The current American main battle tank, the M1A2 Abrams, is a monster. It weighs over 70 tons and costs about $24 million. It’s the latest in a long line of great American tanks.
Now imagine a weapon consisting of two guys on a Vespa scooter with an anti-tank rifle that could knock the track off a tank or destroy a light armored vehicle; talk about getting more bang for your buck! That’s precisely what the post-WW2 French Army came up with in the Vespa 150 TAP Anti-Tank Scooter.
Initially conceived for the Italian public by Piaggio, the Vespa’s design was simple yet robust, making it an ideal candidate for military modification. The concept of a lightweight, air-transportable vehicle was of particular interest to the French military, especially their airborne divisions.
The need for such a vehicle arose from the desire for a mode of transportation that could be easily deployed in…
