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TL;DR: A snowcat equipped with a 120mm recoilless rifle.
History:
Lars Larsson, chief designer of the Swedish farming equipment company AB Westerasmaskiner, had a fondness for winter fishing, however, he would commonly run into issues with moving through the heavy snow to get to his desired locations. To remedy this, in 1954, he decided that he would develop a tracked vehicle that would allow him to easily traverse the snowy landscape. His company, impressed and intrigued by the idea, put the vehicle into production in 1957 under the name of Snow Trac. It featured two wide rubber tracks and was similar in size to a compact car. Its basic configuration featured a cabin that could seat 7 people, including the driver, however, open-topped versions were available. The Snow Trac went on to be a major, international success with 550 shipped to Alaska, 200 to the Canadian Northwest Telephone Utility, 200 to the Canadian National Railway, 400 to the Lower 48 States, and 200 to Scotland. The Snow Trac’s main selling point was its extreme ease to drive, with early brochures describing it “as easy to drive as a car”. This was due to its unique steering mechanism called a “variator”, which allows for a tracked vehicle to be controlled through the use of a traditional steering wheel, as opposed to levers. Not only was the Snow Trac a success in the civilian market, it also found success with the British Royal Marines under NATO during the Cold War. These military Snow Tracs featured a 24-volt electrical system instead of the 12-volt electrical system found on civilian versions. They also commonly featured special hooking points, which would allow them to be transported via helicopter. In some cases, modifications were taken a step further with the mounting a 120mm L6 Wombat recoilless rifle on the beds of open-topped Snow Tracs, turning them into light, heli-transportable tank destroyers. Ammunition for the rifle was carried in transport casings on a separate vehicle as opposed to an ammo-rack. If necessary, the rifle could be rolled off the Snow Trac and fired from the ground. The Snow Trac would later be replaced by the BV 202. At least 1 Snow Trac ST4 L6 Wombat survives to this day.
Place In War Thunder:
The British, unfortunately, have very little when it comes to recoilless rifle carriers. So little that there aren’t any in the British tech tree at the moment. This means that British mains cannot experience the unique playstyle of these vehicles without grinding another tech tree. The Snow Trac ST4 L6 Wombat would not only remedy this, but do it in a way that would be unique to the British tech tree as the 120mm L6 Wombat recoilless rifle is both larger and more powerful than the 106mm M40A1 recoilless rifles that many nations already have in-game. Playstyle would be similar to other recoilless rifle carriers in-game, however, you’d have to be much more cautious as your mobility is sub-par for a vehicle with no armor. That being said, your profile size would be among the smallest in the game, allowing you to pop up in places many wouldn’t check or expect. As the British tech tree does not currently have a recoilless rifle carrier, the best way to implement the Snow Trac ST4 L6 Wombat would be as a tech tree vehicle. The last major thing to note is that, as mentioned previously, in real life, the L6 armed Snow Trac did not carry ammunition on the vehicle. That being said, there is already a firmly established precedent for the addition of unhistorical ammoracks for the sake of gameplay. When it comes to the Snow Trac, the stowage boxes on the side of the hull could be swapped for a few rounds of ammunition.
Specifications:
Armament: 120mm L6 Wombat Recoilless Rifle
Dimensions: 3.60m, 1.90m, 1.90m (L,W,H)
Weight: 1250kg
Armor: None
Crew: 3
Ammunition: HESH and Canister
Speed: 40~kph
Horsepower: 54hp
Pictures:
Preparing to Fire:Front View:Side View:Interior View:
Sources:
Snow Trac w/'Wombat' L6 - LEICESTER MODELLERS
Snow-Trac - GPO Snow Terrain Vehicle - 1965
120 mm BAT recoilless rifle - Wikipedia
