french light tank Renault R-40

[CaID 8,996]

 

i would like to suggest a new tier 1 tanks that could be a tap research of the French Renault R-39, the Renault R-40

 

 

In the late 1930's. Several attempts were made to improve the light tank Renault R-35. In addition to strengthening the armament, the work was carried out in the direction of modernization of the running gear, which turned out to be somewhat heavier. Two years after the tank was accepted into the arsenal of the French army, specialists of the company AMX and Renault developed several versions of the updated chassis. "Renault" went on a simpler path, trying to refine the existing design.

In 1937, three versions were presented for testing: with twin support wheels on original carriages, with vertical spiral suspension springs and with a sixth support skating rink on each side. None of them received the approval of the army. In turn, the engineers of the company AMX proposed to install the body of the tank Renault R-35 on a new chassis, developed earlier for the AMX-38 tank, which was supposed to replace the "Reno". Its main difference was the use of 12 small-diameter support rollers with 4 supporting rollers and a rear-wheel drive wheel. Despite the increased complexity in manufacturing, the safety of the AMX chassis proved to be better, as most of it was covered by armored plates with a thickness of 8 mm. The type of suspension resembled the average tanks Renault D2. In addition, some tanks received "tails" to overcome wider ditches and trenches.

^{Prototype of the suspension installed on the R-35 for test}
The shape of the tank externally remained almost unchanged, retaining the thickness of the frontal armor of 45 mm. The armament was slightly reinforced by the installation of the 37-mm SA 38 L / 33 gun, with a barrel elongated to 35 calibers. An additional 7.5 mm Mle1931 machine gun was installed in the ARCH-R1 tower to the right of the gun. The paired installation had a circular firing round with angles of vertical guidance ranging from -16 to +20 °. Despite the small caliber, the SA 38 gun possessed the initial velocity of the projectile of 701 m / s and could effectively combat German medium tanks such as Pz.III at distances up to 200 meters. The negative side was the reduction in the number of gun shots from 102 to 90, although by other sources this amount is estimated at 100 shots (42 AP, 58 HE). The telescopic 4-fold L.767 sight had a viewing angle of about 11.25 ° and allowed accurate placement of an armor-piercing projectile at a distance of up to 1,400 meters. the tank engine was a modified Renault engine with a capacity of 82 hp. Next to the engine was a tank with fuel, cooling systems and transmission of a mechanical type.

The prototype of this tank, originally called the "Char leger modele 1935 R modifie 1939" (later R-40), went on trial on February 16, 1939. In basic parameters, including the running characteristics, the R-40 was in line with the serial tank R-35. Until the war began, this tank was considered as another modification of the R-35 and was supposed to be produced in parallel. However, the circumstances soon changed - since February 1940, since 1501 machines, they were planning to replace the serial "Reno" in the production line. While the production of R-40 was unfolding, the factories continued to produce R-35, so that improved tanks began to be produced from 1,541 specimens.

The number of R-40s produced varies from 80 to 130 cars, and the number of manufactured cases is increased to 145. The serial tanks have received numbers from 51541 to 51658. One can only truly state that on 10 May 1940, not a single tank on the AMX chassis Military operation was not necessary.

the R-40 saw very little action. From the middle of May 1940, they began to enter the arsenal of the 40th Tank Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division (40e Bataillion de Chars de Combat, 4e DCR) and the 48th Tank Battalion (48e BCC). Initially, these units were equipped with the Hotchkiss H-35 / H-39 tanks, so the whole war the battalions had a mixed composition. By 19 May, in the 40th and 48th SSC had 19 and 20 tanks respectively.

After the outbreak of the war, several R-40s were transferred to other units in order to fill the losses. At the same time, 24 tanks were transferred to one of the tank battalions of the 10th Polish Armored Cavalry Division, which were subsequently transferred to 25 SAC. Instead of them, on May 31, 1940, the Poles received 28 new tanks, and on June 19 the last batch of 13 cars arrived. Their use of accurate data has not yet been found.
 

the new suspension was well liked by the army, it was considered as a real imprivement over the R-35, it was allowing a better manauvrability and obstacle crossing. those attribute improved a lot the chance of suvive of the Renault R-40 so well that the R-40 was suffering a lot less lose in equal proportion over his brother, the R-35.

After the defeat of France in the hands of the Germans captured about 30 tanks R-40, which were subsequently used for training purposes and received the designation Panzerkampfwagen 40R 736 (f). Before the end of hostilities in Europe, all the R-40 was been lost in battle or scrapped. none survived.

