The prototype of the French main battle tank - Batignolles-Chatillon Char 25 t
The result of this transition is a new concept, which is now accepted throughout the world - the “main battle tank”. The medium tonnage tank was ideally suited for this concept. Almost all world leaders are beginning to implement this idea. France, which has always sought to be one of the first in addressing such issues, but badly affected by the German occupation, also begins the creation of a new medium tank, which would have to become the main battle tank of the French armed forces and, if possible, sell such tanks to countries that do not have their own developed military-industrial complex. The creation of such a tank in France became the company "Batignolles-Chatillon". This French company was known as a railway manufacturer, which produced locomotives and wagons. The basic concept of the new French tank is the lightest, mobile, and efficient tank. The project was named “Batignolles-Chatillon Char 25T”.
The basis of the tank - the most oblate body. Frontal armor is made of mm 80 inclined armor plates. Tank undercarriage - hydraulic suspension with 6 th track rollers. The tower part of the oscillating type consists of upper and lower parts, interconnected by hinges. The gun is made in the upper part of the tower. For horizontal guidance, the entire tower is rotated, for vertical guidance, the upper part of the tower with the gun relative to the lower part is raised.
Such a design of the tower has its advantages - the tower part has a smaller volume relative to the standard tower parts, since with vertical hovering it is not necessary to use part of the internal volume and the instrument can be provided with a simple automatic loader. French designers often used drum loader in pre-war projects of tank technology, and here they went along the path studied. Although this machine is more like a shop, by analogy with small weaponsAfter all, after the shells are used up in the drum, the tank must be stopped and the drum must be reloaded manually. However, it is the drum automatic loader that gives the tank a high rate of fire. On the oscillating tower part, one thing can be said - only the French designers were able to bring the idea of the swinging tower part to life. American designers also tried to build oscillating towers and install them on tanks (for example Т57 / 58), however they did not reach the embodiment in metal.
The medium tank Batignolles-Chatillon Char 25 t received an 90 mm gun, which provided the projectile speed of 930 m / s. The French tank did not receive additional weapons. The dimensions of the car were more than compact, the length is slightly more than 5.5 meters, the width of 3 meters, the height is less than 2.5 meters. The weight of the French tank at the same time did not reach 25 000 kilogram. The speed characteristics of the Batignolles-Chatillon Char 25 t are quite high - the maximum speed of movement up to 65 km / h.
The crew of the tank - four people:
- tank commander, location - tower part;
- gunner, location - tower part;
- driver-mechanic, location - department of management;
- radio operator, location - department of management.
The fate of the project
The project of the medium tank from the company Batignolles-Chatillon lost in the competition to the tank AMX 30, which became the main battle tank for the French armed forces. Among the main reasons for which "Batignolles-Chatillon Char 25 t" could not win the place of the main battle tank, the following can be identified:
- the unreliability of the suspension;
- the need for constant maintenance of the undercarriage after any use of the tank;
- loss of interest of the French to the tower part of the oscillating type;
- the impossibility of creating a tower of gas-permeable performance. At that time, the beginning of the Cold War, when there was a risk of the use of chemical and even nuclear weapons, this possibility was very much in demand in the armed forces.
Designers "Batignolles-Chatillon" built only two samples (prototype) of the new medium tank, some principles of the creation of the tank and its technology used by French designers in the further development of another tank technology.
Key Features:
- full combat weight - 25 000 kilogram;
- length - 5.67 meter;
- width - 3.16 meters;
- height 2.37 meter;
- armament - 90 mm gun;
- additional armament: at the competition of the main combat French tank, on the prototype a machine gun of caliber 7.5 mm was installed;
- travel speed - up to 65 km / h;
- crew - 4 person.
Information sources:
http://pocomaxagulo.com/index.php/2011-02-19-20-45-24/4-2011-02-12-17-48-17/232--batignolles-chatillon-char-25t
http://topwar.ru/11778-istoriya-francuzskih-tankov-legendy-i-zabytye-proekty.html
http://www.chars-francais.net/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=711&Itemid=36
Information