In this episode…
We've got a lot of stories to tell.
Like the one about the AMX-13 and its oscillating turret;
Or the one about the Soviet Mosquito — the I-29!
Hotline: the developers answer questions that you've left in the comments!
But first, let's start with…..
The one about the SAu 40 — an infantry tank that tried to be a cavalry SPG!
Pages of History SAu 40
The story of the SAu 40 is weird, to say the least.
Basically, it's a French cavalry SPG
remade from an infantry middle tank based on a cavalry middle tank
the Somua S 35.
The reasons for that can vividly explain the poor condition of the French tank industry
by the beginning of the war.
During the early 30s the army command led themselves to a situation
where the French Army didn't have a decent middle tank.
The Char B1 with its constant corrections turned out to be basically a heavy tank
and the other project, the D2, for some inexplicable reason was considered low priority.
But while the infantry command was lost intheir wishes, the cavalry one ordered a 20-tonne tank
to be built by the Somua company.
The demands for the new machine were a lot more realistic here,
and the engineers did their part perfectly.
They created the Somua S 35 — the best French tank created between the World wars.
It was perfectly balanced — a powerful 47-mm cannon, decent armour and good agility.
Great agility even, considering we're talking pre-war France here.
The D2 was barely half the speed of the S35.
This tank impressed the infantry command as well. A lot!
But instead of ordering it for themselves,
they've launched a competition for their own 20-tonne tank, the G1.
Because, surely, France had enough money to waste.
Eight companies entered the competition — the poor things, they couldn't imagine, what was coming.
The infantry command was constantly changing the requirements.
The main weapon that was supposed to be placed in the turret, went to the hull.
What? Oh, sorry, back in the turret!
The sought after weight also increased and decreased many times,
and we're not even talking about armour specifications.
The companies had to rebuild a lot of things at their own expense,
so no wonder the works were progressing far less enthusiastically following every new demand.
The infantry command obviously didn't learn the lesson of the Char B1.
They let their own greed leave them high and dry.
The competitors treated the Army's behaviour in their own way.
The SEAM company took the risk and created a prototype of the G1 P without weapons.
Ultimately, it was captured by the nazis, although they were doing perfectly well without it.
Well, perhaps not perfectly, but you get the idea.
The BDR company was also trying to catch up with ever changing demands
and finally they created a middle tank that was higher than the King Tiger.
As for the Somua, they became smarter about this.
At first the engineers simply presented a slightly refined modification of the same S35
that started all this mess.
Then they followed the first requirement adjustments
they enlarged the hull, installing the weapon inside it and moved the turret to the side.
but when the order changed again
The Somua just quit the competition. Why?
Well, the same cavalry guys were very conveniently in need of a new SPG,
and this middle tank absolutely fit the bill.
The cavalry was pleased and took it into service under the name SAu 40.
The fun part was that there was almost no difference between the SAu 40
and the project for the infantry.
They'd just switched the turret with a cannon for the one with a machine gun and a range scope
and replaced the main weapon with a casemate gun.
They were planning to use the first mass-produced SPGs in October 1940,
but the defeat by Germany made that impossible.
The only prototype of the SAu 40 got its weapons, but never entered combat
and was captured by the Germans.
By the way, the project of the BDR company had pretty much the same fate.
It was an awful tank, but the ARL company managed to create a good infantry SPG
based upon it.
Still, it was too late.
And now let's remember the story of one of the most unusual — and popular — post-war French tanks.
Pages of History AMX-13
Armament and weight standards changed drastically during WWII.
Before the war a 20-tonne machine was considered to be a decent middle tank.
Five years later the US Walker Bulldog light tank weighed over 23 tonnes.
Still, sometimes the engineers managed toseriously improve a tank's data
without increasing its mass.
The family of the AMX-13 light tanks are exactly this case.
In 1946
the French Army command approved a plan for the development of the French tank industry
for the post-war years.
Among the most immediate plans was the creation of a new light tank.
The requirements were very high.
It had to weight less than 13 tonnes and be small enough to be carried by aircraft
which is extremely small
and the armament shouldn't have been worse than the one on the German Panther.
Of course, there's a legitimate question here
was it even physically possible to install such a powerful weapon inside a tank
that makes the American M24 Chaffee look heavy?
Turns out, it was!
First of all, they took the Panther's gun and shortened it a bit.
The penetration rate didn't reduce, as the shots themselves improved in power.
For this gun the engineers designed a revolutionary oscillating turret.
The gun itself was fixed to its upper part, and the whole construction was tilting while aiming
This solution provided the minimization of the whole tank
and also enabled the use of a very simple and compact autoloader that worked using the recoil energy.
Hence, there was no need for a loader in the crew
which was for the better, because there was no room for one in the tank, anyway.
They moved the turret to the back of the hull to fit the measurements,
and the driver, plus engine and transmission ended up in the front, for balance.
Mass production of the AMX-13 began in just five years.
Giving the state of the French tank industry after the war…
it was an amazing result!
Considering all modifications, the French produced more than 7 thousand of these tanks
and sold about a half of those to their foreign partners all over the world.
The tank received mixed reviews from the buyers and the crews,
especially about the new oscillating turret.
Its design made it impossible to install a stabilizer,
and the tank had to leave the battlefield to reload after firing two drum magazines
which was only 12 shells in total.
Why?
Because the engineers, determined to fit the requirements, made this tank so tight,
that it was literally not possible to reload the drum magazines, without leaving the tank
which is a very stupid thing to do when you're on a battlefield.
Nevertheless, the advantages of the AMX-13 were clearly more important than it's disadvantages,
and the French were constantly trying to improve it.
