Work progresses at a rapid pace, as does the War. On the East Front, the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has spread, and the small Byelorus forces have jumped in to the fray. Food and draft riots have spread and are everywhere from Murmansk to Kamchatka. To all intents and purposes SSSR has degenerated in to civil war. The German Army is so far just watching. The lines have been consolidated, in some areas pulled back up to 50 kilometers to more defensible positions. Units are still being transferred west to counter the growing Allied forces on the West Front, leaving the bare minimum in the lines for defense. Do the Germans know something we don't?



On the West Front, Monty is doing his usual well thought out planning for a major offensive to pierce the German lines and sweep to the Rhine. However, the Germans are not cooperating, and are in fact in many areas pushing the Allies back, slowly but steadily. The air war is at a stalemate. German jet fighters are ranging far and wide, and have brought the strategic bombing campaign to a halt. The loses in the bomber squadrons became ghastly with the advent of the radar fused air to air missile the Germans started using, but there are not enough of them or the jets to turn the tide in the air. On the ground, the bravery of the Allied soldiers is becoming legendary. Teams of tank hunters modeled after the Russian teams have begun to appear. The number of VC and CMH awards has gone up exponentially, but most are posthumous. Still, the Germans are now wary of such teams, and the armored force doctrines are changing to reflect this. No longer do Tigers wander around with impunity, shooting up what they please and returning to their lines when lunch is ready. Now any foray is a combined arms op, tanks, troops, air and arty together.



The Tiger 1 Pace Project is about 90% complete, and should be ready for final tests and then issue to a special unit on the West Front in a week or 10 days. Additional work since the last press photo op is the installation of the stereoscopic gun sight, the gyro stabilizer for the main gun, modifications to the turret roof and then installation of the sandwich Pace armor there. The turret roof armor is bolted on, a departure from the application of the turret side and hull side armor, and has a special coating of some sort, the consist and purpose of which not even the workers know. Radiator and fan shields have also been installed to counter the Allied Jabos still flitting around. These are constructed of very thin but strong Pace armor. The turret rotation system has been changed also. and rotation speed is no longer dependent on engine revs, but is now electro hydraulic, and quite fast. A few other odds and ends will be installed in the next week to enhance even further the accuracy of the new main tube.



The new prime mover has been installed, a modification of the Maybach V12 carried out in the Porsche works in cooperation with BMW. Fuel injection has contributed to a major power increase, as has the supercharger installed for peak power output. There is some debate as to the wisdom of the super charger, as it apparently emits a very high pitched and noisy whine that reportedly can be heard for kilometers. Some engineers feel the power increase from the charger is outweighed by the added stress on the reciprocating parts in the mover, and have advocated it's removal. Others like the psychological concept of a rather noisy high pitched scream from the mover. At any rate, the backfire problems have been resolved with the fuel injection system, and plans are afoot to install the new mover in both the Panther and King Tiger as soon as possible. Also, the scuffing of the #6 and #7 rod bearings has been fixed, a simple solution thought up by a young apprentice, a change in the angle of the oil gallery for those bearings. Surprisingly this simple modification has eliminated the oil foaming problems with the Maybach also, and no one seems to know why.



Preliminary road tests of the lower hull sans turret but with a weight attached of the same weight as the turret has shown a significant increase in off road power and maneuverability. Top speed on the road has risen slightly due to the increased governed engine RPMs. Off road speed of course is decided more by terrain than by motive power. Recon of the AO is still very important before any operation with tanks. The new variable speed transmission has also done wonders for control and maneuverability.



The remaining work to be done is the tool suite positions, anti infantry weapons, and a couple other interesting odds and ends for vision and fire control.