SdKfz 304 Mittlerer Ladungstrager Springer

History

The German Army during World War II (1939-1945) dominated the battlefield in the use of mechanized warfare, both tracked and wheeled. Throughout the conflict, his designs developed rapidly, with many types of special missions appearing over time.

In the field of battlefield engineering, the one-time blasting tank "Springer" was developed to clear the way for the main force.

Starting with the Kettenkrad half-track gun carrier, the German NSU Werke AG modified the design to carry 728 lbs of explosives. Power comes from a single water-cooled Opel "Olympia" 4-cylinder 36 hp engine, inherited from the Kettenkrad vehicle.

The track and wheel arrangement is also preserved, including six overlapping wheels on one side of the track. The vehicle still needs an operator, but he is only within range of the vehicle's intended target/target area.

The final leg of the journey is carried out remotely (wired or wireless), at which point the vehicle can be ignited and hopefully avoid the target obstacle.

In the last year of the war, the Wehrmacht built and operated only about 50 Springer aircraft carriers. Despite their promising range of tasks, they have proven to be mechanically unreliable and prohibitively expensive to produce on a large scale in the required quantities.

At this point in the war, Germany was a nation on the defensive, and few resources were available to adopt this novel solution on the battlefield.

The Springer demolition vehicle received the Bundeswehr designation "SdKfz 304". Its full name is "SdKfz 304 Medium Charge Carrier Springer".

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

Carry 728 pounds of explosives.

Changes