diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index 80435f7..a8418d3 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ struct AppState {
     battles_db: PathBuf,
     teams_db: PathBuf,
     leaderboard_cache: Mutex<Option<CachedLeaderboard>>,
+    vehicle_names: HashMap<String, HashMap<String, String>>,
+    vehicle_icons: HashMap<String, String>,
 }
 
 struct CachedLeaderboard {
@@ -317,7 +319,20 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         battles_db: resolve_db_path("TSS_BATTLES_DB", "tss_battles.db"),
         teams_db: resolve_db_path("TSS_TEAMS_DB", "tss_teams.db"),
         leaderboard_cache: Mutex::new(None),
+        vehicle_names: load_vehicle_names(&resolve_db_path(
+            "VEHICLE_TRANSLATIONS_JSON",
+            "vehicle_translations.json",
+        )),
+        vehicle_icons: load_vehicle_icons(&resolve_db_path(
+            "VEHICLE_DATA_CACHE_JSON",
+            "vehicle_data_cache_all.json",
+        )),
     });
+    tracing::info!(
+        "loaded {} vehicle name maps, {} vehicle icons",
+        state.vehicle_names.len(),
+        state.vehicle_icons.len()
+    );
     spawn_leaderboard_refresh(state.clone());
 
     let app = Router::new()
@@ -1621,6 +1636,54 @@ fn allowed_origins() -> AllowOrigin {
     }
 }
 
+fn load_vehicle_names(path: &FsPath) -> HashMap<String, HashMap<String, String>> {
+    match fs::read_to_string(path) {
+        Ok(s) => serde_json::from_str(&s).unwrap_or_default(),
+        Err(_) => HashMap::new(),
+    }
+}
+
+fn load_vehicle_icons(path: &FsPath) -> HashMap<String, String> {
+    // vehicle_data_cache_all.json is [[cdk, name, icon, tags], ...]
+    let raw: Vec<serde_json::Value> = match fs::read_to_string(path) {
+        Ok(s) => serde_json::from_str(&s).unwrap_or_default(),
+        Err(_) => Vec::new(),
+    };
+    let mut out = HashMap::new();
+    for entry in raw {
+        if let (Some(cdk), Some(icon)) = (
+            entry.get(0).and_then(|v| v.as_str()),
+            entry.get(2).and_then(|v| v.as_str()),
+        ) {
+            out.insert(cdk.to_string(), icon.to_string());
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+fn lookup_vehicle_name(
+    names: &HashMap<String, HashMap<String, String>>,
+    cdk: &str,
+    lang: &str,
+) -> String {
+    if let Some(by_lang) = names.get(cdk) {
+        if let Some(n) = by_lang.get(lang) {
+            return n.clone();
+        }
+        if let Some(n) = by_lang.get("en") {
+            return n.clone();
+        }
+    }
+    cdk.to_string()
+}
+
+fn lookup_vehicle_icon(icons: &HashMap<String, String>, cdk: &str) -> String {
+    icons
+        .get(cdk)
+        .cloned()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("{cdk}.png"))
+}
+
 fn resolve_db_path(env_key: &str, default_file: &str) -> PathBuf {
     let raw = env::var(env_key).unwrap_or_else(|_| default_file.to_string());
     let expanded = expand_home(&raw);
@@ -1702,3 +1765,43 @@ fn load_env_file(path: &FsPath) {
         env::set_var(key, value);
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn vehicle_name_prefers_lang_then_en_then_cdk() {
+        let mut names = HashMap::new();
+        let mut t = HashMap::new();
+        t.insert("en".to_string(), "T-34".to_string());
+        t.insert("ru".to_string(), "Т-34".to_string());
+        names.insert("ussr_t_34".to_string(), t);
+        assert_eq!(lookup_vehicle_name(&names, "ussr_t_34", "ru"), "Т-34");
+        assert_eq!(lookup_vehicle_name(&names, "ussr_t_34", "de"), "T-34");
+        assert_eq!(lookup_vehicle_name(&names, "unknown_cdk", "en"), "unknown_cdk");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn vehicle_icon_falls_back_to_cdk_png() {
+        let mut icons = HashMap::new();
+        icons.insert("ussr_t_34".to_string(), "ussr_t_34.png".to_string());
+        assert_eq!(lookup_vehicle_icon(&icons, "ussr_t_34"), "ussr_t_34.png");
+        assert_eq!(lookup_vehicle_icon(&icons, "germ_pz"), "germ_pz.png");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn load_vehicle_icons_parses_cache_array() {
+        let dir = std::env::temp_dir();
+        let p = dir.join("test_vehicle_cache_all.json");
+        fs::write(
+            &p,
+            r#"[["ussr_t_34","T-34","ussr_t_34.png",{}],["germ_pz","Pz","germ_pz.png",{}]]"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let icons = load_vehicle_icons(&p);
+        assert_eq!(icons.get("ussr_t_34").unwrap(), "ussr_t_34.png");
+        assert_eq!(icons.len(), 2);
+        let _ = fs::remove_file(&p);
+    }
+}