Artillery tractor
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Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights. The first such devices were designed prior to the outbreak of World War I.
There are two main types of artillery tractors, depending on the type of traction. Wheeled tractors are usually variations of lorries adapted for military service. Tracked tractors run on caterpillar track, and in some cases are built on a modified tank chassis with the superstructure replaced with a compartment for the gun crew or ammunition. The idea of half-track tractors was mostly discontinued after the World War II. In modern warfare, engineer vehicles of a different primary purpose sometimes double as artillery tractors in order to reposition guns. An example of this is the U.S. Marines' Light Capacity Rough Terrain Forklift (LCRTF), a versatile telehandler forklift which is capable of towing gear from either end.
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[edit] Full-track
- pre- and First World War
- Hornsby tractor
- Holt Tractor
- Best
[edit] Tank chassis
- M4 Sherman
- M34 - converted by removing recovery gear from M32B1 TRV (M4A1 Sherman tank chassis) and adding air brakes to tow heavy artillery, 1944
- M35 - converted by removing turret from M10A1 tank destroyer (M4A3 Sherman tank chassis) and adding air brakes to tow 155 mm and 240 mm artillery
- Sherman Gun Tower - British field conversion in Italy by removing turrets from old M4A2 Sherman tanks to tow 17 pdr AT gun and carry crew with ammunition
- Wolverine Gun Tower - British M10 (M4A2 chassis) or M10A1 (M4A3 chassis) converted by removing turret, 1944-45
- Cruiser Tank VI Crusader
- Crusader II, Gun Tractor Mk I- from the Crusader tank
[edit] Other full-track
- C7P - Poland, 1934
- Dragon, Medium Mark IV'
- Lloyd carrier - UK, 1940
- UE Chenillette
- Universal Carrier "Bren Gun Carrier", armored utility tractor
- MT-LB - Soviet Union, mid 1970's
- Snow Trac UK Royal Marines Light WOMBAT gun carrier
[edit] Half-track
[edit] Allied
- M2 Half Track Car
- M3 Half-track
- Unic P107 towed the French 75 and short 105 mm field guns
- SOMUA MCG towed the French long 105 and short 155 mm field guns
[edit] Axis
- SdKfz 7; 8-ton half track often towed the Flak 36 88 mm
[edit] Wheeled
- White Scout Car - US 4x4 utility armored car
- Morris C8 - UK, 1938; the "Quad" British lorry; towed the QF 25 pdr
- AEC Matador - British lorry used for pulling intermediate artillery such as the 5.5 inch gun
- Scammell Pioneer - British lorry used for the largest guns
- Canadian Military Pattern Field Artillery Tractor - similar to the Quad.
- Karrier KT4 - UK; for the British Indian Army
- Land Rover 101 Forward Control
- Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle
- Laffly V15T towed the French 25 mm AT guns
- Laffly S15T towed the French 75 and short 105 mm field guns
- Krupp Protze towed the 3.7 cm PaK
[edit] See also
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