World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance Renault Modèle 35 Type ZT, or AMR 35 for short, was a light tank design developed to improve the AMR 33 design. In fact, the first AMR 35 light tanks were built directly on prototype AMR 33 prototype vehicles. The first AMR 35 light tank, number 79759, was completed in Feb 1934, using a sporty Nerva Stella engine. The second prototype was completed in the following month, equipped with a engine also used on buses; slower, but the second prototype was perceived as more suitable for rough combat conditions. The French Army issued an order for 92 examples in 1934, 12 of which would be built as command tanks with radio sets while the rest were to be the standard combat vehicles equipped with 13.2-millimeter Reibel machine guns. While most of them equipped the French Army (mainly in cavalry units), in Mar 1936, Nationalist China central government purchased 12 examples of the ZB variant of this design, and shortly after the regional army in Yunnan Province purchased 4 examples; these 16 vehicles were delivered between 1938 and 1940. When production ceased in 1939, the total number of AMR 35 light tanks increased to 167. During the Battle of France of 1940, 187 AMR 35 light tanks were in operation with the French Army. Their speed helped them perform well in the delay action campaign, but their armaments were too weak to penetrate the armor of their counterparts, and high rate of mechanical troubles left many vehicles dead in the battlefield. Most of AMR 35 light tanks were lost during the battle; the small number of survivors were pressed into German service in rear areas under the designation Panzerspaehwagen ZT 702 (f).

AMR 35 Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

AMR 35

Machinery	One 4-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 84hp
Suspension	Rubber reinforced horizontal springs
Armament	1x7.5mm Reibel machine gun or 1x13.2mm Hotchkiss machine gun
Armor	13mm
Crew	2
Length	3.84 m
Width	1.76 m
Height	1.88 m
Weight	6.5 t
Speed	55 km/h
Range	200 km

ZT2 / ZT3

Machinery	One 4-cylinder gasoline engine rated at 84hp
Suspension	Rubber reinforced horizontal springs
Armament	1x25mm gun in cast steel APX 5 turret (ZT2) or 1x25mm gun mounted on hull (ZT3)
Armor	13mm
Crew	2
Length	3.84 m
Width	1.76 m
Height	1.88 m
Weight	6.5 t
Speed	55 km/h
Range	200 km

Photographs