Sd.Kfz. 300 & Other Remote Control Vehicles.

I found a new one. French this time. Vehicle Pommellet

 

Laugh at this!

The British Beetle the MLM Mobile Land Mine dating from 1941-43 50 built. Army considered there was no requirement for the weapon after tests.

Electrically powered it was fully water proofed and capable of both submersion and swimming -with the addition of floats. A further trick was the deployment of a trip wire to entangle the target tank trackwork and be drawn into the target.

Steve

 

Those odd track extensions still puzzle me


I think the extensions are for unditching a slight bump in the ground would cause the beetle to stop, the small size is apparent from the shoes in the background.

steve

 

Could it be something to aid in clearing any barbedwire etc
which might wrap itself around the axles?

just a thought

great thread!


Those odd track extensions still puzzle me, my speculation stopped at something to do with the swimming ability?

 

What are these for, water mines?

(all right, all right, I'll stop hijacking threads!)










(for the next 5 minutes!)

 

Za rodinu

What are these for, water mines?


yes, the MLM attacked and sank a landing craft during sea trials. In therory these remote controlled vehicles were the precursor of A/TWG missiles albeit very slow and impractical.

Steve

 

Let me pick my lower jaw from the floor, do you mean this was in practical terms a tracked torpedo?

 

Za rodinu

Let me pick my lower jaw from the floor


Yes it was a tracked torpedo or tracked mine- time for "Robot Wars".


reference Christopher Foss and Peter McKenzie book Vickers Tanks. ISBN 1-85260-141-8

On 22nd september 1941 it blew up a target landingcraft at Christchurch the MLM entered the water and moved up to the landingcraft and blew up.

As a seabed mine it was capable of blowing up under the keel of a small vessel (I havn't been able to find out the size of the charge in this weapon) and could in therory swim with jetisonable floats, without a propeller it would require grousers on the tracks.

Extensive tests showed the primitive little vehicle could be stopped on uneven ground-and I would think mud and barbed wire would also defeat it. If stopped by an obstacle the motors would burn out, which makes me think they were car starter motors (series wound). On good going tarmac roads the MLM was too slow to survive.

Desparate times require desparate solutions.

Steve

 

I never knew of these were they really that effective?

 

Source: ATB's D-Day


US Navy, Utah Beach June 11, 1944.
Taking captured radio-controlled German 'Beetle' tanks apart to see what makes them 'tick'. A rather loose caption to describe the Goliath tracked demolition charge, technically the Leitche Ladungstrager (SdKfz 303). This was not radio controlled but remote controlled, the guidance wire - seen on the drum at the rear of the one on the right - allowing the the tank to travel 650 metres. They were powered by a Zundapp 703cc motorcycle engine and had a top speed of 12km per hour with a range of 12km. The Goliath had two forward gears and one reverse, controlled with the handset being inspected by the sailor on the left. Two models were built , the 303a carrying a charge of 75kg and the 303b with 100kg of explosive. The body was constructed of 10mm plate which would be proof against small arms fire. All told, 4,604 were produced by Zundapp from April 1943 to September 1944, with a further 325 of the modified version.


A trailer used to carry the Goliath towed behind vehicles towards the frontline.

 

Reading 'Panzers at Normandy' came across a variation of this picture from IWM. The one in the book is a bit better and you can see the chalked on Div sign of the 51st HD who have obviously claimed it for themselves.

The IWM caption reads:
German remote-controlled tracked vehicle used to deliver a demolition charge, captured by 51st Highland Division troops at Benouville, 27 June 1944.

Panzers at Normandy says:
About the size of a Bren Gun Carrier, the Ladungstrager (SdKfz 301) could either be driven by a single crewman or moved under remote-control. The vehicle could transport a 500kg demolition charge upto a pillbox or other target, release it and then back off before the explosive was detonated. A battalion attached to 2. Panzer Division and a company attached to Panzer Lehr Division were so equipped in Normandy. This example has sighting slits in the armour plate around the driving compartment.


Cheers
Andy

 

Some more shots from the Bundes Archives.

1.

Leichter Ladungsträger (V-Motor) "Goliath" (Sd.Kfz.303a, Gerät 671 oder Sd.Kfz.303b.

2.

In Russia.

3.

Warsaw Uprising: German units on Piaskowa Street, prepare "Goliaths" for atack - view from Powązkowska street.

4.


5.


6.

Warsaw uprising.

7.


8.

 

Normandy 1944. Anyone know what these would have been used for?

 

Yep, they're "Goliaths"

Goliath tracked mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia