Pzkpfw II (Kleinerpanzer befehlswagen)
German light tank Panzerkampfwagen II was developed in 1934, soon after the Nazis came to power in Germany. By the beginning of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht's armored forces were slightly more than a third of these combat vehicles.
Since the mid-1930s, PzKpfw I was the main combat vehicle of German tank forces. It weighed five and a half tons, had anti-bullet bookings and was armed with two machine guns in a rotating turret. Having limited characteristics, Pz I did not suit the command of armament. From the very beginning it was clear that even for the temporary armament of tank units in anticipation of more powerful combat vehicles, the Pz.I tanks are not enough. In 1934 the designers of the factories Krupp, Henschel and MAN received a task to develop a weighing 10 tons, armed with a 20-mm cannon. This is how Pz Kpfw II appeared. The new tank received the designation LaS 100 and, just like the Pz.I, was intended for training purposes. LaS 100 prototypes were developed on a competitive basis by three firms: Krupp, Henschel and MAN. In the spring of 1935, Krupp presented the commissions LKA 2 tank - a version of the LKA tank with an enlarged turret for a 20-mm cannon, Henschel and MAN presented only the chassis. As a result, the MAN chassis, for which Daimler-Benz manufactured the armored body, was chosen for mass production. MAN, Daimler-Benz, FAMO, Wegmann and MIAG were to become general contractors for serial production. By the end of the year, the first 10 tanks were manufactured, equipped with 130 liters of Maybach HL57TR gasoline engines.
At the end of 1935 the first prototypes of this machine were tested, then it was made with some modifications until 1943. In total, from 1937 to 1942, more than 1,800 tanks Pz.Kpfw.II of all modifications were produced, in total there were five serial modifications of AF. The machine effectively showed itself in all the initial campaigns of the Wehrmacht, until the summer of 1941, when it became clear that Pz.II was already outdated and did not match the indicators of booking and firepower.
The sixth department of the Ministry of Arms of the Army issued a task to develop a version of a ten-ton tank, armed with a 20-mm cannon, one machine gun and more powerful armor than Pz.Kpfw.I , which would become an intermediate option, until medium tanks are developed, more suitable for future campaigns, as well as for the preparation of future crews of German tanks. The task of the Ministry was entrusted to three firms: Krupp, Henschel and MAN.
After the tests, in the summer of 1935, the choice fell on the MAN project, mainly because of the promising chassis of their prototype tank. The layout of the chosen variant was classical - the engine compartment was located behind, with the transmission of the tank located in the front, the fighting compartment was in the middle of the technician, the mechanic-driver compartment in the front part of the hull.
This light tank was armed with a 20-mm gun KwK30 and machine gun MG34, and the crew consisted of three people. This design combined high running characteristics, speed and maneuverability, but it had a poor range and armament. Making an order for the design of Pz.Kpfw. II, the German military command pursued the goal of closing the gap in the absence of tanks in the Third Reich, until the more modern tanks - Pz.Kpfw III and Pz.Kpfw. IV, which were then still under development - will be mass-produced.
One of the main advantages of the design was speed and mobility. At maximum speed, on its combat rating, this tank was inferior, perhaps, to Soviet light tanks BT, so the tank may well be one of the first to occupy advantageous positions or capture points. Maneuverability of tank was simply excellent, it can easily and quickly turn around or make a maneuver both on the move and on the spot. With the rear speed it could always roll back or take shelter for reloading and repairing, if, of course, the shelter was not too far. The downside is the lack of electric drives to turn the turret, it rotates quite slowly, so when flank attacks suddenly occur or enemies appear from the rear, it had to be turned around by the body, until the turret turns itself in the right direction.
Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. C was armed with a 20-mm KwK30 gun with 150 ammunition ammunition and a 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun with an ammunition of 1800 rounds. 20-mm automatic cannon was able to effectively combat all enemies on its combat rating. A special feature of the gun is that it was loaded not by one shell, but by a clip of ten rounds, which provided a high rate of fire and continuous fire, but the reload took a little longer.
