Post
by David Lehmann » 07 Aug 2004 09:14
Hello,
France expected not to have to fight the decisive battles before 1941. At this time you would have had many improvements in the French equipments, including all the developments detailed previously.
Anti-tank guns:
Much more 47mm SA39 TAZ L/53 AT guns (360° traverse) would have been in service in the infantry units and at the divisional level the 75mm L/53 Mle1939 AT/AA gun would have replaced all the 75mm AT guns and part of the older 47mm Mle1937 AT guns. New HEAT and subcalibrated would have been introduced for many guns.
Fighters:
• Dewoitine D.520. It was already operational in 1940. This aircraft was slower than the Messerschmitt Bf.109E but clearly superior in maneuverability. A comparison was made on April 21, 1940, with an intact captured Bf.109E-3 that had been brought down in French territory. This comparison highlighted the fine qualities of the best French fighter of WW2. Had France not surrendered in June 1940, the Dewoitine D.520's career might have been comparable to that of British and German fighters.
• The Dewoitine D.550 was a racing aircraft version of the D.520 designed in 1939, with an upgraded engine and shorter wings. The D.551 and D.552 were military derivatives, powered by the 12Y51 (1,100 hp) or 12Z engines, respectively. About 18 aircrafts were at different stages of completion on 25th June 1940 but none of them could fly. The D.553 and D.554 were projects with supercharged 12Z engines. The D.551 prototype could reach 662 km/h at 6000m. The weight of the armed and ready aircraft was 2,200 kg but during its development the prototype was apparently only armed with two MGs. Once delivered to the fighter units, the Dewoitine 551 would have been a kind of French "Mustang". The Dewoitine D.551 was expected to reach 650 km/h with full armamant and fuel supply. Armament would have been 1x 20mm cannon in the nose and 6x 7.5mm MGs in the wings or 1x 20mm cannon in the nose and 2x 20mm cannons + 4x 7.5mm MGs in the wings.
• Arsenal VG30 series. The original specification that led to the VG series was offered in 1936 in order to quickly raise the number of modern aircraft in French service, by supplying a "light fighter" of wooden construction that could be built rapidly in large numbers.
Named for engineer Vernisse (V) and designer Jean Gaultier (G), the VG30 was all wooden in construction, using plywood (the first type of engineered wood to be invented. It is made from thin sheets of wood veneer, called plies, which are stacked together with the direction of each ply's grain differing from its neighbors by 90° (cross-banding). The plies are bonded under heat and pressure with strong adhesives, usually phenol formaldehyde resin, making plywood a type of composite material) over stringers in a semi-monocoque (French for "single shell" or unibody). The layout was conventional, a low-wing monoplane that bore a striking resemblance to the later Italian Macchi C.202. The armament consisted of a 20mm Hispano-Suiza 404 cannon (60 rounds) firing through the propeller hub, and four 7.5mm MAC 1934 M39 drum-fed machine guns (500 rounds each), two in each wing. The prototype was equipped with a Hispano-Suiza engine and flew in October 1938. The VG31 was to use the 860 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 and the VG32 the Allison V-1710C-15. The VG31 flew in 1939 and proved to have excellent performance. The prototype VG32 was completed in 1940 and awaiting its test flight when it was captured by the advancing German forces at Villacoublay.
The VG33 was a modified version of the VG31 using the same 12Y-31, and first flew on 25th April 1939. It had surprisingly good performance of 560 km/h, and was ordered into production with a contract for 220 aircrafts in September, later raised to 1,000. Production didn't take long to start, but most of the airframes never received engines and sat at the factory when it was overrun. It was faster than the Dewoitine D.520 but with an older engine, it could therefore have achieved much more.
Further developments continued while the VG33 production started. The VG34 mounted the newer 935 hp 12Y-45, the VG36 used the 1,000 hp 12Y-51 originally intended for the VG35, and introduced a new streamlined radiator bath that looked very similar to the one on the P-51 Mustang. The VG36 reached 590 km/h. Single prototypes of all three were built and flown in early 1940. The VG37 was an extended range version of the VG36, while the VG38 was to have used the 12Y-77, but neither were built.
The last in the series was the VG39, originally powered by the new 1,200 hp 12Y-89 using an extension shaft on the propeller to streamline the nose profile, giving the plane an excellent speed of 625 km/h even when loaded down with two more machine guns. The actual production version was to have been the VG39bis, powered by the new 1,600 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17, using the streamlined radiator intake design from the VG36.
Two more designs were projected, both based on the VG39bis airframe. The VG40 mounted the Rolls-Royce Merlin III and the VG50 the newer Allison V-1710-39. Neither was built.
