Halftracks are Hybrid Vehicles, where the forward axle has wheels and the rear
axle has a tracked suspension.
Prime movers
Already in the middle of the 20's Germany began with the development of
half-tracked vehicles. These were primarily planned to tow artillery guns. In
the middle of the 30's began the production of the classes partitioned after
towing capacity:
|
Name |
Tow. Cap. |
Usage |
|
SdKfz 6 |
5 t |
Tractor for Engineer tool trailers and the 10.5 cm field howitzer |
|
SdKfz 7 |
8 t |
Tractor for 8.8 cm FlaK and heavy 10 cm and 15 cm guns |
|
SdKfz 8 |
12 t |
Tractor for 10.5 cm FlaK, heavy 15 cm and 21 cm guns |
|
SdKfz 9 |
18 t |
Tank recovery vehicle |
|
SdKfz 10 |
1 t |
Tractor for 2 cm FlaK, 3.7 cm PaK and the 7.5 cm gun |
|
SdKfz 11 |
3 t |
Tractor for the 10.5 cm field howitzer |
Some these vehicles were also used as weapon-carriers or in other variants. For
the sake of clarity I didn't mention them here. Further prime movers were the
SdKfz 4 "Maultier" [“Mule”], where the two rear axles of a truck were provided
with tracks, the "schwere Wehrmachtsschlepper" (sWS) [heavy Wehrmacht tractor]
as successor for the SdKfz 6, as well as the SdKfz 2 "kleines Kettenkraftrad"
[Small tracked motorcycle].
The Armored personnel carrier SdKfz 251
When the planning of the armored divisions began in 1935 a suitable vehicle was
needed to enable the accompanying infantry to follow the advancing tanks as fast
as possible. The choice fell on an armored half-track that could carry 10 men.
In the summer 1939 the production of the vehicle called SdKfz 251 began. By
simplifications in production four different versions were developed until 1945
(A, B, C and D).
Altogether approximately 15,000 SdKfz 251 in the following variants were built
from 1939 until the end of war:
|
SdKfz 251/1 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (Troop transport) |
|
SdKfz 251/2 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (8 cm mortar) |
|
SdKfz 251/3 |
mittlerer Funkpanzerwagen (Radio vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/4 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen IG (Artillery tractor) |
|
SdKfz 251/5 |
mittlerer SchützenPzW Pi (Command vehicle for engineers) |
|
SdKfz 251/6 |
mittlerer Kommandopanzerwagen (Command vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/7 |
mittlerer Pionierpanzerwagen (Engineer vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/8 |
mittlerer Krankenpanzerwagen (Ambulance) |
|
SdKfz 251/9 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (7.5 cm assault gun) |
|
SdKfz 251/10 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm antitank gun) |
|
SdKfz 251/11 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (Cable layer) |
|
SdKfz 251/12 |
mittlerer MeßtruppPzW (Range-plotting vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/13 |
mittlerer SchallaufnahmePzW (Sound recording vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/14 |
mittlerer SchallauswertePzW (Sound ranging vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/15 |
mittlerer LichtauswertePzW (Muzzle flash spotting vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/16 |
mittlerer Flammpanzerwagen
(Flame thrower) |
|
SdKfz 251/17 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (2cm anti aircraft gun) |
|
SdKfz 251/18 |
mittlerer Beobachtungspanzerwagen (Observation vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 251/19 |
mittlerer FernsprechbetriebsPzW (Telephone switchboard) |
|
SdKfz 251/20 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen IR (Infrared spotlight) |
|
SdKfz 251/21 |
mittlerer SchützenPzW (MG 151 triple anti aircraft gun) |
|
SdKfz 251/22 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (7.5 cm anti tank gun) |
|
SdKfz 251/23 |
mittlerer Schützenpanzerwagen (2 cm gun) |
The Armored personnel carrier SdKfz 250
As another consequence of the trials with halftracks, Büssing-NAG and DEMAG were
ordered to develop a light APC, that could transport up to 4 soldiers and should
be deployed in reconnaissance sections.
Because of several problems the production of the SdKfz 250 was delayed until
1941. Starting from 1943 production was changed by simplification of the Design,
and the following models were called SdKfz 250 n.A. (Neue Ausführung [new
Version]).
Altogether about 6,600 APC's of the type SdKfz 250 were built and covered the
following variants:
|
SdKfz 250/1 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (Troop transport) |
|
SdKfz 250/2 |
leichter Fernsprechpanzerwagen (Cable layer) |
|
SdKfz 250/3 |
leichter Funkpanzerwagen (Radio vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 250/4 |
leichter BeobachtungsPzW (Forward observer for StuG) |
|
SdKfz 250/5 |
leichter BeobachtungsPzW (Forward observer for artillery) |
|
SdKfz 250/6 |
leichter Munitionspanzerwagen (Ammunitions carrier) |
|
SdKfz 250/7 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (8 cm mortar) |
|
SdKfz 250/8 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (7.5 cm assault gun) |
|
SdKfz 250/9 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (2 cm gun) |
|
SdKfz 250/10 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm anti tank gun) |
|
SdKfz 250/11 |
leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (2.8cm anti tank rifle) |
|
SdKfz 250/12 |
leichter MeßtruppPzW (Survey and range-plotting vehicle) |
|
SdKfz 252 |
leichter gep. MunitionsKW (Armored ammunitions carrier) |
|
SdKfz 253 |
leichter gep. BeobachtungskKW (Armored FO vehicle) |
The Models:
 SdKfz 9 FAMO |
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