Halftracks (M3, Sdkfz.251, and others) Questions and What-if Ideas?

[Sauragnmon]

I find myself wondering, almost, if Christie mightn't have thought different of the tank if he'd seen a half track in action - he fancied road mobility so much, the Christie Conversion concept might have been more effective had it been done in practice with a tank - have the drivetrain designed so that the idler turns into a second drive axle when the tracks are disengaged, so it switches between being essentially a heavy wheeled tank and a half track tank depending on situation.

I always thought a Half-tracked tank might look pretty fetching if designed right...

[dy031101]

I always thought a Half-tracked tank might look pretty fetching if designed right...

I like the idea, too......  

Actually I was kinda thinking about a good armoured halftrack personnel carrier first and then a light-tank/tank destroyer derivative.  Except that in WWII it was usually the other way around (for turreted varieties)......  

[NARSES2]

Strange how these things crop up. I was watching "Churchill's Bodyguard" on tv yesterday and they had some old stock footage of US Arny manouvers (possibly just pre-war) where the entrenched "enemy" mg's were attacked by what looked like M3 halftracks (may have been M2's difficult to be accurate in the clouds of dust) which had been made to look like tanks with the aid of false "skirts and turrets". They screeched to a handbrake turn/halt, disgorged a load of troops in gas masks and captured the mg gunners  Made me think "turreted half tracks ..... uhmmmm ?"

[GTX]

I always thought a Half-tracked tank might look pretty fetching if designed right...

I like the idea, too......  

Sounds like a cracker of an idea .  Here's some possible inspiration:



This was the Marmon-Herrington DHT-5 of 1940.  Fitted with 37mm main gun in fully traversing turret + .50 MG in front glacis plate.  Whilst I have seen numerous half-tracks fitted with guns in the rear this is the only one that approaches the idea of a 'half-track tank' that I have seen.

Regards,

Greg

[Sauragnmon]

One interesting concept would start small - half-track convert something like a BT-7, since it had a steering gear and everything in the front axle anyways.

[jcf]

The Rodina has been there done that almost one hundred years ago.

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=63528&p=3&topicID=30112332

http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/WWII/tractor/bronetr0.php
http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/WWII/tractor/bronetr1.php

[ChernayaAkula]

^ That looks very cool! And pretty believable as well.

[Sauragnmon]

I seriously was thinking something with some serious kick at the long stretch - I guess a HT converted Merkava with that nice front engine and the rear turret would be an interesting fit.

[Weaver]

How about something articulated, i.e. like a Twister but with tracks on the rear body? I recall seeing a Lockheed model which had a large turret in the middle on a drum-shaped hull, with a fixed "engine body" behind it and an articulated "steering body" ahead of it, each with four wheels.

This could actually be a logical justification for a modern half-track: you get all the steering benefits of the articulated, wheeled front end, and extra traction at the rear.











All images from Hans Rosloot's very excellent amphibians site here: http://www.amphibiousvehicle.net/index.html

[frank2056]

A less ambitious conversion would be to adapt elements of the BT-7 track to the BA-6/BA-10 series armoured cars.

The BA-6 had tracks that could be fitted around the two rear tires; they looked a lot like BT-7 tracks, only with rounded edges.

[Sauragnmon]

The articulated system is an interesting one - it might be interestingly applicable on a half tracked setup definately.  The design would look good on a tank design if I'm not mistaken, at least to me.

[Sauragnmon]

Leaves one to wonder if a wheeled LAV can't be given a spare axle on a partial drivetrain - think 4x4 style where this axle only kicks in Sometimes.  The spare axle holds the drive sprockets for when the tracks are applied, digging into holes set in the band tracks to provide constant drive in tire-slip conditions.

[Mossie]

Found some more info on the halftrack Jeep variants posted by Greg some time back:  Jeep Halftracks

[Mossie]

I drive past a Claas showroom sometimes, I've seen their 'Terra Trac' halftrack variant of the Lexion Harvester.  Armour the cab, put a mine flail on instead of the blades?


The reverse layout reminded me, the first tank was a halftrack:

[raafif]

Found while researching my articles on Halftracks 1900 to 2000 ...



prototype for Austrian ski-field customers -- it's now being restored.