3201 RENAULT R-35 'SYCYLIA 43'

The Renault R35 is a French WWII light infantry tank, the first prototypes of which were presented in 1934, and serial production continued in 1935-1940. In total, about 1,600 copies of this tank of all versions were created in its course. A single Renault 447 carburetor engine with 82 HP was used as the drive. It was armed with a 37mm SA18 Le / 21 or SA38 Le / 33 gun and one 7.5mm MAC31 machine gun. The Renault R35 was developed as a successor to the Renault FT-17 vehicle, which was created during World War I, and from the very beginning it was intended for cooperation with infantry units. Initially, it was assumed that the new tank would be armed only with machine guns, but during the tests, this idea was withdrawn. Finally, the Renault R35 had good armament at the end of the 1930s (the version with the SA38 cannon), enabling it to fight virtually any German or Italian tank. It also had very good armor and good observation devices. The downsides were the poor performance, especially the low top speed, the engine that had a tendency to overheat and burned a lot of fuel, and - probably most of all - overloaded by the duties of the tank commander, who was unable to effectively command it on the battlefield. This disadvantage, moreover, was typical of many other French tanks of this period. In 1940, the R40 model was adopted by the French army, with a modified chassis. After the fall of France in 1940, Renault R35 tanks were used, among others, by German and Italian troops.