Panhard EWC
The Spähpanzer Panhard EBR ( E ngin B Linde de R econnaissance) was a scout car of the French army .
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| Reconnaissance tank EBR-75 | |
| Technical specifications | |
| Introductory year: | 1950 |
| Crew: | 5 (commander, gunner, driver, reverse driver / radio operator) |
| Dimensions | |
| Length over all: | 6150 mm |
| Length chassis: | 5560 mm |
| Width: | 2420 mm |
| Height: | 2240 to 2320 mm |
| Ground clearance: | 330 to 410 mm |
| Gauge: | 1740 mm |
| Combat mass (EBR 75 FL 11): | 13.5 t |
| Combat mass (EBR 75 FL 10): | 15.3 t |
| Combat mass (EBR 90 F2): | 13.5 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor (hull): | Front 40 mm, sides 16 mm, rear 40 mm, roof 20 mm, floor 16 mm |
| Armor (turret): | Front 40 mm, sides 30 mm, rear 20 mm, roof 10 mm |
| Main weapon (EBR 75 FL 11): | 75mm L / 48 cannon |
| Main weapon (EBR 75 FL 10): | 75 mm L / 61.5 cannon |
| Main weapon (EBR 90 F2): | 90mm cannon D291A L / 44 |
| Elevation range: | −10 ° to + 15 ° |
| Ammunition: | 56 × 75 mm or 48 × 90 mm |
| Secondary weapons: | 3 MG 7.5 mm |
| Fog throw system: | 2 × 2 cups |
| drive | |
| 12-cylinder gasoline engine 12H 6000 from Panhard, 6 l displacement | |
| Engine power: | 200 hp / 147 kW at 3700 rpm |
| Number of gears: | 4 × 4 backwards and forwards |
| Speed: | 105 km / h on roads forwards and backwards |
| Tank capacity: | 380 l |
| Driving range (street) : | approx. 650 km |
| Suspension: | Vertical coil springs front and rear, hydropneumatic in the middle |
| Steering: | steered front and rear axles, |
| Turning circle: | 3.96 m |
| Climbing ability: | approx. 0.4 m |
| Trench crossing ability: | approx. 2.0 m |
| Gradeability: | + 60% |
| Fording depth: | 1.20 m |
history
The EBR wheeled armored vehicle was the result of a development line of heavy reconnaissance vehicles that had begun in France before the Second World War . The “Gendron-Poniatowski” from Somua can be seen as the starting point, as a three-axle vehicle that implemented the concept of the retractable center wheel for the first time. This ensured both excellent off-road mobility (the prototype called Grendon-SOMUA achieved better values here than the competing AMR 35 ZT, although it had a crawler drive) and smooth and manageable driving behavior on the road. Panhard began to implement this concept as early as 1937 and presented a prototype of the Panhard 201 in 1940. This four-axle vehicle already showed the essential design features and advantages of the drive concept of the EBR: forward and reverse travel at the same speed and excellent off-road mobility while maintaining good driving behavior at high speeds on the road. Equally revolutionary was the weighing tower , in the upper part of which a 25 mm L / 73 cannon and a machine gun were rigidly attached. This upper part of the turret was movably mounted on the spherical lower part of the turret for the lateral direction and was aligned vertically with the armament in that the lower part rotated under the fixed upper part. However, as a result of the French defeat in June 1940, both the single prototype and the design drawings were lost.
After the end of the war, the French army requested a heavy armored reconnaissance vehicle in July 1945 in order to promote the replacement of the vehicle fleet, which until then had consisted almost exclusively of US equipment. Panhard met this requirement in January 1946 with an enlarged version of the Type 201. In July 1948, the company provided two prototypes under the factory designation Type 212. The design was finally approved by the army as "EBR 75 modèle 1951" and production began in August 1950. When production was discontinued in 1960, around 1200 copies had been made. It was not until the 1980s that the EWC was replaced by the AMX-10 RC .
The EWC was an armored car with excellent cross-country mobility, high mobility and extraordinarily strong armament; at the same time it was surprisingly low and thus offered the good protection against detection required for a reconnaissance vehicle. Due to the symmetrical structure with driver and reverse driver, both forward and reverse travel was possible at full speed. The liftable steel wheels on the two central axles enabled faster and more comfortable road travel for the crew. The high degree of mobility in the area was mainly caused by the low center of gravity, which was due to the mid-engine under the tower . The construction of the vehicle also had a number of disadvantages; so it was comparatively expensive and difficult to maintain. In particular, the engine was not fully accessible until the entire tower was removed. These disadvantages forced the French army to procure a separate vehicle for operations in the colonies with the AML .
