

Surely these appreciations were noted by U.S. intelligence and the proper assessments made of the superiority of the T-34.

Why was U.S. anti-tank weaponry not adequate in Korea then??

Such weapons were just low priority. It was felt the next war would involve nuclear weapons and intercontinental bombers delivering same. NOT much need for infantry, armor, and the weaponry from WW2 in that case. So it was thought!!

HOW wrong!!

coolbert.