- Yes
- No
caid’s suggestion #52
I would like to suggest the Swiss mobile artillery, the Mowag Radpanzer mit 7.5 cm Flak 38 L/42
Little is known about this armored car. it was the first known Military development made by Mowag and the chassis used on this vehicle led to the development of the MR-8 armored car. the armament was a French Schneider CA 1938 which was a heavy anti-aircraft gun. possibly this armored car was intended to have the dual purpose of mobility SPAA and Tank Hunter. built in 1954, this armored car was very likely an early attempt to provide the Swiss army with a mobile tank destroyer for the alpine area which led in the late 50s to the development of a handful of tank destroyers of which some more light tanks than anything else. the armored car was an MR-8 saw its hull cut off to allow the 75mm heavy anti-aircraft gun to be mounted. this gun was equivalent to 76mm 3-K in Russia or the 88mm Flak 37 in Germany. it’s primarily used to engage aircraft at long range (such as bombers) and also has a decent kinetic power which allows it to destroy a tank. the gun mount seems to be the same as the static mount.
At first sight, there are 3 flaws to this design. the gun has no depression at all which makes it ill-suited for anti-tank use (and even more in the alpine terrain). the ammo load is going to be very limited (it could probably carry 12 rounds at most) and the recoil is probably too strong for this vehicle to fire in uneven terrain. those are 3 functional reasons that could have led to the failure of the project. other flaws that are more about the need of the army are the anti-tank capacity is rather poor making it unable to properly engage the armored vehicles of his time, and the absence of real protection for the crew. but regardless of those flaws, this gun truck may be quite interesting for the game
Pros
- small profile
- APHE rounds
- good speed (forward and reverse)
- High gun elevation +70°
- good fire rate (5 sec reload)
Cons
- gun depression of 0°
- obstruction on the front reduces the depression to +3°
- penetration barely better than the Sherman’s
- weak armor
- exposed crew
Firepower
the armament is the 7,5 cm Fliegerabwehrkanone 38 L/53 which is the swiss name of the Schneider CA 1938. this gun is the same French AA gun on which the 75mm SA 44 of the ARL-44 ACL-1 is based. but it has different rounds. this gun’s primary use was the anti-aircraft artillery and was intended to engage the bomber at relatively high altitudes (up to 10km of range). the gun has a very high rate of fire with an incredible 25 rounds in minutes, but that is with 7 men serving it. with 2 men it should get at about 12 rounds minutes which is still pretty fair. the gun elevation is the same as the static mount with -0 to +70° which makes this tank ill-suited for engaging the ground vehicles, even more in uneven terrain such as the mountains. the exact count of ammunition carried is unknown but based on the blueprint of the further development, we can assume it carried up to 20 rounds if the ammunition is placed on the side of the vehicles between the wheels. this is not a lot but still allows you to do enough kill to be proud of your job.
Mobility
despite his appearance, this vehicle does not have such impressive mobility. because of the relatively weak engine, this vehicle would have mobility just good enough to not be too bad at flanking, but it’s not a racer that would be first in the cap zone. this vehicle weights about 7.2 tonnes ( 4,000 kg for the chassis with the wall higher with 4 men crew, -500 kg for the wall lower on this version, 3.800 kg for the gun with a shield. - 400 kg for the shield, + 200 kg of ammunition) and is powered by a Crysler engine offering 94 hp at 3200 rpm (the exact model is not known) the transmission offers 4 forward speed and 1 reverse which allow a speed of 80 km/h forward and 16.2 km/h backward. this gives a power-weight ratio of 13 hp/tonnes which is pretty similar to the Daimler MK.II in all aspect
Protection
this armored car was only lightly protected. Besides being open-top and having his gun’s crew exposed, this armored car was also offering just enough armor against LMG. this should set us at a thickness of around 8mm. knowing the weight is normally 4 tonnes without a gun and with the tall side, this is very likely to be around this level. That means that only LMG would be stopped by this armor, but even more, this armored car does not have any protection for the gun’s crew who are completely exposed. the armor only protects the driver. the crew of 3 men is also pretty small. 2 out of those 3 men are standing next to the gun with 80% of their body outside the armor. but on the good side, this armored car is still pretty small which helps to keep a low profile.
I know there are not the same vehicles, but this is a further development and most parts are likely the same
source
gun
- canon de DCA 38 Schneider-Creusot modèle 1938 de 75 mm armée suisse | Le QG 1/72e de Twist Again
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_de_75_CA_modèle_1940_Schneider
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