During World War I the French cavalry used small numbers of armored cars in the reconnaissance role, but these lacked cross-country mobility and specifications were issued in 1922-23 for a tracked vehicle to be called the Auto-Mitrailleuse de Cavalerie (AMC). Little progress was made until 1931 when requirements for three different types of vehicle for the cavalry were drawn up, including the Auto-Mitrailleuse de Reconnaissance (AMR), a light scouting vehicle with a crew of two, armed with a single 7.5mm machine gun. Renault built a prototype AMR and after trials an order for 123 production vehicles was placed in 1933. These vehicles enter service with the French Army under the designation AMR 33 VM.
http://www.littlewar...40/amr_33_1.jpg
The Hull was of riveted construction with the driver at the front, the commander/gunner in the turret, which was offset the the left of the hull, and the engine on the right side. Further development resulted in the AMR 35 ZT, of which 200 were built.
http://ww2armor.jexi...R-35_09.FVH.jpg (The Renault 35 ZT was a developed version of the 33VM, and is seen here armed with a 25mm anti tank gun.)
This weighed 6.4 tons (6,500kg) and was powered by a Renault four cylinder water cooled petrol engine which developed 85hp and gave the vehicle a top road speed of 34mph (55km/h). Armament consisted of either a 7.5mm machine gun, or a 13.2mm Hotchkiss machine gun or a 25mm Hotchkiss anti tank gun. Quantities of both AMR 33 VM and AMR 35 ZT were captured by the Germans. Some of these were used for reconnaissance, while others had their turrets removed and replaced a superstructure mounting an 80mm mortar.
Country of Origin: France
Crew: 2
Armament: One 7.5mm machine gun
Armor: 13mm (0.51in)
Dimensions: Length 11ft 6in (3.504m); width 5ft 3in (1.6m); height 5ft 8in (1.727m).
Weight: 11,023lb (5000kg)
Engine: Reinastella eight cylinder liquid cooled petrol engine developing 84bhp
Performance Maximum road speed 37mph (60kh/m); vertical obstacle 2ft (0.609m); trench 5ft (1.524m); gradient 60 percent.
(Note. data relate to AMR 33 VM.)
Information used from the book The Great Book of Tanks by David Miller.
The Renault AMR 33 VM & AMR 35 ZT light tanks
Started by
Timothy48
, Sep 17 2011 - 02:29
No replies to this topic








