Thursday, July 11, 2013

Panzer Aces No.25

When the Nazi party took power in Germany, the rearmament started to take place openly, and in 1933 the Wehrmacht requested several types of half-tracked vehicles that were classified by their towing capacity in tons. In 1936. Krauss-Maffei designed a tractor that was able to carry artillery pieces of 8 tons (150 and 88mm guns) and carry a total of 8 passengers plus ammo storage space. An improved model was built in 1938 with the official designation of Sd.Kfz. 7. Fitted with a Maybach HL 62. 6 cylinder. 140 HP petrol engine, it had an on-road speed of 50 km/h and a range of 250 km. The cross country performance was outstanding, having a transversal spring on the front wheel axle and a torsion bar suspension on the tracked road wheels. Several projects were developed after 1940 to install anti-aircraft guns on the platform of this vehicle, such as the Flakvierling Flak 38 with four 20mm guns and the Flak 36 with 37 mm guns, especially made against the soviet Sturmovik fighter bomber, capable of sustaining 20mm projectiles with little damage.

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