tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post1571648485309383077..comments2024-03-28T14:35:30.147-04:00Comments on Tank Archives: The Incredible Story of Soviet Diesel EnginesPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09622237223229485503noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post-2857331079250033152015-02-14T21:30:14.916-05:002015-02-14T21:30:14.916-05:00But if it could be done with 1930s technology at a...But if it could be done with 1930s technology at all, you'd think that all the forces would have developed some version by 1939, or the early '40s in the case of the US, and used it.<br /><br />However this notion that "death rays" could, if not vaporize objects or kill human targets, at any rate stop spark-ignition engines, was very much "in the air" in the 1930s; if I recall correctly, in Churchill's series of WWII memoirs in the first volume, he discusses the origins of British radar development as beginning with an investigation of this possibility. Quickly giving up on the idea of shutting down overflying airplanes, they did realize that the echo of their radio beams would be a useful thing to track, leading to Chain Home and the gradually more sophisticated radars of the war years. But it started with "death rays;" I have to wonder now whether the German development of radar had a similar origin. Certainly that would be more gratifying to Hitler one would think!<br /><br />--Shevek23Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post-80802620637468476882014-02-12T03:39:02.257-05:002014-02-12T03:39:02.257-05:00Its possible to kill petrol engines with electro m...Its possible to kill petrol engines with electro magnetic pulse weaponry, so I would not be surprised if the Soviets figured out something. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00812090105665603682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030145265861917845.post-61619862634801801842014-01-05T13:02:49.037-05:002014-01-05T13:02:49.037-05:00Which corresponds nicely with the rumor, which R ...Which corresponds nicely with the rumor, which R V Jones describes, about a German device that could stall car engine. What happened was that the Germans, at the time, had experimented with radio beam navigation for their air force. Rumor was created by the necessity to turn off car engines while the measurements were taken, since the spark plugs could interfere with radio emission. The guards were posted on the roads near the research facility and they would stop the traffic on the nearby country road for the duration of the experiment (half an hour at most). As the story went from one person to another, the sequence of the events got changed and British intelligence got the news of a machine that could stop the internal combustion engine. Seems that the story was really widespread.I can recommend to his book "Most Secret War: British Scientific Intelligence 1939-1945". Quite interesting reading, that one, thought it has nothing to do with tanks, I'm afraid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com