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bureaux. Renault proposed a type with doubled wheels on the original bogies (which thus would result in ten road wheels per side) combined with a new track using shorter links, a second type with vertical coil springs and a third type lengthened with a sixth road wheel at the rear, which would also entail a larger wheel diameter. The systems with the six larger wheels or the ten smaller ones could also be used to upgrade existing vehicles. However, after tests from 19 May until 26 December 1938, an AMX design using six vertical coil springs covered with 8 mm armour plating with twelve road wheels per side, was selected on 16 February 1939. The type superficially resembled the suspension of the earlier
25:
170:. At first, it was literally envisaged as a modification, also to be retrofitted to existing vehicles, but the emergency caused by the outbreak of war in September led to a change in policy: the new suspension would only be implemented on the R 35 production run, from the 1501st vehicle onwards, to take place in February 1940. In late 1939, retrofitting the existing vehicles with the cheaper Renault vertical coil suspension was considered, as it could be done by field workshops and thus pose less of a burden to French industry.
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led to a higher fuel consumption. This was not compensated by a discernible improvement of the steering qualities. However, the AMX system also had its drawbacks. It added a weight of 1.1 tonne to the tank, while the weight penalty was just seven hundred kilogrammes with the
Renault six-wheel suspension and only 110 kilogrammes for the ten wheel system. Also, the longer track links caused a heavy clattering during road travel, reminiscent of the noise made by the
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been intended to keep production levels at 120 per month for the duration of the war and introduce the lighter welded FCM turret in the second half of 1940. In May 1940, the R 35 had the largest production of any Allied (or indeed
Western) tank but it was planned to having it surpassed by that of the much faster
125:
In the late thirties, there had been several projects to improve the
Renault R35 light infantry tank. One of these was directed to the improvement of the horizontal rubber spring suspension system that, apart from being less reliable than originally hoped for, caused an uncomfortable ride, high track
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In May, about sixty R40s were manufactured out of a total R 35/40 production that month of 91. It is uncertain how many R 40s were produced before production was halted in June 1940; certainly 130 and probably 145 hulls were manufactured, but likely these did not all have their turret fitted. It had
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suspension was rejected as too heavy and complicated to refit, both the AMX factory and the
Renault design bureau developed several solutions to this problem from 1937. AMX had its origin in a nationalisation of parts of the Renault company, which resulted in a natural rivalry between the two design
202:
As the new vehicles looked quite differently from the original R 35, they were very generally, also in army documentation, called the "R 40"; however, this was never their official type designation; officially these were still
Renault R35s and their production was subsumed under the R 35 run in the
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suspension. It also used the same track as the Char B1, reducing the number of track links compared with the R 35 from 125 to 56. The AMX suspension resulted in a superior speed on varied terrain and could climb steeper slopes. The
Renault system with ten wheels to the contrary slowed the tank and
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The change, however, was delayed and went only into effect in May 1940 from the 1541st vehicle onwards. It coincided with a number of other improvements, such as a longer and thus much more powerful SA38 Long 35 37 mm gun in the adapted cast APX-R1 turret, giving the type a good antitank
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capacity, and a tail to facilitate climbing. The number of rounds carried decreased from 102 to 90. A fundamental advance in tactical effectiveness compared to the R 35 was that the R 40s were equipped with a radio set, which had not been standard for any French light tank until then.
187:, reflecting the emphasis on the formation of new armoured divisions, for which the slow R 40 was less than ideal; the "new" suspension was really rather old-fashioned and could not be combined with a high speed, as earlier experience with the
239:
being formed in France was also partly equipped with first 24 R 40s, which were then on 31 May given to 25 BCC, after which the Polish battalion received another 28 R 40s, the last thirteen on 19 June.
