David Francois, from France, earned his PhD in Contemporary History at the University of Burgundy and specialized in studying militant communism, its military history and relationship between politics and violence in contemporary history. In 2009, he co-authored the Guide des archives de l’Internationale communiste published by the French National Archives and the Maison des sciences de l’Homme in Dijon. He is regularly contributing articles for various French military history magazines and regular contributor to the French history website L’autre côté de la colline.

The years following WW II were an era of great advancement in the aircraft industry. Lessons learned from the war, information obtained from the Germans and the advent of the jet engine combined to greatly accelerate development of the industry. During this time, the US Air Material Command issued requests for proposals related to a Penetration Fighter, an All-Weather Fighter and an Interceptor Fighter. Lockheed worked to develop a submission for the Penetration Fighter contract. Their aircraft from the Skunk Works at Lockheed was designated the XF-90.

The Kit

Tamiya’s French Light Tank R35 is a new tooled kit of the pre-World War II tank. By the 1930s French military planners could no longer ignore the obsolescence of their masterpiece FT17 tank from late WWI, and work started on a genuine successor to fill the void. One of the answers they came up with was the R35 light tank, which utilized rolled steel lower and three-piece cast upper hull designs and was armed with the short barreled 37mm gun. It was crewed by two. When hostilities with Nazi Germany burst into life in May 1940 the R35 was right in the front line. While it showed its armor was reliable, the 37mm gun was inadequate when it came to take out German armor. The Fall of France in June 1940 meant that production of the R35 was curtailed to approximately 1,600 units.