^{suspension designed for the R-35}

Specifications
Weight	12 metric tons
Length	4.20 m
Width	1.78 m
Height	2.18 m
Crew	2 [1]
Armour	forehead - 40-43 mm casing hull - 40 mm forage housing - 32 mm front the turret - 40 mm turret side - 40 mm gun mantlet - 40 mm roof - 25 mm bottom - 10 mm
Main armament	37 mm SA 38 L / 33 cannon
Secondary armament	7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun coaxial
Engine	Renault, carburetor, 5.88 liters, 4-cylinder, 85 horsepower. at 2200 rpm.
Power/weight	8.0 hp/tonne
Suspension	APX-38
Operational range	130 km
Speed	20 km/h (12 mph)

 

 

source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_R40

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=53808

https://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/liste-chronologique/de-1930-a-1940?task=view&id=1359

http://tankarchives.blogspot.ca/2017/06/renault-r-40-incorrigible.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_AMX_R_40.html

Edited May 19, 2018 by CaID

[SAUBER_KH7 3,326]

Open for Discussion.

[BrentD15@psn 1,117]

Would it be better than the R.39?

[CaID 8,996]

52 minutes ago, *BrentD15 said:

Would it be better than the R.39?

yes. a better stability on the move and less affected by the small variation of the ground. meanwhile, the tank can also be see using the SA-18 gun but i think we should ignore it and only have the SA-38

[Querulous1 3,276]

Enough for a BR increase maybe ? Not sure

[CaID 8,996]

17 minutes ago, Querulous1 said:

Enough for a BR increase maybe ? Not sure

20 km/h is still slow. the gun is still weak, the crew is still very little. the only good thing is the armor. this is actually reserve material but Gaijin will probably make it 1.3 because the do not like france with vehicles that can actually fight the other's reserve

[BrentD15@psn 1,117]

+1

[Valcour 1,141]

+1  

 

[Milocat 4,854]

+1.  Would be a fun addition.  

[kamikazi21358 998]

+1 to more low tier aka the fun tier.

[Guest]

I'll support this suggestion. 

[onemax9000 1,243]

+1 the French are lacking good low tier tanks

[BrentD15@psn 1,117]

On 08/11/2018 at 11:01, onemax9000 said:

+1 the French are lacking good low tier tanks

They still are, since the S.35 and AMC.35 were both moved to 1.3BR.

[PrussianOwl 440]

Reasonable French low-tier tank, +1 support

[WiseMinerva 454]

+1 support

[Jarms 1,558]

Could go after the R-35 (SA38). 

[Kasukaru 2,164]

Nested with R-35? Sure. +1

[Cedjoe 5,482]

Being, with the AMR.35 ZT2 and the AMC.34 (APX-2), the last mass produced french pre-war light/medium tank still missing from rank I ingame (apart from the ones with too weak cannons), it would be nice to finally see it, maybe foldered with the R.35(SA38), also at 1.0. Hopefully the devs didn't forget about rank I after adding the D2.

+1

Edited September 26, 2020 by Cedjoe

[CaID 8,996]

3 hours ago, Cedjoe said:

Being, with the AMR.35 ZT2 and the AMC.34 (APX-2), the last mass produced french pre-war light/medium tank still missing from rank I ingame (apart from the ones with too weak cannons), it would be nice to finally see it, maybe foldered with the R.35(SA38), also at 1.0. Hopefully the devs didn't forget about rank I after adding the D2.

+1

You forgot the char B1. Good armour, 47mm sa-34 In turret, 75mm hull gun who will surely be the gun that would deserve to be use. Its less armored than the B1bis but almost identical. Since the Sa34 gun would be weak but not completely useless, it could be a first real heavy tank at BR 1.3. There was 35 built before the b1bis production. They was later upgraded with APX-1a turret with Sa-35 gun just like the D2 was upgraded. This up-gunned version Still have less armour than the B1bis but the identification will be extremely difficult, especially since the only obvious details of the turret is the shape of the rear hatch door of the apx-4 turret. So They will see a up-gunned B1 next to a B1bis and will see 2x B1bis. The hull armour is 40mm all around and the turret is the same as the D2, So less armour In overall but still decent armour. Good for BR 1.7. It surely deserve to be added In rank 1 as true first heavy tank.the two in Taps research like the R40 under the R35 (rearmee)

[Cedjoe 5,482]

56 minutes ago, CaID said:

You forgot the char B1. Good armour, 47mm sa-34 In turret, 75mm hull gun who will surely be the gun that would deserve to be use. Its less armored than the B1bis but almost identical. Since the Sa34 gun would be weak but not completely useless, it could be a first real heavy tank at BR 1.3. There was 35 built before the b1bis production. They was later upgraded with APX-1a turret with Sa-35 gun just like the D2 was upgraded. This up-gunned version Still have less armour than the B1bis but the identification will be extremely difficult, especially since the only obvious details of the turret is the shape of the rear hatch door of the apx-4 turret. So They will see a up-gunned B1 next to a B1bis and will see 2x B1bis. The hull armour is 40mm all around and the turret is the same as the D2, So less armour In overall but still decent armour. Good for BR 1.7. It surely deserve to be added In rank 1 as true first heavy tank.the two in Taps research like the R40 under the R35 (rearmee)

The B1’s a heavy not am medium/light tank as I was saying, or we would have to add the FCM 2C as well 

