SPz 1C: Glass cannon

Armen_Lozone · February 24, 2026, 7:38pm

SPz 1C

Glass cannon

The leopard’s EVEN smaller brother

Ever since the formation of the Bundeswehr in 1955, great importance has been given to agile and manoeuvrable reconnaissance vehicles for the Panzeraufklärungstruppe.
One of the first vehicles that was put into service for this very use was the Schützen Panzer Kurz (AKA the Hotchkiss SPz 1A)with the venerable 20mm autocannon.

When the Kurz began to show its age, and with a brewing change in ideology towards having heavy(er) weapons even in the reconnaissance troops, the Germans began to look into a light vehicle mounted with a low-recoil large-calibre cannon.

Development started to utilise the already in service Kurz chassis with a larger calibre cannon capable of dealing with MBTs. The French jumped into the program. They offered the vehicle with a newly built H-90 turret (similar to the one mounted on the AML-90) housing a 90mm DEFA D921 low-recoil cannon (with 7.5mm coax). The turret would hold ammunition (50 total rounds of 90mm, 2400 of coax), cannon, crew and other equipment. However, the French design turned out to be absolutely cramped (oh no, who could’ve thought):

Besides the internal space, the French proposal did not fulfil the Bundeswehr’s requirements. Hence, they contracted Rheinmetall to build a new turret for the program. The initial phase is shrouded in secrecy; however, there is one image of what I personally assume is either an initial prototype or a mockup of either the Rheinmetall project or the earlier French project (I lean towards Rheinmetall since it uses a similar mantlet to the late Rheinmetall turm):

It is visibly mounted with a lower-profile turret, perhaps it’s even open-top, as well as a standard SPz Kurz chassis (as is seen with the engine grills and the driver’s port tower).

Eventually, Rheinmetall presented its modified vehicle around 1957:

Rheinmetall vs Prototype/Mockup

At first glance, only the turret is new; however, the hull has also been modified.

The driver’s ‘cupola’ (or tower) has been raised in height, and the engine air intake grills have been modified. The hull also seems to have a sharper angle on the upper front plate, as well as a slightly lower height. Specifics will need to be measured in person.

The driver maintains his position on the front left side of the vehicle. The turret is equipped with the same MECAR 90mm cannon and MG42 coax, but this time, the turret is a lot bigger, both in height and internal volume. While pictures of the internals are not available, the differences can be seen clearly. It now has 2 sets of three smoke dischargers on the lower-rear of the turret and another set of single smoke dischargers on the upper-rear of the turret, doubling the amount from a measly 4 on the French design.

The gun now features a large mantlet, increasing what little protection the crew would have. The gun also has a coaxial machine gun, as is necessary for scout and recon groups. According to available sources, the space in the turret was still not much to allow for comfortable loading, hence the turret was fitted with an 18-round autoloader system, which moved along with the gun. The rectangular hatch on the turret roof seems to have been made for this very reason to allow for the 8 degrees of depression (by moving). More rounds may have been carried in the hull. The small sliding hatches on either side of the mantlet are for the stereoscopic rangefinder but I do not have any information regarding that.

Eventually, the program was ended when the limitations of the Kurz chassis were realised to be too restrictive. The Bundeswehr later updated its reconnaissance objectives and platoons to include Leopard 1 tanks in the scout role. Thus came the end of this Spähpanzerjäger.

Technical Specifications

Crew: 3 (Driver, Gunner/Commander, Loader)
Height: 2.39m

— Mobility —
Weight: 9.5t (according to Koblenz)
Engine: 195 hp Talbot/Hotchkiss 6-cylinder in-line petrol engine (uprated from 4.68 Ltr to 4.98 Ltr)
Power: 195hp
Neutral steering: Yes
Top speed: 58kmph
Reverse Speed: 8.3kmph
P/W: 20.5hp/t
Gearbox: 5-speed forward, 1 reverse