Always nice to see a new magazine on the market. This one is unique to my experience and worthy of a good look. The first thing is that it is in full color throughout its 48 pages. The second is that this edition covers modern army vehicles, and goes into each vehicle in rather good detail, the sort of thing that is highly sought by modelers and military enthusiasts alike. The third is that the edition contains a CD-ROM that has additional images of the subject vehicles, all done in large format so you aren't spending time squinting at the images trying to figure out what is there.

This premiere edition seems to concentrate on Russian vehicles as shown at Russian Arms Expo 2002. Much of the material on the CD also concentrates on this event. The vehicles covered in the magazine are the T-90 main battle tank, the BMP-3F armored fighting vehicle, the 2S5 self propelled gun, Zoopark 1 light armored vehicle with artillery radar, and the lone non-Russian vehicle, the Centauro 105mm anti-tank vehicle from Italy.

Each entry in the magazine has full description of each vehicle that includes the usual data on armament, protection, propulsion and any other salient features unique to the type. Included is a superbly done four view drawing of each vehicle with a small specifications section. This is then followed by some overall and close-up views of the subject.

The CD-ROM offers additional images of each vehicle. It also has coverage of the Russian Arms Expo that includes a wide array of other vehicles not covered on the pages of the magazine. The CD is a great companion to the magazine and judging from the cover price, I'd have to say that this will be a continuing feature of Army Recognition.

A few things I found of interest is that each vehicle section is on a page that has a different background color for each article. Makes it much easier to find an article. There is also no advertising to break up the continuity of the magazine and its articles. I know I appreciate this and it also explains the pricing of the magazine. Finally, there are a couple of pages of Russian uniform rank badges, something that is quite helpful to those of us who don't understand what all that stuff means!

Overall, this is really a superb first issue and one that I really think you should consider, especially if your interest is in modern military in general and European military in particular.

Review magazine courtesy of Army Recognition. Follow the link to the left to order yours or locate a retailer near you.

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