[CaID 8,996]

2 hours ago, Cedjoe said:

The B1’s a heavy not am medium/light tank as I was saying, or we would have to add the FCM 2C as well 

ho right, i miss read the "light/medium" part. well, there is also the Panhard 178B who was mass-produced from 1944. some 400 was built and they could maybe make it to rank 2 but their BR would be more like one of rank 1. there is also the H35 (SA38) who will be an better alternative as reserve than the H39 and give a less down-grade feeling when you replace it by the R.35 since the H35 have a bit less Armour and a bit more speed than his renault's brother.

the R40 would be a good addition but not so necessary for the game, it add just a bit better off-road capacity to the R35 without getting more top-speed, sure it will be less painful to play than the R35 but the BR will surely stay at 1.0. there is plenty better vehicles to add at this BR who will actually bring some new game-play that would be more interesting. those shall have the priority. the AMR35 ZT-2 is one of them at a BR of 1.3 since it actually have good mobility with 55km/h, it would often outrun the other tanks and get amounst of the frist in the cap-zone wich is something new for the french tank at this rank. the AMC 34 APX-2 would be an excellent reserve as it is very well balance between Armour, mobility and firepower, still have small crew but can lose one as the APX-2 turret was a 2men turret.

 

with the H35 (SA38) and AMC 34 APX-2 as reserve, the new player would have a first tast of the game with a balanced tank and a slow but armored tank as reserve. from there the choice of using the R35 and eventually R40 would feel less a downgrade, you trade a bit of mobility for a bit more Armour and get the R40 who have better off-road mobility and have additional Armour on the side hull (the skirt are not useless at this rank)

but personally with the H39 and AMD35, i do not feel like using the R.35 at all, too much a downgrade for the mobility. and the AMD35 is hard to control for the new player, a tracked reserve tank is important to get used to the game controle

[Cedjoe 5,482]

47 minutes ago, CaID said:

ho right, i miss read the "light/medium" part. well, there is also the Panhard 178B who was mass-produced from 1944. some 400 was built and they could maybe make it to rank 2 but their BR would be more like one of rank 1. there is also the H35 (SA38) who will be an better alternative as reserve than the H39 and give a less down-grade feeling when you replace it by the R.35 since the H35 have a bit less Armour and a bit more speed than his renault's brother.

the R40 would be a good addition but not so necessary for the game, it add just a bit better off-road capacity to the R35 without getting more top-speed, sure it will be less painful to play than the R35 but the BR will surely stay at 1.0. there is plenty better vehicles to add at this BR who will actually bring some new game-play that would be more interesting. those shall have the priority. the AMR35 ZT-2 is one of them at a BR of 1.3 since it actually have good mobility with 55km/h, it would often outrun the other tanks and get amounst of the frist in the cap-zone wich is something new for the french tank at this rank. the AMC 34 APX-2 would be an excellent reserve as it is very well balance between Armour, mobility and firepower, still have small crew but can lose one as the APX-2 turret was a 2men turret.

 

with the H35 (SA38) and AMC 34 APX-2 as reserve, the new player would have a first tast of the game with a balanced tank and a slow but armored tank as reserve. from there the choice of using the R35 and eventually R40 would feel less a downgrade, you trade a bit of mobility for a bit more Armour and get the R40 who have better off-road mobility and have additional Armour on the side hull (the skirt are not useless at this rank)

but personally with the H39 and AMD35, i do not feel like using the R.35 at all, too much a downgrade for the mobility. and the AMD35 is hard to control for the new player, a tracked reserve tank is important to get used to the game controle

Indeed.

I know about the Panhard 178B, but as I wrote, I was only talking about pre war designs 

[CaID 8,996]

1 hour ago, Cedjoe said:

Indeed.

I know about the Panhard 178B, but as I wrote, I was only talking about pre war designs 

half prewar in this case. there was already design of the AMD.35 to be used as TD. the Panhard 178B came out just after the liberation of France and before the end of WW2. it's chassis is the same as the original AMD 35

 

[Cedjoe 5,482]

1 hour ago, CaID said:

half prewar in this case. there was already design of the AMD.35 to be used as TD. the Panhard 178B came out just after the liberation of France and before the end of WW2. it's chassis is the same as the original AMD 35

 

I know, but it's still not a prewar vehicle 

[VoltigeurFR 108]

On 26/12/2017 at 02:35, CaID said:

From the middle of May 1940, they began to enter the arsenal of the 40th Tank Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division (40e Bataillion de Chars de Combat, 4e DCR)

Suggestion gets a +1 from me, but 4e DCr was not an Infantry division, it was an armored division.

 

and the 40e BCC was not part of the 4th infantry division or the 4th DCr, it was part of the 535e GBCC (Groupe de bataillons de chars de combat), and then was transferred to the 2e DCr, not the 4th. 

Sorry for nitpicking, it’s just I have a knack for the early war French tanks and tank units.  

 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by VoltigeurFR