Light unit weapon carrier

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Ardelt weapon bearer in Kubinka, behind a Jagdtiger

The light unit weapon carrier was a German self-propelled gun in World War II. The lightly armored tracked vehicle developed by the Ardelt company based on the Czech Panzer 38 (t) was used as a tank destroyer in small numbers with the 8.8 cm PaK 43 L / 71 at the end of the war . Variants designed for tank artillery were no longer produced.

History and Development

As early as 1942 the Wehrmacht was looking for ways to make the heavy anti-tank guns more mobile. So-called weapon carriers were provided for this. These should be able to transport the heavy weapons, but also the fire fight should be carried out from these vehicles. The companies Krupp , Rheinmetall , Steyr and Ardelt took part in a corresponding tender from the Army Weapons Office in 1943 . In April 1944, the four companies presented their prototypes. Rheinmetall worked with Borsig and presented the Rheinmetall-Borsig weapon carrier. Krupp and Steyr presented the Steyr-Krupp weapon carrier. Both designs provided for the 8.8 cm PaK 43 L / 71 to be housed in a weakly armored, open-topped, rotating tower. The tower was placed in the middle of the Rheinmetall-Borsig Waffträger, in the Steyr-Krupp design it was moved backwards. Ardelt presented its own concept, whereby only the weapon with protective shield was intended to be rotatable on the tub. Due to the simple construction, the decision was made to use the Ardelt prototype. In the summer of 1944 further tests were carried out with the second vehicle and they were satisfactory. It was not until November 1944 that Ardelt received the order for the series production of initially ten vehicles.

Structure and use

The production vehicle used the suspension, rollers and tracks of the Panzer 38 (t) . The heavy 8.8 cm PaK 43 L / 71 was mounted on all weapon carriers produced by the end of the war . This was equipped with a protective shield to protect the operating team. The weapon could be pivoted and used through 360 degrees. The 15 cm infantry gun 33 and the 10.5 cm light field howitzer 18 would also have been possible as armaments . Presumably the vehicles produced up to then were used in the battle of Berlin and were almost completely lost or abandoned. A single copy survived the war and can be seen today in the Kubinka Tank Museum .

Technical specifications

  • Crew: 4 men
  • Weight: 11.2 tons
  • Dimensions in cm
    • Length: 543 (without tube)
    • Width: 244
    • Height: 240
  • Armament
    • 8.8 cm Pak 43L / 71
  • drive
    • 6-cylinder Maybach HL 42 TRM gasoline engine with 100 hp
    • Fuel supply: 120 liters
    • Driving range: 110 km (road)
  • Armor in mm
    • Tub: 20–5
    • Shield: 5

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