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Renault AMR-33 (Renault VM)

1933 WORLD WAR 2

History of the Renault AMR-33 (Renault VM)

Despite their poor performance in 1939-1940, the French army was actually one of the most powerful armoured forces in the world when it came to World War II (1939-1945) tanks - along with Britain, Germany The other countries joined forces with the Soviet Union at that time. French war planners and field commanders had access to some 5,800 tracked combat vehicles at the start of the war, but their strategic and tactical abuse and lack of trained tanker crews ultimately led to the demise of the country and its inefficiency in defending France. poor performance.

One of the products of the pre-war period was the "AMR-33" series designed, developed and produced by Renault.

Design work of this type took place after January 1932, when the French Ministry of War drew up plans for a new 3-ton armored personnel carrier (AFV) for fast reconnaissance missions ("Automitraililleise de Cavalerie Type Reconnaissance" or ""Automitraililleise de Cavalerie Type Reconnaissance" AMR"). This light "cavalry tank" is designed to work with advanced infantry formations, so speed is the focus of this design, although these vehicles can also be used against other enemy light tanks and enemy infantry while maintaining quality armed/armored reconnaissance Characters - A very diverse design covering multiple battlefield characters.

The final vehicle weighed 5.5 tons (short) and had a barrel 11.5 feet long, 5.4 feet wide, and 5.7 feet high. It carried a crew of two - the driver and the commander/gunner - with protection extended to 13mm on the most critical fairing.

The driver occupies a position in front of the left side of the hull superstructure, while the commander/gunner stands above the hull superstructure in a 360-degree turret position. As a result, the engine compartment is located on the right side of the vehicle. Power comes from an 8-cylinder, 84-horsepower petrol engine inside Renault that drives a sprocket arrangement with four wheels on one side of the body.

Ground clearance reaches about 13 inches, while road speeds are 35 mph and range is up to 120 miles. Suspension is achieved with oil-damped horizontal springs for off-road touring.

This tank is armed with only one 7.5mm mitrailleuse mle 1931 machine gun in the rotating turret - giving it enough firepower to deal with infantry, but nothing more.

The design of the AMR-33 triumphed over its competitors at the time, and the French Army commissioned serial production of the type - although financial constraints in turn limited the total volume so that the first service-grade vehicle was not delivered to the French Armoured Forces until 1934 June. Total production of 123 vehicles was completed by mid-1935, and when World War II broke out again in Europe, the armed forces became operational.

World War II swept across continental Europe in September 1939, and Germany invaded neighboring Poland on September 1. The French army began operations with AMR-33s, assigned to the 1st and 2nd Light Mechanized Divisions, covering a total of 6 AMR-33 tank squadrons. During the French campaign of May-June 1940, the series had a poor picture, with many losing both to enemy fire (due to poor armor protection and limited weapons) and general mechanical unreliability.

The remaining AMR-33 tanks after the French surrender ended up in German service as "Panzerspahwagen VM 701(f)".

In 1934, at least three tanks were converted into command vehicles with wireless equipment. Design studies and testing involved armoured personnel carriers (APCs), tank destroyers, prime movers, trench crossing and smoke lay conversions of the same tracked design.

Little, if any, progress has been made in it.