The AMX 38 was a prototype French tank designed in 1937 at the AMX works. Designed as AMX's response to the 20-tonne tank programme intended to replace the aging

Char D2 The Char D2 was a French medium tank of the interwar period. In 1930, at a time the Char D1 had not even entered production, the Renault company agreed to build a better armoured version called the Char D2. By not using old-fashioned rivets, it ...

, it was a faster and heavier alternative to

Renault R35 The Renault R35, an abbreviation of ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 onwards and produced from 1936, the type was intended as an infantry support light tank, eq ...

, in practice a cross-over between a

light tank A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...

and

medium tank A medium tank is a classification of tanks, particularly prevalent during World War II which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks. A medium tank's classification is ...

History

Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux {{unreferenced, date=May 2017 The Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (English translation: construction workshops of Issy-les-Moulineaux) were born from the nationalization of the Renault factories in Issy-les-Moulineaux in 1936. They w ...

(AMX) participate in the competition to create the next generation light tank for the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

. The AMX company started development in July 1937 and their tank project later received the designation "AMX 38".

Design

The AMX 38 was designed to have better mobility than the

Char D1 The Char D1 was an Interwar French light tank. The French plan of 1926, calling for the creation of a Light Infantry Support Tank, led to the development of the existing Renault NC1 prototype into the Char D1. One hundred and sixty vehicles of t ...

, while having the same armour and a small weight increase. It was planned to have a 100 horsepower CLM

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

, 37mm SA 18 gun and the new

APX In computational complexity theory, the class APX (an abbreviation of "approximable") is the set of NP optimization problems that allow polynomial-time approximation algorithms with approximation ratio bounded by a constant (or constant-factor ap ...

-R turret.

First prototype

When the first prototype was completed in the end of 1939, it differed vastly from the initial design. The vehicle was equipped with a 37mm SA 38 gun and a 7.5mm

Reibel machine gun The MAC mle 1931 machine gun (official French designation ''Mitrailleuse'' ''modèle'' ''1931'' - machine gun, model of 1931), was a machine gun used in French tanks of the World War II era, as well as in fortifications such as the Maginot line. ...

. The weight of the first prototype was 13.5 tons. It had a 130 hp

Aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

engine and a power-to-weight ratio of 9.62 hp/t. The maximum speed of the first prototype was 25 km/h. The turret was replaced by one designed by AMX, which closely resembles the turret of

FCM 36 The FCM 36 or ''Char léger Modèle 1936 FCM'', was a light infantry tank that was designed for the French Army prior to World War II. It had a crew of two and was equipped with a short 37 mm main armament and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine g ...

. The AMX 38 had a tail piece at the rear to help the vehicle cross trenches. The crew consisted of two people, a driver and a commander/gunner. However, the AMX 38 first prototype was proved to be inferior to other current French tanks both in armor and armament. As a result, the AMX company continued to redesign and improve the AMX 38.

Second prototype

In December 1939, the second prototype was constructed. It was armed with the 47mm SA 35 gun, replacing the older 37mm SA 38 gun. The gun had better penetration and could destroy any German tank of that period. Additionally, the frontal turret and hull armor was increased to 60mm which is impenetrable by the standard German 3.7 cm Pak 36. The second prototype weight increased to 16.5 tons. The suspension had to be changed and the engine was to be upgraded to a more powerful

engine of 160 horsepower. The power-to-weight ratio of the second prototype was projected to increase to 9.69 hp/t.

Development

Trials of both prototypes were underway when war broke out. The project was abandoned after the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

References

{{WWIIFrenchAFVs World War II tanks of France Light tanks of France Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s