The VG33 matched the Bf.109E in speed and maneuverability (but was slightly underarmed compared to the latest Bf.109E versions) and was somewhat faster than the Dewoitine D.520. In larger quantities, this plane could have shown the Luftwaffe a rough time, but as was the case for most French planes, production problems plagued the VG33 such that only 160 aircraft were close to completion before the Armistice, with probably just 19 (?) of the produced aircrafts were actually taken on by the Armée de l'Air. Probably only 2 machines ever flew in an active fighter group, which was formed on 18th June 1940 and conducted missions for just a week. After the fall of France 12 VG33s were confiscated by the Luftwaffe, perhaps for fighter training.
• Bloch MB.157 (close to a Fw190). The MB.157 was the last development of the MB.150 series (Bloch 152 and 155 issued to the French 1940 air force). The MB.157 had a speed of 710 km/h at 7850m with its Gnôme & Rhône 14R of 1700 hp !
Note : in 1940 the Bf-109E reached 556 km/h and the Spitfire MkI 580 km/h AFAIK.
Armored fighting vehicles:
• B1ter heavy tank
• Somua S40 medium tank
• AMX38 light tank (close to the R40)
• AMX39 and AMX40 medium tanks (big wheels a bit like on the Pz38(t) but a turret very similar in shape to the modern Soviet T55 tank, here with a 47mm gun)
• SAu40 self propelled gun (for heavy support and also as self-propelled AT gun)
• ARL40 self propelled gun
• Renault G1 tank
• Lots of tank destroyers like the Laffly W15TCC (already used in 1940) in its armored version and the Lorraine 37L and 39L tractors armed with the 47mm L/53 AT gun.
Aircraft carriers:
In 1939/1940 there were already the "Bearn" aircraft carrier and the "Commandant Teste" seaplane carrier but they were obsolete. Concerning the carrier capable aircrafts, the Loire Nieuport LN.411 and the Vought V.156F (dive bombers and torpedo aircrafts) from the French fleet air arm were available.
Two new aircraft carriers for the navy should have been available in 1941-1942 ("Joffre" and "Painlevé") :
• 18,000t
• 236m long
• 34m wide
• Speed 33 knots
• Embarking 40 aircrafts (15 fighters and 25 attack aircrafts)
• Armament : 8x 130mm AA guns, 8x 37mm AA guns, 28x 13.2mm AAMGs
• Crew : 70 officers, 1180 NCOs and men
The "Joffre" construction started in March 1940 but reached only 20% before the armistice. The "Painlevé" was never started.
The aircrafts intended for these new aircraft carriers were :
• Fighters :
--o Dewoitine D.790 (navalized version of the Dewoitine D.520)
• Several twin-engined attack aircrafts (which is new on an aircraft carrier at the moment) :
--o CAO 600 (Constructions Aéronautiques de l’Ouest) (380 km/h)
--o Dewoitine D.750 (360 km/h)
--o Bréguet 810 (derived from the Bréguet 693 attack aircraft)
• Other single engined attack aircrafts :
--o Latécoère 299 (350 km/h) (derived from the Latécoère 298 seaplane)
Mortars:
The Brandt 120mm mortars would have been widely diffused in the troops in 1941
New generation shells:
The studies led by Brandt in the 30's aimed to increase the initial velocity of the shells (without increasing of the chamber pressure) and also more generally to increase the penetration power of the shells. The French company Brandt developed series of sub-calibrated HVAP/APCR/APHC shells : 37/25mm, 75/57mm and also sub-calibrated projectiles for the 155mm and 203mm guns of the French navy. The other nations did not develop similar or equivalent systems before 1941/1942.
The 37/25mm subcalibrated shell with a 20mm core was tested but could not enter in service before the armistice. The V° was 850 m/s and it had the same penetration capacity than the 25mm SA34/37 AT gun. The same 37/25mm subcalibrated shell was also planned to be used in the 25mm SA34/37 AT gun, reaching in that case a V° of 1150 m/s, but the barrels had to be modified.
The most outstanding realization is probably the 75/57mm shell with a muzzle velocity of 960 m/s (570 m/s for the standard APHE projectile) and a penetration of 90mm at 100m and 0° (71.5mm for the standard APHE shell). The 75mm Mle1897 and Mle1897/33 guns could have engaged and destroyed the German Panzer IVs at 2,500m if such shells had been available in numbers. The subcalibrated projectile could still penetrate 60mm armor at a range of 1,740 meters (555 meters for the APHE projectile) and 80mm at 580 meters (impossible for the APHE projectile).
