Author: erwin0859

TAP Special #10 : VBC 90

~ erwin0859

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WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY!

The 90 mm-turreted armored fighting vehicle is a 6-wheel drive vehicle which uses most of the mechanical components from the VAB. It is equipped with the GIAT TS 90 turret armed with a new high-performance gun firing an anti-tank round with a high muzzle velocity.

 

Its high strategic and tactical mobility, its great autonomy, its discretion, its great ergonomics make it a particularly suitable vehicle to fulfill long-distance reconnaissance missions. Its powerful gun fires a hollow charge round with a muzzle velocity of 1000 m/s, making it suitable for anti-tank combat in all forms. It also features a N.B.C. protection.

 

The VBC 90 equips the Armored Group of the Gendarmerie Mobile in Satory.

 

Manufacturer: RENAULT VEHICULES INDUSTRIELS

 

Technical information from the manufacturer’s manual listed below:

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TAP Special #9 : Batignolles-Châtillon DP 2

~ erwin0859

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The Compagnie Générale de Construction de Locomotives Batignolles-Chatillon presented in 1935 a prototype for an amphibious tank, produced at the request of the Section Technique des Matériels Automobiles de Combat (literal translation: Technical Section of Combat Automobile Materials).

The first tests took place in March 1936, but the machine sank at the end of the demonstration. The tank was modified by the manufacturer and tests continued until 1937, but the development proved to be difficult.

The project then was suspended, and it seems no actions were taken afterward.

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TAP Special #8 : Char articulé Jacquet

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On September 25, 1944, Victor Barthélémy Jacquet filed a tank patent with vertical obstacle clearance capabilities.

This vehicle consists of 3 cabins articulated by ball joints. Each module has motorization and transmission, which are either independent or connected. The front cabin can be lifted by means of jacks while still being able to be oriented to the sides. The machine should be able to vertically cross a height of 2,50 m. The middle cabin houses the operating device.

The rear cabin can carry a 75 mm gun. The armament, composed of machine guns, anti-tank guns and mine launchers, is spread between the three cabins, the heavy armament being located in the rear cabin.

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TAP Special #7 : AMX Tracteur B

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WARNING: picture heavy!

The AMX “Tracteur B” is a 1939 tank project (the preliminary draft dates from September 1939) which can be described as a modern “mix” between a B1 and a D2. It isn’t excluded that this project is either part of, or resulting from the G1 tank program.

The crew is probably made of 4: tank commander, driver, 75 mm gun operator and radio operator. The weight is estimated to be about 35 tonnes. The dimensions are (approximately) as follows: track length: 6,73 m; width: 3,00 m; height: 2,83 m.

 

It’s long and fairly wide (unlike other French tanks from the 1930s), with 80 mm frontal armor (and an equivalent of 70 mm for the other sides). It was probably joint welded. The armor plates appear to be flat. Only the front hull’s nose and the turret are molded. The whole hull has a pretty simple and straight shape. Only the glacis is strongly sloped. The body has side sills like the B1, although dumped. The track is closed by some armor quite like by the D2.

 

It is armed with a 75mm SA 35 gun in the hull, while the turret is equipped with a 47 mm SA gun of a type longer than the SA 35 and actually without a muzzle brake (therefore, it’s either the SA 37, or the SA 39).

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