For example, the old 75-mm guns were switched for the new 90-mm guns
and in some cases—for even 105-mm ones, that used similar shells to the AMX-30.
The renewed AMX-13s were almost the best light tanks in the world in firepower
and when they started adding the ATGMs… let's say, it was a very, very popular machine.
There were different cases, though.
For example, the French issued a line of the AMX-13 tanks
with the FL-11 turret to be used in the colonial conflicts.
This modification used a less powerful main weapon without an autoloader.
The tank lost in firepower and fire rate, but this gun was easier to handle
and there was no problem with the reload of the drum magazines.
Of course, this version of the AMX-13 couldn't be very effective against the enemy tanks
but the anticipated enemy wasn't even supposed to have those.
So what was needed were more powerful HE-shells
and the alternative gun was ideal for it
As a result, the AMX-13 project turned into a whole family of tanks and SPGs.
And in some countries those are still in service.
From France to the USSR.
Let's remember, how the Soviet engineers almost invented their own Mosquito…
Pages of History I-29
During the early 1930s the idea of a multipurpose two-engine war aircraft became so obvious,
that every country that had ever built a single plane in its history, even a paper one
started working on those.
It seemed obvious, that those machines were the future of aviation,
as they could fly further and carry more weight than their single-engine competitors.
Load some bombs on them — and you'd got yourself a tactical bomber or a strike aircraft.
Build on some cannons — and it's a fighter with incredible firepower.
Acquire some aerial cameras and a powerful communication system
and it's a scout and an airborne control center.
A project that was being developed in the construction bureau of Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev
seemed to perfectly meet those multipurpose requirements.
But it was only a facade.
In reality, it was a dedicated high-speed scout.
As for a small bomb-capacity of 120 kilograms
it should have only served as a means to attack on sight or
mark some high-priority target using a smoke or a flash bomb
and let's be honest, how many explosives do you actually need to blow up, say, a fuel storage depot?
The engineers were so keen on perfecting the aerodynamics of this aircraft
that they even made a turret gun that could be completely retracted into the fuselage.
During its first tests the new Yak-2 went amazingly fast… and that became its undoing.
The Red Army Air Force command was so impressed, that they were almost ready to marry Yakovlev
and his two chief assistants, Evgeniy Adler and Lev Shekhter.
All three of them were decorated, and as an extra honor, the Army shared their plans on
what they were going to do with the Yak-2,
and they were absolutely insane!
Increase the bomb-load up to a 1000 kilograms!
Install an all-directional turret!
Add the ability for dive-bombing!
Stupefied with these unachievable demands, Yakovlev, Adler and Shekhter tried to explain
to no avail, that all of this was impossible,
and the aircraft wasn't multipurpose in the first place.
The command ignored all of this and gave thema month to make it happen, no matter the cost.
Oh, and the plane can't lose in performance after all these changes!
The engineers were desperate.
On top of that, the problem wasn't only with the officers.
When the Yak-2 blueprints went into production, it unleashed complete chaos.
When a couple of highly skilled specialists assembled a prototype in an experimental workshop
they knew what they're doing.
Now… imagine hundreds of workers with almost no special education or training,
trying to copy the same prototype.
Moreover, in this case they even tried to be creative!
They used wheels that didn't fit the bay,
installed all-directional turrets that weren't on the blueprints
and stuffed a lot of extra tech inside that couldn't physically be there
Evgeniy Adler tried to control this, but later he remembered that his orders sounded like
a mosquito buzz in a flock of sheep.
It was clear that the Soviet aviation industry wasn't prepared for the Yak-2
and its refined version, the Yak-4.
The project was postponed and later cancelled.
Still, there was a good modification of this prototype.
It was a fighter called the I-29.
Two ShVAK cannons and three ShKAS machine guns meant a lot of power,
and they were quite lightweight in order for the plane to fly at a good speed.
But did the Army command need a fighter, if they'd asked for a bomber?
Nope!
So the I-29 also ended up being only a prototype,
a single copy that was very limitedly used during the Battle of Moscow.
Yakovlev's two-engine fighters could've become fierce night-time fighters,
like the British Mosquito.
But for that to have happened, the army command and the leaders of the USSR
would just have needed to have some patience and common sense.
But Yakovlev was basically working for the government,
so he couldn't argue with the generals about weight efficiency
nor the aerodynamic purity of his plane.
As a result, neither the Yak-2 and Yak-4, nor the I-29 ever got to be mass-produced.
The Red Army command demanded too much of them and too fast,
and then ditched them after the first failure.
The Soviet Mosquito didn't happen.
Get ready for the traditional last part of our show: Hotline!
Developers answering questions from the comments!
Hotline
The first question comes from a user called Quinton Nguyen:
"I stopped playing War Thunder because the game was locked at 45 FPS
even though that VSync is off. Can you fix this problem so i can play again?"
Hey, mate! There's a high chance that this one is not on our side.
Check your video card parameters, just in case.
And of course, contact our support service, they will help you get back to the game in no time.
The second question is by a player called Sam Smith:
"Can you add the Chrysler TV-8 please"
Hi guy. We don't have such plans for now.
Then there is a question from Aleš Severa:
"Will you add Czech tanks to the game?? Or are you planning them to the future ?"
Hello there!
We've already got a couple of Czech ground vehicles in War Thunder.
But it is possible that we will add some more in the future.
The last (and very important) message comes from a user called Ace Falcon:
"PAK-FA for tier 6 USSR!"
Ah, yes, the good old Soviet aircraft, the famous Su-57.
Somebody misses Russian bias here.
That's it for today but feel free to write your questions in the comments below.
We do read them all, and you might see some of them answered in the next episode!
If you like what we're doing, don't forget to subscribe to our channel!
See you on the Shooting Range!
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