Light tractor
| Light tractor (VK 31) | |
|---|---|
Rheinmetall prototype |
|
| General properties | |
| crew | 4th |
| length | 4.32 m |
| width | 2.26 m |
| height | 2.27 m |
| Dimensions | 9 tons |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 5-14 mm |
| Main armament | 3.7 cm KwK 36 |
| agility | |
| drive | Daimler-Benz M36 100 hp |
| Top speed | 30 km / h |
| Power / weight | 11 hp / t |
Leichttraktor (also L.Tr. ) was the camouflage name for a total of four tank prototypes of the German Reichswehr and later Wehrmacht , which were still being developed during the Weimar Republic. Together with the large tractor , it was the first German armored vehicle to be built after the First World War.
history
development
According to the Treaty of Versailles , the German Reich was prohibited from owning a tank weapon, which is why efforts were made early on to circumvent this ban. In 1928, two years after the development contract for the large tractor, the companies Rheinmetall , Krupp and Daimler-Benz were instructed to develop a light experimental tank with the project name VK 31, which should weigh ten to twelve tons.
Due to internal problems, Daimler-Benz left the development process, while Krupp and Rheinmetall agreed on a joint cooperation. For this reason, the two prototypes produced by both companies in the spring of 1930 were similar. All four vehicles were taken to the Kama Tank School , a secret training facility as a result of the Treaty of Rapallo , and tested there with the Red Army in the summer of the same year . The tests were relatively successful, but it turned out that the inadequate designs were purely training vehicles that were not suitable for combat.
In 1931 an order of 289 light tractors, which but a year later in favor of the armored car I was canceled. After the end of the German-Soviet cooperation in Kazan due to the changed political situation in the German Reich in 1933, all four prototypes were brought back to Germany and served there for several years as training vehicles for the still young tank force. At least one tank is said to have served as a memorial at the Putlos military training area.
technology
The prototypes supplied by both companies differed fundamentally in terms of the drive. While Rheinmetall used a caterpillar-like chassis with twelve small double wheels - each suspended in two pairs in six double swing arms - at Krupp this consisted of six connected double wheels, which were dampened by means of coil springs and provided with an additional guide wheel at the front and rear.
The armament consisted of a semi-automatic 3.7 cm KwK with a barrel length of 1.67 m and a light machine gun MG 13 ; 150 rounds were carried for the cannon and 3,000 for the MG. With front and side armor of 14 mm, the vehicle only offered protection against hard core projectiles from infantry rifles.
The 6-cylinder M36 engine from Daimler-Benz was used as the drive for all prototypes. This engine from the truck sector was liquid-cooled and weighed 360 kg. With a tank capacity of 150 liters of petrol, a driving range of around 140 kilometers could be achieved on the road. A four-speed transmission from ZF was also installed.
The crew consisted of four men: commander, gunner, radio operator and driver. The first two mentioned were in the rear tower, while the radio operator sat on the floor, offset to the right behind the driver (with the Rheinmetall type, the radio operator sat at the same height on the other side of the engine). The built-in radio had a range of two to three kilometers, while Morse code operation was possible up to a distance of 17 km.
literature
- Peter Chamberlain, Hilary Doyle, Thomas L. Jentz (Eds.): Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two 1999, ISBN 1854095188 .