Beside the sub-calibrated shells, Brandt also developed a 75mm HEAT shell at this time, using the patent of the Swiss Mohaupt. The tests took place in Bourges in 1940 and the results were that impressive that they were put in the secret immediately in order to avoid German capture.
On June 14, 1940, the French war ministry authorized Brandt to give all these info to the USA and the United Kingdom, including the exploitation licence for the Mohaupt patent. The inventor, Henry Mohaupt, by the intermediary of the Brandt company filed for US patent on February 10, 1941 and it is kept secret on March 7, 1941. The sub-calibrated shells were used in the UK as basis to develop the APDS shells (armored piercing discarded sabot) issued from 1942/1943. The first AT guns using them were the 6 Pdr and 17 Pdr AT guns.
- Brandt HEAT AT rifle grenade developpments:
At the end of 1939 Brandt developed also a 50mm HEAT rifle grenade. It had a range of about 100m and an armor penetration of 40mm. A 22mm "manchon" was added on the rifle to fire the grenade. This "manchon" could also be used to fire the 50mm mortar shell used in the Brandt 50mm Mle1937 mortar.
The HEAT rifle grenade entered in production during May 1940 and was successfully tested at the Satory test range on June 10, 1940 but they could not be issued to the combat units before the armistice. The documents related to these works were apparently sent to the USA in June 1940 and were in some extend used as basis to develop the M9 AT rifle grenade and the HEAT rocket of the Bazookas. The Brandt HEAT rifle grenade was also secretly produced in France at 300,000 pieces (under the name grenade M-41) in the free zone and issued to Vichy forces. Several partisans groups may have used them in 1944.
- Larsen 29/20mm taper-bore AT gun:
The 25x194R shell used in the 25mm Puteaux Mle1937 and 25mm Hotchkiss Mle1934 AT guns was taken as the basis for the taper-bore experiments conducted in 1939/1940 by the Danish Larsen company for the French Army, utilizing also the first German trials of Gerlich. Larsen developed a 29/20 mm AT gun that should have replaced the French 25mm AT guns at first in the mountain infantry units and give a could AT capacity to the French airborne companies. The French army had tested different prototypes and the French company Manhurin manufactured the 29/20mm shell. In May 1940, about 50 Larsen 29/20mm AT guns on Puteaux Mle1937 carriage were delivered and tested. The 90g tungsten projectile (V° = 1400 m/s) was able to penetrate 56mm/30° at 400m. Perhaps very few of them even saw combat in May/June 1940.
These studies were then followed up by the Germans to create different taper-bore AT guns: the Gerlich 28/20mm is a copy of the French gun based on the Larsen patent, the 2.8cm sPzB 41 (which used a projectile based on the French 25mm AT round), the 4.2cm lePak 41 and the 7,5cm Pak 41. They worked very well, but suffered from a shortage of tungsten needed in the projectile.
- Remote-controlled breaching vehicles:
The French army developed radio-guided or wire-guided vehicles transporting a destruction charge before the Germans had their Goliath, Springer or Borgward B.IV dedicated to that function.
In 1937-1940 the French army developed :
• The "véhicule P" (P for Pommellet, the captain who invented it) : constructed by Lorraine, 2,000 ordered but only 11 constructed before the armistice
• The "engin K" (K for Alphonse Kégresse, the constructor) : 12,000 vehicles ordered (6,000 in April 1940, 6,000 in May 1940), precursor of the Goliath which was built later based on this French vehicle.
• In April 1940, 300 FT-17 tanks are also destined to be transformed in guided demolition tanks (guided from a ground post or from a R-35 command tank, like later the Borgward and the StuG(Fkl) for example)
The very first prototypes, remote-controlled breaching vehicles for cutting wire obstacles were developed in Germany and France during World War I. The Germans were the first to produce and deploy remote-controlled minefield breaching vehicles by using both an expendable charge-carrying vehicle (the "Goliath") and a nonexpendable vehicle (the B-IV) that was intended to drop its charge and withdraw before the charge detonated. Although these vehicles were used with some success at Sevastopol in 1942 and Kursk in 1943, they were generally considered failures.
