AMX 38
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Revision as of 08:12, 20 March 2012
The AMX 38 is a French tier 3 light tank. It has excellent armour for its tier and the sloped turret is effective in causing shots to bounce. Like early French low tier tanks, it is very slow and has poor turning characteristics. The upgraded engine only adds 6 additional horsepower and does little to mitigate the problem.
It starts with the 37 mm SA38 which has decent penetration but poor accuracy. It can be upgraded to the 47mm SA34 short barrel which offers worse penetration and accuracy for a small increase in damage. It it best to upgrade the gun to the high penetration 25mm cannon or spend experience on the 47mm SA35 as it's an essential module in the AMX 40 tree.
- The AMX 38 leads to the AMX 40.
AMX38/ModulesAMX38/EquipmentAMX38/Consumables
Historical Info
The "Light Tank" AMX is a project of 1937 (draft July 1937). It does not seem to insert it in the 20t Tank Program. It's more renewed in heavier, R 35 which attempts to improve the short run. It can also be seen as a successor of lighter D2. According to "Chariots of France", it was a competitor of the Renault DAC 1. It was adopted in 1938 under the name AMX 38 and there where built, it seems, only 2 copies.
The tank had a crew of two, a tank commander / gunner / radioman and a driver.
It can be estimated, the tank had a design weight of 18 tons. So in fact, it would be more a medium tank then a true light tank.
The dimensions are, length: 5280 mm Overall width: 1930 mm Overall height: 2227 mm (box height: 1427 mm).
Apart from the top turret (as FCM), it has a modern form (i.e. like a Pz III). It is characterized by a flat plate hull, probably screwed as was the D2. Only the front was molded/welded. The base has a prismatic shape characteristic. The tank is armed with a 47 SA 35 turret (37 SA 38 on the first prototype). Some designs include a 37 SA 18 turret. The turret is molded and mounted in the center axis on double ball path. It looks like the turret Batignolles studied for the Light Infantry Tank.
The tracks and suspensions are technical AMX (Engineer Molina) very similar to those of R 40: many small road wheels, vertical pendulum springs. Each train has 16 four-wheel drive and support rollers. The wheels are protected by a metal sheet, similar as the D2.
Although the drawings where ready, the tank was not manufactured in series.
