Company FCM was tasked with the project. In 1932, after several schematic proposals that looked just like raw outlines, the FCM engineers developed a proposal for a vehicle called Char BB. This 50 ton tank had 60mm of armor and was armed with a pair of 75mm guns with two machine-gun mini-turrets on the top. It was supposed to be propelled by a 600hp engine. Since the guns were protruding so much from the front, the developers had to add a "bumper" roller to the front as well to compensate for the weight distribution - this roller could also in emergency serve as a mine-clearing device.
A scale model was made and it was shown to general Etienne in September 1932. It was actually approved and FCM started working on a full-scale mock-up. At the same time however, a disarming conference took place in Geneva, imposing arms limits on its participants. This mostly affected the navy, but somehow, Char BB was included as well. The idea to build "fortress tanks" was shelved for 5 years and returned only in 1937.
Source: http://yuripasholok.livejournal.com/4319199.html
Very interesting. Some sort of T3 behemoth :)
ReplyDeleteMulti-gun/turret system will not be implemented, too few tanks that we bothered to implement would benefit from it.
ReplyDeletewell, tbh, the coolest tank in prototype /and paper are multiturret and sadly Gaijin didn't want to mess with paper project and WG cant implement the multiturret mechanism.
Deleteinb4 French lower tier Fortresses *ahem*SAu40*ahem*
I wonder what the tactical concept would have been. How does a tank fit into a fortress line intended to be impassible by tanks?
ReplyDeleteTo fill gaps and strengthen the line where the enemy seems to be attacking. At the same time capable of replacing knocked out bunkers...
DeleteTo provide mobile support and to plug holes in the area surrounding the main fortifications on the Maginot line, I would imagine. I could also see it being developed to help push back enemies from the mainline and allow regular french AFVs then move into sweep the line back.
DeleteThe Maginot barely even existed back then, and AFAIK the French didn't regard the tank as a defensive weapon anyway. If their terminology at the time was the same as it was when they started working on the F1, a "char de fortresse" would basically have been a heavy breakthrough weapon to be used against seriously fortified positions in important offensives. Recall that in the French military, as was rather common at the time, "tanks" as such were legally part of the Infantry (the Cavalry circumvented this by calling theirs something like "armoured cars", similarly to the "combat cars" of the prewar US Cavalry) and as far as the Infantry was concerned their job was basically the same as in the Great War - spearheading assaults into the enemy trenches.
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