- The MAS40 semi-automatic rifle:
Type : semi-automatic rifle
Total length : 1065 mm
Weight (empty) : 3.94kg
Barrel Length : 580 mm
Caliber : 7.5x54 mm
Magazine : 5 rounds clips, 10 rounds magazine or an other version with a 25 rounds magazine
V° : 840 m/s
The prototype of this semi-automatic rifle was accepted in 1933. In 1938 the new rifle had been finalized, after having faced several development issues. It is adopted by the French Army on March 28, 1940 but the mass production batches were planned to be delivered beginning 1941 only. It was a modern semi-automatic rifle, roughly equivalent to the M1 Garand. There were the MAS38-39 with 5, 10 and/or 25 rounds magazines (the 25 round magazine was the same than for the FM 1924/1929 LMG) or the MAS40 with 5 rounds clips. In May 1940, several dozens of MAS38-39 had been delivered to the 10e Régiment de Cuirassiers.
The MAS36 had a rate of fire of 11-12 rpm but when reloading the soldier always lost the line of sight. With the MAS40 the rate of fire was not that much higher with 14-15 rpm but the soldier could keep the target in the line of sight and it was more easy to follow a mobile target. During tests (the conditions of these tests are unknown), the MAS36 scored 74% hits and the MAS40 scored 94% hits.
- Mine Plows, Rakes, and Detectors:
In 1918, the French developed the first plow-equipped tank, which was based on a Renault FT-17 tank. In 1939 and February/March 1940, the French army tested also various plows and other advanced mine-clearing system on the Renault R35 but they were only few at the testing level and they saw no operational use. The Germans and the British armies later used these prototypes. After WW2, the former mine-clearing systems were tested again on a B1bis tank. However, plow tanks were not really used in combat until D-Day in 1944, when the British 79th Armored Division employed a "Bullshorn" plow on a Churchill tank at Sword Beach.
The Germans, French, Russians, and Italians entered WWII with metallic mine detectors, but information on the details of their origin is lacking. During the interwar years, the French seem to have developed the first vehicle-mounted electronic mine detector on an Renault R35 tank.
- Bridge layers:
Already in 1917 and in the 20's, crossing systems and engineer vehicles based on the FT17 were tested. In 1938 a bridge layer vehicle is studied and the manufacturer FCM produced 4 'tracteur de franchissement M1' (M1 crossing tractors) but they were too heavy (25.5t) and intricate to use. In 1937 Somua and Coder began to work together to produce a bridge layer vehicle. The first prototype is based on the Somua MCL5 halftracked vehicle with additional armor. The equipement was tested in September and October 1939: a 100km road stage and a 50km cross country stage are realized followed by 15 bridge laying tests with 20 crossings of Renault D2 tanks. The tests are rather satisfying and after slight modifications, the prototype is again tested in February/March 1940 with the successful crossing of Somua S-35 and Renault B1bis tanks (32 t). The experiments are cancelled by the defeat of 1940.
- Instantaneous radio-goniometry:
Before WW2 one of the leader in the field of the telecommunications was ITT (International Telegraph & Telephone), a US company whose leader was colonel Sosthène Bell. The man was very francophile and ITT had built one of the first automated telephone central in Paris.
From 1937 to 1945, ITT developed the numeric transmission mode for the telephone communications (the system that is still used today). ITT had founded in Paris a big R&D laboratory, directed by Maurice Deloraine. Henri Busignies worked at this lab and was specialized in radio-goniometry (it consists in 2 radio listening stations (at 2 different locations), which determine the bearing of an emission. The crossing of the 2 lines determines the position of the enemy emitter). He has created the automatic radio-goniometer mounted in the aircrafts.
Before WW2, the French Navy stated that the German submarines communicated by messages whose length did not exceed 1 second (the encoded morse code message was recorded and emitted at high speed). The classical radio-goniometry required about 30 seconds to locate the bearing of the emission. The message of course could be intercepted and eventually deciphered but the position of the sub remained unknown. This was confirmed in 1939 during the Italian landing in Albania where German subs were also deployed.
The engineer in chief Champsaur, commander of the signals service of the French Navy, asked then Maurice Deloraine to develop an instantaneous radio-goniometer. The lab managed to produce such equipment; the bearing could be red immediately.
One prototype was produced and tested with success in France in 1940, before the armistice. After the armistice, these results were hidden to the Germans. Maurice Deloraine, Émile Labin, Georges Chevigny, Henri Busignies and their families went to New York with the plans. The possibility of localizing the German submarines was indicated to the US Navy which was not convinced at first. The US Navy asked then ITT to build and test the device conceived by the French engineers and it was done in less than 3 months. It allowed the localization of the German submarines in the Atlantic thanks to their radio emissions. 4,000 of the radio-goniometers where then produced. They were deployed on the US and British coasts and a large part of these devices were mounted on ships escorting the convoys.
Regards,
David
Last edited by David Lehmann on 27 Nov 2006 00:44, edited 1 time in total.
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If HE had lived to guide the development of French armour doctrine by experience.... 
