"If the tank succeeds, then victory follows."
- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"
The Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance 35 (AMR 35) was a French light tank used in WWII. It was not intended to reconnoitre and report as the name suggests but was a light armoured combat vehicle without a radio.
With his AMR 33 not yet being delivered to the French army, Louis Renault used two production vehicles to improve the type. In the middle of February 1934 he sent the first to the testing commission, refitted with a much more powerful engine. To his dismay the commission did not allow the whole production run to be converted to the new type; but a subsequent order of 92 for the second vehicle with its more reliable four-cylinder engine was made on 3 July 1934 . This was to have the name AMR 35. Also eight command tanks were to be produced, with a much larger superstructure but without a turret, which would be called AMR 35 ADF. Renault called these the Renault YS.
At this time however it became clear that the AMR 33 was a very unreliable tank: the suspension units were simply too weak to withstand the forces caused by driving cross-country. A complete redesign of the suspension was ordered, also to be used for the new Renault R35. Two types were considered; the first had two bogies, like the R 35. This Renault ZB was rejected, but in March 1936 twelve were ordered by China and four a few months later by the Yunan province administration. These were only delivered in 1940. The other had only one bogie per side and was accepted. The Renault factory designation was Renault ZT. Due to these delays, the first AMR 35 was only delivered on 22 April 1936. Meanwhile the Citroën factory had tried to take over the order by developing the AMR Citroën P 103 which had a very novel hydraulic suspension, but this project was rejected.
The AMR 35 was somewhat larger than the AMR 33, being 3.84 m long, 1.76 m wide and 1.88 m tall. It weighed 6.5 metric tons and could reach a speed of 60 km/h, making it the fastest French tank of its day. The side armour was increased from 8 to 10 mm. Its only weapon was a 7.5 mm Reibel machine gun.
Pictured here is an AMR35(f) Panzerspahwagen that was retrofitted with an 8cm Granatwerfer 34 mortar and bearing German markings. Sold Out! |
