Land of the tanks

If you haven't had enough of watching tanks on Heldenplatz today, or if you are interested in tracked vehicles even outside of the national holiday on October 26, then this book is a must-read. Throughout its history, the Austrian Armed Forces have had an impressive range of armored vehicles at their disposal.

Perhaps the tank is even an Austrian invention. Günther Burstyn's motorized gun was far ahead of its time as an invention before World War I. And it suffered the fate of many Austrian inventions: no one was interested in it.

The first armored vehicles were then manufactured between 1903 and 1905 at the Austro-Daimler works. In the 1930s, the army supplied itself with various Italian tankettes.

In the interval between the First and Second Republics, when Austria briefly ceased to exist as a state, it was part of the German Reich's armament planning. The steel industry was developed on a large scale near Linz, and the production of tanks from the Panzer IV to the Jagdtiger is also part of Austrian armament history.

After the Second World War, modern armored forces were created, which were initially equipped with US tanks and French AMX13s. Later, the domestic Kürassier tank destroyer was added, among others. Today, the German Leopard 2A4, the successor to the M60, forms the core of the Austrian Armed Forces' battle tank fleet.

In this book, the renowned historian Franz Felberbauer provides a comprehensive overview of all significant armored vehicles, including the Steyer ADGZ wheeled armored vehicle, Ulan, Pandur, Leopard 2A4, Dingo, and other models. The book provides detailed data, facts, and background information.

It makes for extremely exciting reading for all tank enthusiasts, precisely because it is not a “national” history, but because Austria has used so much international material across the board.

“Armored Vehicles of the Austrian Army since 1904” by Franz Felberbauer, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2025, 128 pages, €25.60 – available in good bookstores or also on Amazon.