Post Cold War, Modern Armor

You also might want to try globalsecurity.org as they have all US Military Vehicles

antique74

 Few Squadron or Osprey books at Amazon have the "look inside" feature, so I have to guess what's inside by the title or, hopefully, an extensive review. Shopping totally online is difficult unless you know what you're looking for.

Squadron books are hard to come by at regular bookstores.I've found 1 or 2 at used bookshops over the years, My local Barnes and Noble carries a decent selection of Osprey and I just picke up this one there a couple weeks ago.

Once you find a vehicle you're interested in buing, post a request here (or at other armore related sites, such as Armorama and Missing Lynx, for a recommendation on good references.

Unless you are gonna be buying stuff that has it's roots in the Cold War such as the Abrams, Bradley, and HMMWV, your shopping will be quick. Most of the US inventory was designed and put in use at the end of the Cold War, specificly the Reagan years. Kits of new designed and fielded vehicles are minimal: Strykers, the M1078 LMTV, and some forthcoming MRAPs are about it in 1/35. While the ground forces have upgraded existing equipment constantly, new series of vehicles have not been procured with the exception of those three types/families listed above.

When I requested info on post- Cold War vehicles, I should have clarified that I was interested in vehicles in use after the Cold War. Many were made or put in use during the Cold War.

The list of sites was what I was looking for. Once I get used to the designations of interesting vehicles, I can start shopping. Thanks.

ajlafleche, I ordered one book from Amazon. I have many books from Squadron, Osprey, etc. on WWII vehicles but selecting one from online sources is difficult. Few Squadron or Osprey books at Amazon have the "look inside" feature, so I have to guess what's inside by the title or, hopefully, an extensive review. Shopping totally online is difficult unless you know what you're looking for. (BTW. I visited a hobby store in northern Virginia while visiting my son. It was a large store but the selection was a fraction of what is available online. Now I understand why so many good hobby shops have closed.)

Thanks for the vehicle list. That's a start for me.

As Stik has alluded to, there is a big difference between the vast generalization which is "post Cold War" and "current use". So much has changed even within the past decade when we first invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.

While many base vehicles used right after the end of the Cold War were and still are in use now, they have gone through so many modernization programs and have been modified to current needs, that trying to build an M1A1 Abrams as seen in Desert Storm is a much different looking tank than the ones used towards the end of the ground war in Iraq.

Until OIF, most AFVs in the US service were Cold War designs. Some having been updated. During the 90s whatever new designs that were in development were usally axed for one political/budgetary reason or another. Only after the shortcomings of certain vehicles in certain roles were revealed in OIF did new designs start to appear recently.

So the late Cold War stalwarts such as the M1 series tanks, M2/M3 series fighting vehicles, M88 recovery vehicle, M113 series APCs, M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle, M109 Paladin SP Howitzers, and the MLRS SP rocket launchers cover most of the Army from 1991 thru 2003. For the Marines again it's the M1 tanks, LVTP-7/AAV7 series Amtracks, the LAV family of wheeled AFVs, etc. And of course the good old stand by Deuce and Half trucks, 5 ton trucks, and HMMWV family for all services.

But this site will give you a good breakdown of each nation's vehcile types

http://www.armyrecognition.com/

this one is good for gaining information about particular items of equipment

http://www.fas.org/

and this one is decent

http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/index.asp

There are tons of reference books, icluding ones from Squadron and Osprey; also check out publications referencing the particular conflicts, e.g., Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, etc.

Here's a short list from memory, in 1/35 plastic, more or less in chronological order. I believe all are currently available.

Tanks: M48A2 and 3, M551, M60A1 and 2, M1 (Many variants)

Other tracked vehicles: M109, M110, many variantions based on the M113, M247, M2/M3, MLRS, M88, LVTP 7.

Wheeled vehicles: M35A1, M151A1 and2, Jeep CJ9 (military),  various Marine LAV's, many variations on the HUMVEE, HMMT, MRAP, M1117, several variants of the Stryker.

There are also numerous detail and conversions for theses, allowing you to add PE and/or resin to get a more detailed version of the original kit as well as to upgrade them to varying standards.