Spähpanzer 1C

France/Federal Republic of Germany (1955?-1961) Anti-Tank Reconnaissance Vehicle – 1 to 2 Prototypes Built With the formation of the Bundeswehr in 1955, the new army of West Germany, a decision was made to acquire small tracked armored reconnaissance vehicles for use in the so-called Panzeraufklärungstruppe (Armored reconnaissance troop). The Schützenpanzer (Kurz), somewhat loosely translated as …

Batignolles-Châtillon 12t

France (1947-1951) Light Tank – 1 Prototype Built France was, in the 1930s, a major tank-producing nation in Europe, second only to the Soviet Union and Germany in output. This productive industry, which, while designing tanks that often followed archaic requirements, used modern technology, saw its abilities to continue evolving and producing new vehicles mutilated …

Giacomini Tank

France (1956) Tank – Patent Only Post-World War Two Europe was a continent rich in the legacy of the war. A legacy which took the form of an abundance of tanks, both in the form of legacy leftovers of the war, and a ready supply of new tanks from Britain (Centurion) or the United States …

FCM 12t

France (1947-1952) Light Tank – 1 Prototype Built The Second World War left France’s tank industry in an uncertain state. One of Europe’s largest and most sophisticated tank manufacturers prior to the four year German occupation which mutilated France’s military industry while simultaneously very severely limiting design work on not only new tanks, but also …

AMX Chasseur de char de 90 mm (1946)

France (1946) Tank Destroyer – None Built Introduction Following the liberation of the country in 1944 and the recovery of factories and design bureaus previously involved in the manufacture of armored vehicles, France immediately restarted studies of modern military equipment, with the intention of catching up to the other belligerents of WW2. The Ateliers de …

Wieczorek Engin blindé de combat (EBC) and Engin blindé de combat lourds (EBCL)

France (1986-2000) Main Battle Tank – None Built Patents, the government license issued to an inventor or company to commercially protect or exploit an innovation or design, are wide ranging and can be as small as a new way of doing something up to a total rethink of how an existing thing might work. Julien …

Chasseur de Char de 76.2mm AMX sur châssis S35

France (1945) Tank Destroyer – None Built Following the liberation of France, which started in June 1944 and was mostly concluded, with the exception of areas towards Alsace and some western ports by the end of August that same year, rebuilding France’s military industry quickly became a new priority for the French government. Once a …

Chasseur de Char de 76.2mm AMX sur châssis R35 (Front-Facing Proposal)

France (1945) Tank Destroyer – None Built The liberation of France began in June of 1944 and was mostly concluded, with the exception of a few areas towards Alsace and some western ports, by the end of August of the same year. Rebuilding France’s military industry quickly became a new priority for the French government. …

Chasseur de Char de 76.2mm AMX sur châssis R35 (Rear-Facing Proposal)

France (1945) Tank Destroyer – None Built The liberation of France began in June of 1944 and was mostly concluded, with the exception of a few areas towards Alsace and some western ports, by the end of August of the same year. Rebuilding France’s military industry quickly became a new priority for the French government. …

Voisin CA 11 Amphibious Light Tank

France (1949-1953) Amphibious Light Tank – 1 Prototype Built Immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War, France found itself embroiled in a large-scale guerilla war in its colony of Indochina as it attempted to reassert control over the area. Seeking to overthrow their colonial rulers was the Vietnamese Việt Minh, led by Hô …

Bouffort Tractor Tank Conversion

France (1983) Tractor Conversion – None Built Agricultural tractors are essential machines in farming. In times of war, these machines have become the donor for an equally bewildering array of armored vehicles to meet some urgent need, usually the imminent threat of an invasion when existing stocks of armored vehicles are in short supply. A …

ELC EVEN with 120 mm Recoilless Rifles

France (1953-1957) Airborne Light Tank Destroyer – 1 Prototype Built In the years that followed France’s liberation at the end of the Second World War, the French arms industry, once a world leader but vastly weakened by years of war and occupation, started to re-develop. A number of original vehicle concepts were experimented. One of …

ELC EVEN

France (1957-1963) Airborne Light Tank Destroyer – 1 Prototype and 10 Pre-Production Vehicles Built Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, the French military studied several concepts of lightweight tank destroyers. The objective was to produce a cheap, simple and mobile vehicle with sufficient firepower to knock out vehicles such as the Soviet IS-3 and …

Lorraine 40t

France (1952) Medium Tank – 1 Prototype Built The 50 tonne tank project During the late 1940s and early 1950s, France was developing a new tank to replace the now obsolete captured German Panther and the short lived ARL 44 heavy tank in French military service. This project, designated M4, aimed at producing a vehicle …