Full Name | Char léger Modèle 1940 R |
Class | Heavy Vehicle |
Movement | 4 |
Armor Value | 3 |
Vs Infantry (RNG / FPR) | 5/5 |
Vs Vehicle (RNG / FPR) | 5/4 |
Traits | |
Period | 1940-1942 |
Theaters of Service |
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The French designed this variant of the Renault R35 infantry support tank at the outbreak of World War II to emphasize the anti-tank role. The R35 was an infantry support light tank to replace the venerable yet obsolete Renault FT-17 (which had been in service since World War I). Like the R35, the R40 was relatively well-armored, but slow (with a maximum speed of just 12 mph). The R40 featured a more powerful gun--the long-barrelled 37 mm SA 38 L/35--as well as one 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel coaxial machine gun. Other improvements beyond the R35 included armored side skirts; lengthened hull; a more powerful engine; larger turret; and radios. R35 and R40 tanks were the most numerous armored fighting vehicles in French operational service as of May 1940; France produced about 145 R40s in 1940. Germany used captured vehicles, designated Panzerkampfwagen 40 R 736(f).