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and
Renault VO projects had shown. Nevertheless, apart from donations to allies and units already formed in June, another 800 vehicles were needed to replace the
235:. This reflects the large matériel reserve of Renault tanks. Some R 40s perhaps replaced losses in the older battalions. One of the two tank battalions of the
640:
551:
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and tread wear and an unfavourable weight distribution. The type tended to get stuck in soft terrain. Several solutions were proposed, among them an
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of eight existing battalions and raise eight new battalions to bring their number to the planned final total of fifty light tank BCCs (
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Two new tank battalions, originally intended and trained to be equipped with
Hotchkiss tanks to form the half-brigade of the new
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68:
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from 19 May as an emergency measure partly equipped with the R 40 (30 and 29 respectively) and attached to the
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or studs on the existing tracks, or the adoption of a new track type. None of these were satisfactory.
33:
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Pascal Danjou & François
Vauvillier, 2018, "Le char léger R 40 — première signature AMX",
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statistics; their serial numbers are continuous with the older R 35 run.
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François
Vauvillier, 2006, "Nos Chars en 1940: Pourquoi, Combien",
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François Vauvillier, 2006, "Nos Chars en 1940: Pourquoi, Combien",
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French armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II
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141:Apart from Lorraine, whose proposal based on the
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217:(fourth armoured division of the Infantry), the
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117:, of which it is often considered a variant.
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243:There are no known surviving R 40 vehicles.
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296:Histoire de Guerre, Blindés & Matériel
283:Histoire de Guerre, Blindés & Matériel
270:Histoire de Guerre, Blindés & Matériel
641:Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s
356:French armoured fighting vehicles of the
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69:Learn how and when to remove this message
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32:This article includes a list of general
315:, Editions du Barbotin, Ballainvilliers
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168:Char léger modèle 1935 R modifié 1939
99:Char léger modèle 1935 R modifié 1939
237:Polish 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade
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163:. Fuel consumption was 40% higher.
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38:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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219:40e Bataillion de Chars de Combat
154:but was in fact inspired by the
134:in the gear box, the fitting of
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320:Les Véhicules Blindés Français
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197:Bataillions de Chars de Combat
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1:
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631:World War II tanks of France
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10:
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166:The variant was named the
16:French light infantry tank
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646:Tanks introduced in 1939
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113:, an improvement of the
109:that was used early in
53:more precise citations.
496:Renault UE Chenillette
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636:Light tanks of France
392:Hotchkiss H35/H38/H39
318:Pierre Touzin, 1979,
311:Pascal Danjou, 2005,
130:, new wheel tyres, a
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527:Gendron-Somua AMR 39
207:Operational history
475:AMC Schneider P 16
411:Medium/heavy tanks
225:, were during the
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489:Armoured carriers
322:, Éditions E.P.A.
85:R40 with the old
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552:Renault B1 (ter)
480:White-Laffly AMD
358:Second World War
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40:inline citations
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510:Experimental
501:Lorraine 37L
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111:World War II
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37:
470:Panhard 178
402:Renault R40
397:Renault R35
193:Renault FTs
121:Development
115:Renault R35
95:Renault R40
59:August 2014
51:introducing
625:Categories
462:halftracks
372:Renault FT
306:Literature
298:N°74, p.44
285:N°74, p.48
174:Production
161:Renault FT
34:references
582:Somua S40
448:SOMUA S35
132:freewheel
128:overdrive
592:ARL V 39
221:and the
136:grousers
572:SARL 42
562:Char G1
443:Char D2
438:Char D1
433:Char B1
428:Char 2C
223:48e BCC
189:Char D3
156:Char B1
152:Char D2
148:Char D1
47:improve
587:ARL 44
557:S35 CA
547:ARL 40
537:AMX 38
517:FCM F1
423:AMC 35
418:AMC 34
387:FCM 36
382:AMR 35
377:AMR 33
232:2e DCR
214:4e DCR
185:"H 39"
105:light
103:French
101:was a
36:, but
247:Notes
150:and
93:The
89:gun.
97:or
627::
460:,
255:^
349:e
342:t
335:v
72:)
66:(
61:)
57:(
43:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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