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Geir Andersen
34 articles

FRENCH ARMORED CARRIER UE

December 19, 2019 · in Armor · · 5 · 2.4K

As the French army underwent mechanization in the 1920s, the need arose for a small, tracked armored vehicle capable of transporting supplies and weapons to the front lines and towing light artillery. In October 1930, Renault's armored carrier EU was chosen by the French army among several competing designs and production of the first 60 operational vehicles was completed by September 1932.

At 2.8m long, 1.74m wide, and 2.6 tons fully loaded, it was a sturdy, compact design that featured a riveted joint hull construclion and a reliable suspension with garter beams supporting the road wheels.

The two member driver/navigator crew was housed in a central compartment, but since their heads protruded from the chassis, special dome-shaped hatches where

mounted to argument the canie's 9mm armor and protect from fire and shrapnel. A 38hp gasoline engine enabled a road speed of 30km/h, while over 1 ton of cargo

could be caried on the tiltable rear deck and towed trailer. Approximately 4,900 amored carrier EU's were produced until June 1940, including the UE2 variant which

featured 4-speed transmission instead of 3-speed, and tow shackles in place of the pigtail hooks. When France capitulated to Germany on June 1940, approximately 3,000

captured armored carrier UEs were pressed into scervice with German forces, which used them as transports, artillery and aricraft towing vehicles

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


5 responses

  1. Geir. Nice vignette!

  2. Your dinging and chipping are just outstanding! The overall weathering and finish is superb. The rest of the diorama elements are to a similar quality of the model. A really fantastic result, of a vehicle I never heard of before. I like this a lot!

    "liked"

  3. That's a real beauty - everything Tom said above! Is it just me, or does this vehicle seem like a silly little design mistake?! Just seems like a waste of production for something so small narrow application! But it is unique - I'd never seen one before either, so thanks for modeling "outside the box!"

    • Hi Greg

      I do not quite understand your comment.
      Far from a design mistake it proved a very useful front line machine able to move goods, ammo... around while providing safety for the crew.
      Think of them as armoured Weasels.

  4. Nicely done, great presentation!

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