description
drive
A unique feature of the EBR was its air-cooled 12-cylinder boxer engine located under the tower . This was specially designed by Panhard with a view to a low vehicle height and a low center of gravity and was only 21.8 centimeters high. As a result, it was possible to design a vehicle pan barely more than 1 meter high. The engine had two carburettors and was designed for a low compression ratio of 6.6: 1 in order to be able to use low-quality fuel . Nevertheless, it delivered up to 200 hp and thus brought the EBR to a top speed of 100 km / h. The cooling system had to be designed in a particularly complex manner, drawing air through several oval openings in front of the tower and then expelling it again through openings behind the tower. The design of the power transmission was also shaped by the same need for a low superstructure, the drive trains of which ran to the left and right in the hull, leaving space for the engine and crew in between. The four-disc clutch connected directly to the engine at the front , via which the engine power was first transferred to a 4-speed gearbox , then via a gearbox for driving forwards and backwards and then to another 4-speed gearbox. Together, the two transmissions offered 16 gears for both forward and reverse travel. However, mostly only the four gears of the first gearbox were used in the field, while the second ran in 1st gear. As a rule, only six gears were required for road travel. Two Lavaud differentials were connected to the transmission complex , each of which conducted the power to the four wheels on one side via H-shaped shafts. The Lavaud differentials were only needed when driving on the road with the center wheels raised and locked on all eight wheels when driving off-road. At the wheels, the power flow was deflected by 90 ° and then passed on to the wheels through the spring-loaded swing arms. The use of swing arms instead of the conventional swinging axles was more reliable and significantly more space-saving. The front and rear pair of wheels were both steerable and therefore had an additional deflection gear.
landing gear
The front and rear wheels on each side were each independently suspended on simple coil springs with hydraulic dampers . The suspension of the intermediate wheels carried hydro- pneumatically and had a hydraulic cylinder to the wheels for road travel to raise. The hydraulic fluid was distributed centrally to the individual wheel suspensions. The same hydraulic system also supplied the steering and the braking system. If the vehicle drove on four wheels, only the front pair of wheels was usually steerable, but the driver could also unlock the rear pair for tight bends, which happened automatically when the middle wheels were lowered. Only the two outer pairs of wheels were also braked. These had Michelin F24 14-00x24 rubber tires with Veil-Picard tubes, the cell structure of which was able to hold air even after several hits. The center wheels were made of duralumin - wheels with attached steel tires. Inclined webs were welded onto the steel tires to increase the grip on difficult terrain. The vibrations have been reduced by a rubber bead inserted between the rim and the steel tire. Standing on all eight wheels, the EBR had a ground pressure of 0.7 kg / cm², a little less than that of a medium battle tank. Accordingly, the driving performance in the area was hardly inferior to that of tracked vehicles. The vehicle was manned by one forward and one reverse driver. If necessary, the steering could be switched at the same speed in both directions.
Armament
The armament of the EWC has been revised several times. The first models were equipped with a 75 mm cannon and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine gun in an FL-11 turret, which also accommodated the commander and gunner. However, since the anti-tank capability of this cannon was insufficient, some EWCs (EBR 75 modèle 1954-10 and modèle 1955-10) were equipped with the heavier FL-10 turret of the AMX-13 from 1954. This was equipped with an automatic loader and a longer cannon. Due to the longer barrel, the muzzle velocity of the tank shells increased from 600 to 1000 m / s. However, the weight of the vehicle also increased to over 15 t and the vehicle height increased by 24 cm to 2.58 m. This resulted in restrictions on mobility, cross-country mobility and survivability. For these reasons, when a new 90 mm smoothbore cannon became available, which could fire a shaped charge projectile (HEAT) with 320 mm penetration power at 750 m / s, all EBR were switched to the standard EBR 90 F2 with a FL-11 turret and the corresponding 90 mm cannon converted. In addition, all variants of the EBR had machine guns in the front and rear armor plates for drivers and people driving backwards, but these were rarely installed.
Model variants
- EBR 75 FL 11: (EBR 75 modèle 1951), version with the FL-11 turret with a medium-length 75 mm cannon.
- EBR 75 FL 10: (EBR 75 modèle 1954-10 or modele 1955-10), version with the FL-10 turret of the AMX-13 and a long 75 mm cannon.
- EBR 90 F2: (EBR 90 modèle 66), version with FL-11 turret and 90 mm smoothbore cannon. Due to the larger bullets, only 43 rounds of the 90 mm caliber can be carried.
- EBR DCA: (Canon automoteur de défense contre-aérien), prototype of an anti-aircraft tank with two 30 mm MK-Hispano-Suiza Type 831.
- EBR-ETT: Armored personnel carrier, 30 pieces were produced for use in North Africa in 1957. The armament consisted of only one machine gun each in two small turrets at the front and rear, but the vehicle could accommodate 14 riflemen in an enlarged structure.
Users
swell
- FM by Senger and Etterlin : Tanks of the World 1983 . Arms and Armor Press, London 1983, ISBN 0-85368-585-1 .
- Tanks and other combat vehicles from 1916 to the present day . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne 1977.
- RM Ogorkiewicz : Panhard Armored Cars (AFV Weapons Profile 39). Profile Publication Ltd, Windsoer 1972.