At the beginning of hostilities, because of the acute shortage of medium tanks, it was decided to use Pz.Kpfw. II in actual combat conditions (before that the tank was used as an educational one), where it proved a very good ride. Entering the war in 1939, the machine was effectively used until 1942, when it became obvious that the tank was already outdated and much inferior to all its opponents. Separate units of this equipment went through the whole war and took part in hostilities until Germany surrendered in 1945.
The results of the Polish campaign of 1939 forced the German command to think about creating a light tank with more powerful armor protection than Pz I and Pz II. The work in this direction was quite extensive, so that several prototypes appeared at once. One of them is Pz Kpfw II Ausf. L, the same Luchs, was even adopted for service and was produced serially up to 1943.
Modification of PzKpfw II Ausf. J was conceived as a combat vehicle designed for reconnaissance, protected as much as possible by strong armor and at the same time not too overloaded, so as not to suffer speed and maneuverability. Work on the order was divided between the two firms. Engineers Daimler-Benz were to create a turret, and specialists from MAN engaged in the design of the chassis and hull.
The undercarriage was built according to the "chess" scheme of G. Knipkamp, ??popular at that time among German designers. The Germans have always tried to unify the units and assemblies of their equipment, so the chassis of another prototype tank - the VK901 - was used as a base for the modification, which, although positioned as a development of the Pz II series, was in fact an entirely new car.
Because of the increase in armor thickness Pz Kpfw II Ausf. J had to become significantly heavier. Therefore, when designing the running gear, the engineers, having kept the same 5 supporting skating rinks on each side, carried out work on the overall reinforcement of the structure.
The body of the tank was rather curious. It was carried out as a single constructive element. For the access of the crew, round hatches were provided in the sides. The commander got inside the car through the hatch in the commander's turret. The armor of the tank was reinforced very radically. In the early Pz II, the thickness of the frontal sheet was 14.5 mm. In the modifications of C, D, E, F, the forehead of the machine was strengthened to 29-35 mm. However, PzKpfw II Ausf. J frontal armored was 80 mm thick. Because of the increase in armor, the weight of the tank increased to 18 tons.
Such a weight would have to be compensated by a more powerful engine. However, the carbureted Maybach in 150 hp. surpassed the standard twin engine by only 10 "horses," so that the speed of the tank along the highway was only 28 km / h, and even less on the cross-country terrain. For the reconnaissance tank, this was unacceptably small. For comparison: the already mentioned above Luchs was accelerated to 60 km / h.
Six tanks of this type were used in the summer of 1943 in France. Based on another Pz II Ausf. J in 1944 built a repair and evacuation machine with a 5-ton crane.
The Pz.II was considered by the Armaments Office and the leadership of the Wehrmacht as a kind of intermediate model between the training Pz.I and the real combat Pz.III and Pz. Iv. However, the reality has overturned the plans of Hitler's strategists and forced to put in battle not only Pz.II, but also Pz.I. It is surprising how the German industry in the 1930s was unable to expand the mass production of tanks. Even after the start of the war, when the industry of the Reich switched to wartime, the production of tanks did not increase significantly. Here it was not up to intermediate models.
However, at the time of its creation, the Pz.II turned out to be a full-fledged light tank, the main drawback of which was weak weaponry. The armor protection of the "two" is not inferior to that of most light tanks of those years. After modernization, the Pz.II in this parameter moved to the leading position, second only to the French tanks R35 and H35. The maneuverability characteristics of the tank, optics and communications were high enough. The “Achilles heel” was only armament, since even in the mid-1930s, a 20-mm cannon as the main armament for a light tank was already considered unpromising. The guns of similar caliber - 25 mm - were installed on only a few dozen French light reconnaissance tanks. True, already on the eve of the Second World War, light Italian machines L6 / 40 were arming with a 20-mm cannon.
