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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).
Continue reading “TAP Special #7 : AMX Tracteur B”
