Hotchkiss EBR, The French Puma in 6x6 version

[CaID]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

I would like to suggest the most serious competitor to Panhard for the EBR, the Hotchkiss EBR

currently, the turret is facing backward, this vehicle is closer to the Sd.Kfz 234/2 in appearance due to the turret being a lot forward and the engine being at the rear

there is a little photo that was found for this vehicle, but thanks to @Colasix a lot of document was recently released that allow us to make an accurate model of this vehicles.

the Hotchkiss EBR was a competitor to the Panhard EBR which was included in many versions. developed at the end of the 40s, the Hotchkiss version was shown as inferior to the Panhard version in many aspects but remained a decent vehicle. the Hotchkiss version is a 6-wheeled vehicle with decent speed and identical reverse speed. 4 men crew in an FL-3 turret of a classic type and a new gun which appears to be the prototype to the 75mm SA49 but not the same gun.

there is no information found for the reason the vehicle was rejected in favour of the Panhard proposition, but there is a serial safe guess

1. the top speed has been lower
2. the 6x6 configuration was likely to make the agility a bit better
3. the absence of the metal inner wheel made this vehicle have a normal off-road performance over the wheeled vehicles
4. the armour seems weaker

2 prototypes were ordered from Hotchkiss and competed with 2 prototypes from Panhard. the result was clear. while the vehicles from Hotchkiss were good and reached all requirements perfectly well, the Panhard prototype was just better in almost every way. at the end of the 40s, only the Panhard prototype remained. a single Prototype from Hotchkiss was finished, the 2nd was built in part and never assembled. for the cost of 17,000,000 FRC total

Firepower

the gun being a 75mm 75/600 AM is a bit mysterious. the gun never reached the services but was used and mounted on the EBR vehicles (both Panhard and Hotchkiss) and very likely a predecessor of the 75mm SA49. the gun was using 75mm rounds with a velocity of 620 m/sec . the rounds is also unknown, it is a 75x442 which is not known to be anything we know. the draw seems to show an APCBC round which is very likely been a PCOT-40 as France was developing it for the new guns. the PCOT-40 was a WW2 rounds of type APCBC without explosive and weighting 6.4 kg. this shall give a penetration of around 90mm at 100m which is not bad at all for a BR around 3.0/3.3

the elevation of the turret was -12/+13 . the vehicle was equipped with 3x 7.5mm MAC 31 . One was at the nose, another in the coaxial at the right of the gun, and the last was in the pintle on the top of the turret. the turret was turning at 360° at a speed of 24°/sec which is not bad at all.

60 rounds for the 75mm was carried and 18x magazine of 150 rounds for the 7.5mm

Mobility

the vehicle’s weight is not specified but likely around 10.5 tonnes . the engine is a 190 hp engine would be pretty good for his weight allowing a power/weight a bit under the Panhard model which could be estimated to around 18.09 hp/tons . the top speed reported to be 90 km/h would be easily achieved with such power. the gearbox offering 5 speed was revertible allowing the vehicles to go in reverse with the same speed of 90 km/h too.

protection

the armor of the Hotchkiss EBR being weaker than the Panhard version was one of his flaws. the turret in general offers the same thickness as the FL-11 used on the EBR 1951 was in a shape that was more easily penetrated. despite being angled, the hull is also a lot thinner

in general, the Hotchkiss EBR would be a lot more vulnerable than the Panhard EBR as it would give less turret protection and would be much more vulnerable to air attack and shrapnel.

the crew of 4 men was placed in different place. the gunner and commander were in the turret. the driver was in the hull at the front, and a second driver was at the rear. they are a bit more spread than the Panhard EBR so it would be a bit better

the engine is also mounted differently making it more likely to absorb a hit as well.

here is a quick picture of the World of Tank model with the turret turned toward the real front

Source

Gun naming

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Pre-Evaluation

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prototype’s Order

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requirement

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note of the gun development

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Military’s Specification

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Hotchkiss’s Specification

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Trial result (panhard been just superior)

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Related blueprint

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[DirectSupport]

This is the type of stuff that should be added into the tech tree more.

[Kingtiez]

+1

[foxmeup]

no, although interesting, there’s no point for now, enough actual french vehicles are waiting to be added to not give into prototypes.

[warner7]

@foxmeup

no point for now

There is point for it in the future. +1

[CaID]

@foxmeup

no, although interesting, there’s no point for now, enough actual french vehicles are waiting to be added to not give into prototypes.

for ranks 2 & 3, there is not that much option outside the copy-paste. they can still add the Panhard 178B & 201P but that is pretty much it.
these vehicles promise to be fun and not as annoying as the EBR 1951. it do not have as much mobility, protection, or firepower. it’s a natural addition for grinding.